How do we stop the Woodhead flare route in this scheme?

[JD_KaPow]

I assume the plan is to allow wide receivers to roam free in our secondary, making for far more enticing targets.

 

[TimHortons]

I assume the plan is to allow wide receivers to roam free in our secondary, making for far more enticing targets.

What you don't like the school yard style we're playing? Stay away from the receiver, bait the QB into throwing it to him, then Bang! Interception. That's how you win football games.

 

[TimHortons]

Really, it's not about the coverage scheme, it's about rallying to the ball and sure open field tackling . Even if you play man and lock a LB or safety on the RB, they will have to make an open field play. If we play zone, then guys have to take proper angles and use the sideline to contain the back. Either way it comes down to proper angles an someone making an open field tackle

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Having a 290 lb dlineman chasing him or Sproles vs. Philly is not going to work. What is the issue?

better question, can they stop any route

 

[DFWJC]

The corner (or the OLB)needs to be there and on the first big gain, Webb was right there. Had him dead to rights.
But I mean it was beyond pathetic how badly he got juked. He literally did not not lay a finger on Woodhead,yet he was right in front of him.

There aren't many guys that quick in space like that I the league though. Sproles and McCoy come to mind and I'm sure a few others.

 

[casmith07]

Having a 290 lb dlineman chasing him or Sproles vs. Philly is not going to work. What is the issue?

Pressure the quarterback.

 

[bayeslife]

Just so you know, using the Eagles as an example after their offense sputtered twice against us is not a very good one.

 

[jobberone]

If the CBs drop off after 7 yds then they are responsible. If the LBs have to cover the flats then they are on it. If a S comes up with the CBs going downfield then they are. Generally it's on the LB on that side. You have to see that play developing and anticipate them doing a flare, wheel, sprint or whatever.

 

[sbark]

If its unstoppable use it with Dunbar multiple times per game

 

[DuDa]

Thats the problem when your linebackers and safeties are in zone and the corners are playing man-to-man.

 

[CrownCowboy]

That's difficult and dangerous. If he beats you off the line before you make contact, then you're done. You're not going to catch up. You would have to find somebody that it not the primary coverage guy to bump him, but that tends to take that player away from other duties. I've seen a DE move out and bump a guy while leaving the actual coverage to the players behind him. Obviously, that takes your DE out of pass rushing.

It definitely would be risky to take that approach.

I didn't make it sound as complex as it would be in my original post but I still think that it is the best way to attack players like Woodhead and Sproles and what they bring to the table.

A defense would have to pick its spots against them, but I'd basically tell my players on defense to hit them whenever they encountered them on the field, abiding by the rules of course. In our case, Woodhead has beaten one on one coverage off the line nine times out of 10 and has found the soft spots in our zone when we played it. Nothing we did really slowed him down when we played San Diego last year and the same thing happened last night even though it was a preseason game so I'd take my chances hitting him as much as I could.

There are alot of things a coach could do to generate contact with a running back like them, but that's the big question every time we face a player of those calibers. We have no idea how to play them and they run free.

If Danny Woodhead or Darren Sproles are going to stay in to help block on certain plays, I am going to make sure my players make it a point to hit them pretty good. If we bring a blitz and one of my players was going by him en route to the QB as he flanked out to the flats, I'd make sure he got plowed a few times during that process, if not every time.

 

[DWhite Fan]

Take Bruce Carter and B.W. Weeb out?

Fixed it for you

 

[jday]

It's simple in my opinion.

Somebody needs to go in there before he flares out and knock the mess out of him. Players like Woodhead and Sproles that make their money on plays like that are usually very small. While they are at the line of scrimmage acting like they are trying to block or even if they are flaring out into the flats, somebody needs to get to him early in the play and preferably early in the game and lay the wood on him.

I know it's easier said than done but that'll at the very least have the potential to rattle the player and the scheme from working as well as it has been.

Alot of the time before hitting the flat, they'll make a chip block to trick whoever has coverage responsibility into thinking he's not going into a pass pattern. The player with coverage responsibility will then either drop back in zone to try and prevent intermeidate throws or blitz the QB. That said, whoever gets chipped needs to, like you said, "knock the mess out of him" to prevent him from getting into a route and giving the QB an easy outlet. Of course, there's a fine line between trying to break a block which is fine and interference/personal fouls, so they would have to be discreet in their application.

 

[Beast_from_East]

I'm eager to see what all these arm chair D-Coordinators got to say.

Yea, we wouldn't want to jeopardize that 32nd rating we have.................LOL

 

[Brooksey]

Having a 290 lb dlineman chasing him or Sproles vs. Philly is not going to work. What is the issue?

It's the LB responsibility. When it's pass and the back is coming out of the backfield, the LB should stay low, scrape down the line and move up the field as the QB throws that wheel route.. Time your hit as the back is making the catch and take his head off. Oh they call that a hit on a defenseless receiver now.

That's how we did it before the new rules, It really slows down that play.

 

[DCBoysfan]

Yea, we wouldn't want to jeopardize that 32nd rating we have.................LOL

Rating we had, time to move into the new season.

 

[BigStar]

I assume the plan is to allow wide receivers to roam free in our secondary, making for far more enticing targets.

I spit up my drink

 

[Cowboys22]

I'm no defensive genius but I would think someone on D should have the responsibility of covering the RB when he goes out for a pass. If not, the scheme has no chance. If someone does and just can't do it then they need to be replaced.