How to Defend the Option

[Carolina_Packer]

I was interested to hear that MM and some the Packers staff went down to meet with Texas A&M staff to talk about the read option, presumably to better understand it and how to defend it.

That got me on the interwebs looking for articles that talked about how to stop the read option. According to this link (http://www.windycitygridiron.com/2012/12/5/3730016/bears-playbook-not-defending-the-read-option) the Packers were not the only team in the NFCN to struggle to defend the read option. I really enjoyed reading this article and the schematic detail and pics.

The article also talked about designing the scheme around the weakest of the two DE's, so in the case of Chicago, you wouldn't make Peppers the QB's read defender, but Idonije. You can see by the scheme how easy it is to get sucked into the cat and mouse game that the scheme tries to play. The Packers most exposed game vs. this type of scheme is obviously the 49'ers game. Simplistically enough, I always wondered if a team could just drop back one step and try to avoid the offensive line's engagement to try and read the play before going all out to commit to trying to pursue the play, which would be more of a contain vs. attack mentality. There has to be a way to deceive the deceiver as a defense. I am curious if any of the x's and o's contributors on this forum could help break down the concepts that a defense has to play in order to defend the read option, and what Green Bay has to do better to have more success against such teams in the future. Some better personnel on defense immediately comes to mind.

[HarveyWallbangers]

What article?

[Carolina_Packer]

What article?

If you click on the word link in the sentence "According to this link..." it will take you to this article. I should have made the hyperlink in bold. My bad.

[QBME]

I'm not much of an X's and O's guy, but it seems to me you hit the QB every time the run the option. As soon as he makes the first motions in the formation, I believe he loses his protection as a passer and becomes a runner. So hit him whether he hands the ball off or not. Put an lb spy on him and hit him hard every time. Sooner or later the read option will fade into memory.

[pbmax]

I'm not much of an X's and O's guy, but it seems to me you hit the QB every time the run the option. As soon as he makes the first motions in the formation, I believe he loses his protection as a passer and becomes a runner. So hit him whether he hands the ball off or not. Put an lb spy on him and hit him hard every time. Sooner or later the read option will fade into memory.

Its a close call but you can play action out of a read option fake handoff *, so the QB would need to start to run before he loses the protection of being a QB.

* The Packers run this play.

[woodbuck27]

That was very solid. Easy to understand.

Thank You.

GO PACK GO !

[KYPack]

I am an X's and O's type guy and an ancient football fan. The read option is very interesting because it is new and old at the same time. The reads in a read option are very similar to the reads in the old single wing. Single wing reads are similar to the reads in the veer and the wishbone. That "mesh point" read in the 'new' read option is virtually the same read that's in these old offenses. The principle is you focus on an area and take that option that is going to give a solid gain.

The key is at the mesh point, when the QB puts the ball in a hand-off position with the back and then excercises his option to give the ball and continue the play to run or pass himself. The hand-off is a belly play to the back. The QB is reading the interior of the defense. So you must be technically sound in your interior run defense. It is at the mesh point that the key to defensing the read option must happen. You must deliver a blow whenever possible to the QB. The Ravens did a great job of this in the SB. SF usually continues the option phases of this play by having CK occasionally run a boot. The Ravens ended all that shit by having Terrell Suggs hammer Kaepernick every chance he got, especially when he faked the boot. After a bit, Kaepernick would abandon the boot and go to the turf to avoid an ass-whipping from the charging Suggs.

That is the first key to defending this offense. Beat that ass. Let the option man know you are out there and are gonna take his ass every chance you get. It really all starts and ends there There are several other things. You must mirror the offense. Thru scheme and initial technique, you need to have a defender in place to stop the ability of the offense to option any defender. You gotta be sound at the interior LOS, disrupt the mesh point and beat up the optioning QB, populate his rush lane, and cover his receivers. Easy for me to say, huh? But it can be done.

The Ravens stopped SF cold by doing much of what I'm detailing in this post. Until the power outtage. Not the lights in the stadium, Haloti Ngata went down. With him in there, the Ravens could ignore the run at the mesh point & focus on taking away Kaepernicks' other options. They bottled SF up pretty good until the loss of Ngata.

You need to do as much as you can to get all defenders help and confuse the reads that offense gets. Flexing a defender and have them read rather than rush? Yeah, that's a concept that could be a tactic against the RO. Essentially, it's get everybody help, read, attack & cover and always always beat the dog shit out of the option man. It's like our old line coach used to say "just keep pounding on that SOB across from you until he's dumber than you are".

Once a few of these millenium-age read option QB's hit the DL, the RO will go the way of the wishbone and the veer. Good schemes that worked for awhile, then went away.

[woodbuck27]

I am an X's and O's type guy and an ancient football fan. The read option is very interesting because it is new and old at the same time. The reads in a read option are very similar to the reads in the old single wing. Single wing reads are similar to the reads in the veer and the wishbone. That "mesh point" read in the 'new' read option is virtually the same read that's in these old offenses. The principle is you focus on an area and take that option that is going to give a solid gain.

The key is at the mesh point, when the QB puts the ball in a hand-off position with the back and then excercises his option to give the ball and continue the play to run or pass himself. The hand-off is a belly play to the back. The QB is reading the interior of the defense. So you must be technically sound in your interior run defense. It is at the mesh point that the key to defensing the read option must happen. You must deliver a blow whenever possible to the QB. The Ravens did a great job of this in the SB. SF usually continues the option phases of this play by having CK occasionally run a boot. The Ravens ended all that shit by having Terrell Suggs hammer Kaepernick every chance he got, especially when he faked the boot. After a bit, Kaepernick would abandon the boot and go to the turf to avoid an ass-whipping from the charging Suggs.

That is the first key to defending this offense. Beat that ass. Let the option man know you are out there and are gonna take his ass every chance you get. It really all starts and ends there There are several other things. You must mirror the offense. Thru scheme and initial technique, you need to have a defender in place to stop the ability of the offense to option any defender. You gotta be sound at the interior LOS, disrupt the mesh point and beat up the optioning QB, populate his rush lane, and cover his receivers. Easy for me to say, huh? But it can be done.

The Ravens stopped SF cold by doing much of what I'm detailing in this post. Until the power outtage. Not the lights in the stadium, Haloti Ngata went down. With him in there, the Ravens could ignore the run at the mesh point & focus on taking away Kaepernicks' other options. They bottled SF up pretty good until the loss of Ngata.

You need to do as much as you can to get all defenders help and confuse the reads that offense gets. Flexing a defender and have them read rather than rush? Yeah, that's a concept that could be a tactic against the RO. Essentially, it's get everybody help, read, attack & cover and always always beat the dog shit out of the option man. It's like our old line coach used to say "just keep pounding on that SOB across from you until he's dumber than you are".

Once a few of these millenium-age read option QB's hit the DL, the RO will go the way of the wishbone and the veer. Good schemes that worked for awhile, then went away.

There ....right there! Is why Packerrats is such a solid NFL team fan forum.

It's in the quality of such a post.

[Carolina_Packer]

Here are a few more interesting links that show how to defend the read option (this one has a lot of schematics) I don't know all the terminology, but it's interesting to try and learn. It's amazing to me to have pre-snap recognition of what the offense is trying to do and deciding in that moment the best formation to use on defense. Love the cat and mouse game. Click here (http://www.scribd.com/doc/5340238/Defending-The-Spread-Offense-With-the-353) to see the article.

Here is another article that explains the schemes more than just showing them. Click here (http://fishduck.com/2012/08/the-coachs-corner-defending-the-zone-read/) to see (worth the read...no pun intended) Both links are from coaches.

Here is yet another link (http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2013/1/10/3861876/packers-vs-49ers-defending-the-read-option) from the acmepackingcompany.com that shows animated gifs of the proper way to defend the edge against the read option (good job Clay) and the improper way to do it (ala DeMarcus Ware of the Cowboys against the Redskins). Funny, this article is written in the lead-up to the 49'ers game. Funny how we from looking like Clay's animated gif to looking like DeMarcus Ware's gif in the span of a week.

Here's another good link (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1445592-breaking-down-what-makes-the-read-option-difficult-to-defend) outlining Cam Newton and RGIII and use of the option with the writer saying there is no good way to stop this if they are on their game. Hmm. I'd say more like no easy way instead of no way.

Could this be much ado about nothing? Maybe. And certainly not every team is going to have the QB/RB combo that will be able to run it, but the Packers need to be able to defend against it without wetting the bed so badly, that's for sure. We've said this for the last two years. Our tackling on defense overall is somewhat suspect. We don't have enough guys with proper technique, and they get out of their lanes and cannot recover well, even when not playing the option.

[pbmax]

I agree the biggest difference between the Packers and Ravens D was the focus on CK. Unlike Walden on the big CK run for a TD and Matthews' spin move to nowhere, the Ravens were mainly pre-occupied with not having CK get wide on them with a lane to run. They were content to let others handle Gore.

But to free up Suggs or Kruger (I think he was the other end or OLB), the Ravens committed a safety much faster and closer to the LOS to sit in Gore's alley where he would head had they handed off. This worked great with Ngata in the game helping to squeeze that hole. But even before he left, this safety almost in the box left passing lanes open. The Ravens pass rush and CKs inability to complete a fair number of those passes left their offense in a lurch until they adjusted and took advantage of Ngata being out.

Which brings us around to the basic point. If you cannot handle an offense's preferred option with a similar number of players, you need to commit more bodies to the job. And that leaves something else open. There is always a next adjustment.

The Packers problem was that they never shut down any facet of the 49ers O. They were hanging on by a thread in the first half and the O could have bailed them out then. But by the second half, the D got way out of shape and were flailing at whatever the 49ers threw at them. They were never able to throw down a roadblock and shut down something and get a stop once they started rolling after the initial INT. At that point, it was more a question of 49er execution than schematic choices by the Packers.

[Fritz]

I agree the biggest difference between the Packers and Ravens D was the focus on CK. Unlike Walden on the big CK run for a TD and Matthews' spin move to nowhere, the Ravens were mainly pre-occupied with not having CK get wide on them with a lane to run. They were content to let others handle Gore.

But to free up Suggs or Kruger (I think he was the other end or OLB), the Ravens committed a safety much faster and closer to the LOS to sit in Gore's alley where he would head had they handed off. This worked great with Ngata in the game helping to squeeze that hole. But even before he left, this safety almost in the box left passing lanes open. The Ravens pass rush and CKs inability to complete a fair number of those passes left their offense in a lurch until they adjusted and took advantage of Ngata being out.

Which brings us around to the basic point. If you cannot handle an offense's preferred option with a similar number of players, you need to commit more bodies to the job. And that leaves something else open. There is always a next adjustment.

The Packers problem was that they never shut down any facet of the 49ers O. They were hanging on by a thread in the first half and the O could have bailed them out then. But by the second half, the D got way out of shape and were flailing at whatever the 49ers threw at them. They were never able to throw down a roadblock and shut down something and get a stop once they started rolling after the initial INT. At that point, it was more a question of 49er execution than schematic choices by the Packers.


So choosing the other team's best option, and shutting that down, might be the best approach, then? And hope that you don't have to commit too many extra players to doing so, and hope too that the other team can't execute their second option very well?

[pbmax]

So choosing the other team's best option, and shutting that down, might be the best approach, then? And hope that you don't have to commit too many extra players to doing so, and hope too that the other team can't execute their second option very well?

You can do that if you think extra attention will actually limit it and give you enough of an edge. This is famously what talking heads say Belichick tries to do.

But every action prompts a reaction. Offenses know the most common efforts to limit their favorite option. And they have a counter to that.

So ideally, if I am Capers, I want to limit their best option but not commit more bodies or scheme than normal whenever possible. That way, I am in a position to defend the countermeasures. This is not always possible. And that read option might not be something they can handle with a base D or two safeties back.

[Fritz]

Two things come out of this for me. One, that against the Packers Kaepernick seemed, after the INT, to be quite accurate on many throws, so that really screwed the defense, which I'm guessing was beginning to double down to the LOS to take away the run. Two, that the Packers need to have strong, active defensive linemen who can squeeze lanes and maintain position. This would reduce the ability of Gore to gore them, and if the linebackers are doing their jobs, it would also keep Kaepernick from getting outside them.

To that end, I say hooray Eric Walden is gone. That guy got sucked inside more often than Ron Jeremy.

[MJZiggy]

Two things come out of this for me. One, that against the Packers Kaepernick seemed, after the INT, to be quite accurate on many throws, so that really screwed the defense, which I'm guessing was beginning to double down to the LOS to take away the run. Two, that the Packers need to have strong, active defensive linemen who can squeeze lanes and maintain position. This would reduce the ability of Gore to gore them, and if the linebackers are doing their jobs, it would also keep Kaepernick from getting outside them.

To that end, I say hooray Eric Walden is gone. That guy got sucked inside more often than Ron Jeremy.

Who's Ron Jeremy??

[swede]

Who's Ron Jeremy??

Think Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein.

[Packers4Glory]

Step 1: Get rid of Walden!

[Pugger]

The Ravens had a better D than we could present in the just completed playoffs. We improved by subtraction by getting rid of Walden. ;-) You have to wonder who the pro personnel guy in Indy is! Getting Bishop and Perry back will do wonders for our defense. I hope we address the D line and safety in the upcoming draft.

[pbmax]

Think Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein.

Yep, definitely non-traditional film roles for Ron. Also be careful googling.

The thing that worries me about the 49ers is not simply the read option. Its what they and other offenses that run multiple offenses can do after you make an adjustment. Its also what frustrates me about this defense. Against New England in the Flynn game, they hung with NE's Offense very well for the entire game. No amount of bubble screens, Welker dig routes or two TEs threw them off. But other teams seem to flabbergast them. See Vikings anemic offense in 2012.

The Packers seem to be slow to glom on to new ideas on defense and when you take them out of their preferred alignments and schemes they suffer and become timid.

Some of the read option and scramble stuff will be less of a threat now that they have seen the guy live. But what will be the next thing they feature? If you have mega talent on D, it might not matter what the specifics of the scheme. But if you don't, the scheme might be paramount. And I have harbored doubts about this team and its ability to execute a new scheme since before Capers.

The choice might simply be this: you need to play to your own strengths and if they means the other teams will attack a specific area, you need to have the players execute well rather than tweak the scheme. And that might be why Walden is gone more than anything. They obviously didn't want CK on the outside of the D, but he definitely got there. Perhaps Walden, despite his strengths, was a irresponsible in his assignment as Raji got with Peterson.