Untitled - Fast and Furious Football

PASS OFFENSE 43
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Passing First and Passing DeeP
JIM SWEENEY
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I is always int€resting for me to talk with coaches
rvho are mn-oriented in their thinking but, nevertheless,
make statements leading you and
'-emsclvFs ro belipve Ihal the) are coaching a
-balance" between the run and the pass.
I aBk them a question which separates "run_
:rers' from "passers"r"How often (percentage-
.\rjp' do you rhro$ on firsr doun P)ayrng de-
:ense against a t€amthat thows th€ ball one half
rrtwothirds ofthe time on firct down makes foot-
3all an entirely difibrent game.
Pass on First Down
,lur game-plan philosophy is that we'rc going to
:ass on frret down. We believe that our run \..ill
:{ better if the defense is thinldng pass. There-
::re, we package the play and "check with me"
. trsus defenses which are stdctly pass stmc-
:rred.
Our coacheB in the press box are programmed
:.: rhink pass on fimt down and to anticipate their
:-\t call as being second-and-10. Ther€fore,
:..! re always thinking about thrc\ 'ing the ball
: i easy to throw a 7- or 8-yard pass completion
I first down and then make a successful r-un call
: ic ause everl' defensive coach now treats seconal-
::d-short as a long-yardage situation, and itbe-
::nes almost a gimme to run the ball. In study-
:.g game films in college and pro football and
--:rking the same obseNations in watching TV,
. -. our opinion that teams scorc with alanning
:iaularity when the offense makes a big play (20-
.:fd gain or more) somewhere in its ddv€ to tbe
. rl line. Teams that try to gdnd it out on the
.-:rund, with no big plays, seem to score less ofour
off€nsive philosophy as veer coaches fbr
: :.n1' years was based on th€ objective of attack'
; ihe vertical (un€overed) seans in the defense
. :n as much velocity and quickness as possible.
r. now base our offense on getting the ball into
:.-.i lertical seams upfreld. Note the companson
: .ertical seams in a veer offense versus a pass
,=:1se(see Figlres 1 and 2).
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FIGUBE
We still are going to package tbe play against
the defense-and we are going to spend as mu€h
practic€ time in picking up blitzing and dogging
defenses as we used to spend in pefectine our
veer tracks and ballhandlins.
Pass Deep
ln vertical seams wlih oprion
oltnse vorsus 3-deep inverl
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BE N I E S
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OPTION DIVE .) DIVE INSIDE VEER .
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Vertical seams wlth pass
l jtr:i15j111 SS
Our off€nse is predicated on the deep pass, but
almost always we are going to be able to ihrow
the ball on two levels according to the dmps of
the backers and defensive backs. we arc also goingto
put alateml as well as avertical stretch on
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