Football Film Room: FFR Playbook

Power

Nick Kehoe — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 21:39:58 GMT

Power - it’s an attitude play, with the name itself signaling what type of run it is. It’s physical and can be run effectively against crowded boxes, even when the defense knows a run is coming.

It’s tough to find a better example of this than the 2024 Divisional Round Playoff Matchup between the Bills and Ravens. Buffalo led 27-25 with 1:32 remaining. They needed a first down to seal the win. Everyone in the stadium knew they would be running the ball. So Buffalo called Power.

Simulated Pressures

Nick Kehoe — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 21:14:14 GMT

Simulated pressures are hot right now and have been for several years. But what are they exactly?

Well, it kind of says it in the name. The defense simulates pressure or simulates a blitz (5 or more pass rushers) by giving a pre-snap presentation to the offense that makes it look like pressure is coming.

Ultimately, however, the defense will only rush 4. At least one of those 4 pass rushers will be a non-traditional rusher (e.g. a linebacker or defensive back).

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Generally, the defense will try to bring 4 pass rushers in a way that is either difficult for the offense to pick up or creates advantageous 1-on-1’s (or leaves the offense vulnerable to stunts). And because only 4 are rushing, the defense is not sacrificing defenders in coverage. So just about anything can be played behind the pressure.

Sounds like the perfect defense, no? Often times, it is.

The examples below come courtesy of Packers Defensive Coordinator Jeff Hafley from Green Bay’s Week 7 win over the Texans last season.

5-Man Pick Pressure (Mike Macdonald)

Nick Kehoe — Fri, 23 May 2025 22:28:16 GMT

On running plays, there are blockers who clear the way for the ball carrier. Pick pressures work the same way for the defense.

One blitzer picks or blocks an offensive lineman, creating an alley for another blitzer to get through to the quarterback.

This example comes courtesy of Mike Macdonald when he was the Ravens Defensive Coordinator in 2023.

This was a 3rd-and-10. Baltimore aligned with 6 potential pass rushers near the line of scrimmage. Linebacker Roquan Smith stood over the center, creating a 5-man surface:

5-Man Single-Edge Pressure (Vance Joseph)

Nick Kehoe — Fri, 23 May 2025 22:12:07 GMT

This pressure is about as straightforward as it gets - a linebacker adding onto the 4-man rush with a blitz off the edge. We sometimes forget in football that simplicity doesn’t mean ineffective. The example below perfectly illustrates this idea.

This blitz comes courtesy of defensive coordinator Vance Joseph from Week 7 of the 2024 season in a game between the Saints and Broncos.

New Orleans faced a 1st-and-10 and came out in “12” personnel (1 RB, 2 TE’s). Denver matched up to them with Base (4 DBs):

The Saints would end up motioning a tight end across the formation to create a 3x1 set. They would release the back to the left and utilize a 5-man protection:

QB Tackle-Long-Trap Bash

Nick Kehoe — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 19:33:22 GMT

Misdirection is an effective tool for any offensive coordinator to incorporate into his system. The more you can keep a defense guessing and unsure of what they’re seeing, the slower they’ll play. That’s particularly important in today’s NFL, where the players are faster than ever.

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The QB Tackle-Long-Trap “Bash” play is one of many great ways to keep the defense on its heels.

In this Week 15 game between the Bills and Lions last season, Buffalo featured it multiple times for touchdowns.

Below, you can see the play diagrammed. The “Bash” part of the name stands for “Back Away,” meaning the running back goes away from the design of the run. Here, he would go to the left while the tackle pulled to the right on the long trap.

The Bills also incorporated a “bluff” flat route from the fullback on this play, just to complicate things further for the defense:

Quarterback Josh Allen’s read was the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMOL) to the left:

Fake-Toss Trap

Nick Kehoe — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 19:00:29 GMT

Deception is inherent to trap runs in general. A defensive lineman assumes he’s going to get blocked by the offensive lineman in front of him, only to be bypassed for another defender.

This can sometimes leave that D-lineman rushing upfield and taking himself completely out of the play without even being blocked:

But what about the rest of the defense? How can the offense make sure they feel that same level of deception, bewilderment, and betrayal?

The Fake-Toss Trap is a good way to do it.

This play from the 2019 season is a great example. Back then, Odell Beckham Jr. was playing for the Browns (remember that?). Here, he motioned into the backfield behind the quarterback:

I love that the Browns didn’t just run a fake toss here. Instead, they did one to a play-maker like Beckham after he had motioned into the backfield. Receivers rarely line up back there, and when they do, it’s hard for the defense not to think that they are the intended target of the play.

Here, the fake toss to Beckham took a few second-level defenders with him:

The Long Trap

Nick Kehoe — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 17:46:15 GMT

There are many different types of Trap plays. The “Long Trap” is a variation where the puller comes from a longer distance than a traditional trap play (generally 3 D-linemen/gaps or more away).

Often, the play results in the offensive line pinning most of the defense inside with the puller kicking out the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMOL).

Here’s a great example from the Colts’ Week 16 win over the Titans last season:

This play was actually a “Tackle long trap,” giving Indy’s tackle the chance to be the puller and build up speed before kicking out the EMOL. The Titans happened to slant and scrape into this play, leaving a linebacker (#56) as the defender getting kicked out.

The result here was a 70-yard touchdown run for Jonathan Taylor:

In today’s NFL, it’s not enough to just run long trap, though. Teams prefer to have built-in options off of it, whether that’s a read-option element with a mobile QB or an RPO element to it.

In the Bills’ Week 15 win over the Lions last season, they ran Long Trap with options on top of options.

Using the Play Clock to Time Blitzes

Nick Kehoe — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 21:36:55 GMT

Few defenses do a better job of using the playclock to their advantage when blitzing than Steve Spagnuolo-coached teams.

The below examples come from the 2024 Divisional Round matchup between the Chiefs and Texans.

The biggest sequence of the game came in the 4th quarter with about 10 minutes remaining and the Chiefs leading 20-12. This was the best chance the Texans would have to tie the game.

In this sequence, the Chiefs did a great job of holding their looks and not revealing their hand until the protection was set and there wasn’t enough time on the play clock to adjust.

Let’s start with 2nd-and-10 from the Chiefs’ 40-yard line. Below is the look that the Chiefs presented and the Texans would set their protection to. They had 4 to protect 4 to the left, and right tackle Blake Fisher was responsible for defensive end George Karlaftis over him:

The Chiefs were counting on them setting their protection that way.

But with just 4 seconds left on the play clock, and just as Houston was getting into its silent-count, linebacker Nick Bolton crept down into the B-Gap:

Beating Brian Flores' Blitzes

Nick Kehoe — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 21:01:25 GMT

When playing the Vikings, offenses need to have answers for Brian Flores’ aggressive pressure schemes.

In-Game Adjustments - Part 2

Nick Kehoe — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 20:03:03 GMT

Good play-calling is often about taking in information during a game and making tweaks or adjustments in response. The best coaches present different looks to the defense, see how they react, and then have the flexibility to call plays or alter routes to precisely attack them.

There are few in the game that do this better than Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur.

On this first example in a game against the Cardinals, LaFleur did this brilliantly, using what he saw from Arizona’s defense early in the game to dial up a 44-yard touchdown pass that gave Green Bay a commanding 24-0 lead.

"Mini" Quarters Coverage

Nick Kehoe — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 22:02:37 GMT

Empty and 3x1 formations present problems for defenses because of the 3-receiver side. When playing zone coverage, it can complicate defensive assignments depending on the route combination.

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One great way to handle these formations is to eliminate the 3-receiver side using “Mini” coverage out of a 2-shell look (Quarters and Quarter-Quarter-Half).

The basic concept here is that the cornerback on the outside to the 3-receiver side will lock up on that outside receiver, either in press-man or off-man. The rest of the coverage inside plays quarters or quarter-quarter-half against a more manageable formation for the defense (2x2 or 2x1) in a more condensed space.

This play from a Dolphins-Bills game in Week 4 of the 2023 season is a great example.

Short-Yardage Winners

Nick Kehoe — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 21:05:20 GMT

In short-yardage situations, defenses tend to be more aggressive. They often won’t just play man coverage, but tight man coverage, often jamming or playing press. So offensive coordinators have to be ready to dial up their best man beaters that help their receivers create separation.

This play design by Bills Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady is one of the best I’ve seen from the 2024 season.

Zone Read "Bluff"

Nick Kehoe — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 21:06:37 GMT

The zone read play against a mobile quarterback is tough enough to defend on its own. Adding in another element (the “bluff”) makes it that much more difficult.

Wide Zone

Nick Kehoe — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 02:58:47 GMT

There are different definitions of wide zone and outside zone depending on who you ask. Some refer to outside zone as an all-encompassing zone run anywhere outside the tackles. Some define outside zone as a run with the tight end as the running back’s aiming point and wide zone targeting anything outside of that. Some have those definitions reversed.

For the sake of this breakdown, we’ll define wide zone as a zone run with the tight end as the aiming point for the running back.

Corner Blitz

Nick Kehoe — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 03:32:07 GMT

This was a 3rd-and-10. First, notice the even front with Chris Jones aligned to the field side:

Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo knew this would likely lead to the Dolphins sliding their protection towards Jones. In this 6-man protection with the back staying in, that would mean a 3-man slide from the center to the right tackle and then man-to-man blocking on the two down linemen to the left. The running back’s first read would be the linebacker over him if he rushed:

Cover-3 Cloud

Nick Kehoe — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 02:34:11 GMT

Cover-3 cloud is a great disguise that defenses can use for a multitude of reasons.

Disguising Cover-2 Out of Man-Coverage Looks

Nick Kehoe — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 02:13:05 GMT

Going from a pre-snap man-coverage look to cover-2 post-snap can be a really effective disguise because many of the routes that often work against man coverage can be taken away by cover-2.

You can see a couple of examples of this below.

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This first play was from a 2021 game between the Cowboys and Chargers. L.A. faced a 3rd-and-4, a typical man-coverage down-and-distance.

Dallas had established earlier in this game that when playing man coverage, cornerbacks Trevon Diggs, Anthony Brown, and Jourdan Lewis would match up to wide receivers Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Jalen Guyton respectively. And that’s how they lined up at the snap here:

Tilted Fronts

Nick Kehoe — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 18:45:43 GMT

Tilted fronts are most often used in obvious-passing situations and are a great way to generate pressure. Below, you can see what they look like with 3 down linemen to one side of the center:

Outside Zone Toss

Nick Kehoe — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 21:14:05 GMT

One of the most dangerous big-hitting runs is the outside-zone toss. Let’s take a look at Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers running game (surprise, surprise) to see an example of great execution.

Cover-4 Palms

Nick Kehoe — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 18:00:55 GMT

Cover-4 “Palms” is a great variation of Cover-4 and a good way for a defense to mix up its looks.