by Big B
Today we are going to look at a play that is close to the one that was used in Pittsburgh’s winning drive. I have been talking about Hybrids and compressed sets for some time now. Pittsburgh put these concepts to use in the Super Bowl. So nsow let’s look at how this concept worked for the Steelers.
The formation we will use is the Gun Bunch Wk from the Pittsburgh playbook. This is one of the sets I talked about in the compression guide where you can work with ISOs and bunching. You want to ISO your best man or either have him surrounded by other wideouts. This makes it hard to defend that option.
You can see that you have a nice mesh. You have 2 “C” routes, a post, a flat, and a slant curl.
I put the FL in motion so I can create another ISO on this side.
The double move is something that many speedy wideouts use. They try to get their defender going one way and then they break away from them to get some room to work with.
Once they have that room, the QB has to put the ball in an area only the wideout can get it.
I couldn’t get the two toe tap like Holmes did…but you get the point. The route running and the use of ISOs allowed me to get a better player some room to work with to expose the defender.
The Steelers also used the TE in the middle a few times Sunday. He is a nice big safe target.
Once they post up then it’s all about size at this point.
No way they can defend this with his size and ability.
A post route was used by Fitzgerald to help pull the Cards ahead of the Steelers. This route is mean on the game as well as in real life.
Once he gets inside and has leverage it’s all down hill from there.
Nice easy catch for good yards.
Now this is the other ISO. Hines one-on-one with anybody is a hand full. Allow him to work a double move as well to attack the weaker defender.
Again good route running is better than speed at times. You see here that he has inside position.
He makes the catch and can get more depending on your stick skills.
When you see heat you dump off to the flats. You can see an overload to the left side. So this is a good time to dump off if you think you won’t have enough time or proper protection.
Now you see that the wideout is open and you have to make them pay when they bring wood.
There is only one defender to beat.
The key is to get past the 1st man and make them miss. If you do most of the time you will get positive yards. Get what you can then go down rather than losing any yards.
Final Thoughts
This is a little overview on how this set and many other hybrids work well. The key to offense this year is your personnel and what sets give you the best protection. Then you need to find a set that allow you to make easy progressions as well. Stay tuned next week when I focus on the Cardinals.
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