Screens, Tight Ends & Fullbacks Dominate NFL TV


By FirstDown PlayBook on Dec 22, 2019
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Watching yesterday’s NFL football games there were three key points that stood out to us. Coaching screens is a hard job. Many coaches avoid it. That is a huge mistake. This is true for all levels of football. Let’s look a little deeper at this.

  1. The Best NFL teams are good at the screen game and it is still extremely effective. It helps teams slow down the dangerous pass rush and it helps them spread the ball around. The 49’ers and the Rams put on a clinic last night.
  2. The big bodied athletic tight end becomes more and more useful as the football season progresses. Those big bodies hold up better during the course of a six month season and wow are some of them ever so athletic!
  3. The death of the fullback has been greatly exaggerated. Who could have seen this coming, except for every older football coach out there who has seen trends come and go. Teams with a good blocking and athletic fullback will have a distinct advantage in January.

More FirstDown PlayBook All 22: BCS Playoffs

As you watch the Sunday games keep all of this in mind and don’t be surprised if you see a play or two like the one we are setting you up with today! Read more about the FirstDown PlayBook screen section here.

FORMATION: CLUSTER (GUN) (PISTOL)

PLAY: TIGHT END SCREEN

DESCRIPTION:

-SCREEN PASS TO THE TIGHT END.

-PLAY IS RUN OFF OF THE INSIDE ZONE TO THE OPEN END SIDE.

-PLAY ALSO MARRIES WELL WITH THE PLAY ACTION PASS OFF OF THE INSIDE ZONE.

GENERAL RULES:

-THE OFFENSIVE LINE AND TIGHT END WILL ACCOUNT FOR THE 4 DOWN AND THE MLB & SLB VS A 4 MAN FRONT.

-THE OFFENSIVE LINE AND TIGHT END WILL ACCOUNT FOR THE 3 DOWN AND THE JLB, MLB & SLB VS A 3 MAN FRONT.

-THE RUNNING BACK IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FAKE & THEN THE WLB IN A 3 AND 4 MAN FRONT.

-THE QB WILL TAKE THE NORMAL FOOTWORK FOR THE INSIDE ZONE OR THE PLAY ACTION OFF OF THE INSIDE ZONE.

-THE RECEIVERS WILL RUN A ROUTE COMBINATION AND THEN TRANSITION TO A BLOCK.

-THE TIGHT END WILL INITIALLY BLOCK THE END OR SAM LB AND THEN RELEASE ON THE SCREEN.

QUARTERBACK:

-TAKE THE SNAP AND SIMULATE THE INSIDE ZONE FAKE TO THE WEAK SIDE.

-AFTER CLEARING THE FAKE TO THE BACK ROLL TO THE OPPOSITE A GAP AND SET UP AS IF TO PASS.

-AS THE TIGHT END RELEASES HIS BLOCK DRIFT LATERALLY AND FOR DEPTH TO FIND A THROWING LANE TO THE TE.

To see the rest of these coaching points and thousands of other football plays with coaching points click on the play above!