Neck Sharpies: Zones Are Not Circles
The one takeaway from the Nebraska game that isn't crushing dominance was Michigan's zone defense on in-breaking routes (slants/digs) needed a lot of cleanup. What went wrong wasn't hard to figure out, but there's some understandable confusion I think about how, or in some cases whether, it was supposed to go right.
ZONE REFRESHER
Cover 3 at its core has three deep zones, two Curl/Flat zones, and then you can vary how many players you want to drop into Hole zones.
Drawing circles is a bad way to represent zones, however, because it makes it seem like defenders are tasked with sitting in the middle of their circles and projecting strength over their fiefdoms. We call that "covering grass." You do that, you end up like Stephen of Blois with rebellions springing up everywhere around you. You have to play zone defense with the constant movement of a Henry Plantagenet: anticipating trouble, heading it off, harrying it out of your kingdom, then snapping quickly to stop the next threat before it gets out of hand.
The route you take to your zone is important too, because you can't give receivers the run of the roads. Note how the paths of the SS and Nickel will have them above the Y and the H respectively, while the CBs would be escorting the outside receivers to deep 1/3 zones. Those defenders are heading elsewhere, but for the duration of a quick seam they're right in the way.
That takes care of the seams and fly routes, but there are a few known vulnerabilities where offenses know you can squeeze a ball between the zones.
[After THE JUMP: Feeling attacked]
Route combinations to attack Cover 3 are usually about threatening multiple weak spots at once, and forcing defenders to leave one of them unguarded. A defense like Michigan that plays a lot of coverage games is going to make it hard to find the weak spots when they appear because the quarterback is never sure if there's a defender coming through there. When you can find the defender and move him off his spot however, you're going to get a wide open throw.
Here's a simple TE out that found space because the curl/flat defender didn't get to his spot despite having a ton of help inside.
#5 the DE on the top
This is a three-man rush with the extra defender taking a hole zone. However it's also a defensive end, Josiah Stewart, given the flat zone. He does a good job to mirror the TE early to prevent a slant inside…
But Stewart only walls off for the initial release, and once Fidone gets behind him Stewart starts covering grass, imagining the threat has passed and the TE is going to turn inside to run a crossing route.
He isn't. Stewart even takes a step inside before realizing he's been covering grass this whole time. Zone rule of thumb: If you are in zone and standing closer to your own teammate than the opponent in your zone, you done messed up.
That one wasn't so complicated, but I wanted everyone on the same page as we dig into what was happening on the slants and one post route that accounted for most of Nebraska's yards on the day. This next one was also on Stewart but this time he got beat inside on a different type of zone.
#5 DE on the bottom
Again, Michigan dropped eight, although Nebraska this time has five guys attacking the coverage instead of three. Also Junior Colson didn't notice until just before the snap that the running back was lined up outside (you can see #25 running off towards the top of the screen). The top does get all discombobulated, but it doesn't actually end up mattering. All the offense wants out of this is to get Colson out of there.
Michigan's matchups get messed up by Nebraska's deployment, going empty 5-wide with 12 personnel.
The defensive plan is supposed to be a sort of split coverage with a pair of defensive ends dropping to wall off in-breaking routes before getting into their zones.
Remember what I said about protecting quick releases though. In order to keep Stewart inside Michigan has Harris playing over the slot receiver's seam route, meaning Harris needs help on anything that breaks immediately inside. Like a slant route.
Then right about here I think Stewart sees the slot receiver put his head outside and assumes the body is going there as well.
It's enough to get Stewart, a defensive lineman, to take a lethal step outside before turning around to face the quarterback and play the ball.
And Haarberg throws as soon as the slot is clear.
I'm not going to give Harris a negative for this one because he was supposed to have help on exactly this route. If Stewart had dropped into the slot's slant path we wouldn't be here.
As for Derrick Moore on the other side, he wasn't innocent in this either. And neither was Sainristil.
There's a little more going on here so I drew it up.
But it's the same issue as the slant against Stewart, except multiplied because this time the receiver and the quarterback got both sides of the bracket to hop outside with a fakey. Michigan was also ratcheting up the confusion, having Moore take a few steps like he's pass-rushing to temp the quarterback into reading man coverage with no help inside.
As soon as Barrett (#23) takes off after the running back's release the QB should think he has the slant open. He should also be wrong.
The problems start when Michigan's defenders start reading the quarterback's eyes and feet. Haarberg is planted like he's ready to throw outside the same way he did on Harrell earlier.
The QB even pumps that direction to really sell it. And it sells. Watch both Sainristil and Derrick Moore on the replay. Sainristil first.
That pump creates all the space. Moore hops all the way out of the lane. Sainristil freezes just enough to create the kind of separation that translates into mondo yards after the catch.
Note in each of these cases, the way Michigan was playing slants reversed the jobs of their flat and hole coverage defenders off the snap. Remember this?
Instead of the curl/flat guy they were having the hole defender stay outside and prevent a quick seam. This was supposed to be to the defense's advantage, freeing the curl/flat defender from having to worry about anything but quick in-breaking routes until the pattern started to develop. But because those guys didn't get to where they were supposed to, the hole defenders were still holding outside leverage, putting them in a terrible position to defend slants.
After these three events I think Michigan decided to put away this package until they can rep it better. I suspect that they didn't see a lot of slants in Nebraska's film before and figured they were going to be bracketing snags and hitches and the like. They were annoying—slants with YAC are especially dangerous because the guy's momentum is already moving downfield—especially after they got hit with the same for a touchdown against Rutgers. But it's not that hard to fix: rep your DEs in coverage more.
The one that was more concerning involved defensive backs. And that had a lot more to do with the regular rules for zone coverage. It's this play that began the second half. Note again that Nebraska went to 12 personnel, and Michigan is in their 5-2, with Paige in the slot and Sabb high:
The hole defender here is Junior Colson, who had run action to deal with and couldn't have helped even if he did start backpedaling the second the back went to chip Harrell (I kinda want him backpedaling then anyways).
Once again, as it's drawn up there should be a bracket on the receiver (Marcus Washington) this went to. Nebraska only has two receivers in routes, with Keon Sabb playing a middle third where no other receiver is coming, and Will Johnson playing a deep third that's threatened underneath by the slot receiver. We can't see the actual receiver running his route here (a third of the screen is empty backfield so they could center the snap) but you can see everyone else processing events.
There's a replay but it doesn't show anything either. What we should see is some kind of communication between Johnson and Paige as the X receiver breaks inside and Johnson stays with him, with Paige signifying he has the slot in man. When the receiver this is going to and the guys covering him reappear on the screen things look not great. Everybody seems to have some kind of excuse.
Paige wiped out the slot receiver; he is exempted from blame. Barrett had a real job to do. There are coverages where Colson should be deep enough to take this away but I don't fault him for treating the RB as a threat on 1st & 10. This is on the three guys in deep coverage.
The MOST AT FAULT is Keon Sabb. I have some sympathy because it's 28-0 and the ONE THING that Sabb cannot do is allow a receiver to get behind him. But zone coverage is not about castling up like Stephen of Blois. By the time Washington stemmed his route inside, Sabb should have identified that there are only two receivers in the pattern, only one that could be heading into his zone, and only one area he could be running towards. This is a sliding scale—the more Sabb comes down, the more the more the receiver has to bend his route down to get open. When the receiver is catching it 20 yards downfield, and the free safety is still 5 yards back, the free safety has given up too much space.
That doesn't exonerate the cornerbacks, however. This is Advanced Cover 3 stuff we're in now, the part where you learn when and how you are supposed to leave your zone. The rule there is you cannot abandon your post without letting someone know they have to stay with their guy, and before that rule is the rule that you cannot abandon a receiver without passing him off to someone. Meaning Johnson should still be on this guy's hip, and Sabb should be hammering down, if not intercepting.
As for Wallace, the third rule is "Find Work." There is nobody threatening his side of the field, there is no coverage underneath, and there's nobody else who could possibly take away the inside leverage of this receiver. As soon as Wallace dropped and found neither tight end releasing, he needed to look up the receiver coming from the other side of the formation and get on his horse.
Again, it was 28-0 at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, and Nebraska ended up not scoring on this drive. A lot of these guys are just returning to action off injury. We don't need to dwell on this too hard. But now that our opponents saw what Haarberg and his weapons could do against Michigan's favorite zone coverage, it's a good bet we'll see it tested more in the weeks to come. While our secondary does the same, hopefully this will help you figure out what's going on.
October 3rd, 2023 at 9:41 AM ^
Slants! Why did it have to be slants? I hate slants.
October 3rd, 2023 at 10:42 AM ^
Slants. Very dangerous. .... You go first
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
I hate slants, Jacques. I hate 'em!
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:34 PM ^
If only this were the Indiana game.
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:13 PM ^
We don't need no stinkin' slants!
October 3rd, 2023 at 9:51 AM ^
Another outstanding write up. Thanks so much.
October 3rd, 2023 at 9:59 AM ^
My son is in the middle of flag season. I need to keep showing him neck sharpies, but especially this one as he's been playing mostly safety. Good stuff as always, Seth.
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:11 PM ^
Mr. Elbel, seeing as you were born in 1877 I have to imagine your son is well over 100 years old. He probably shouldn't be playing football, anymore.
October 3rd, 2023 at 10:00 AM ^
Thanks as always, Seth, amazing stuff to learn from as always.
In terms of — if not exoneration, at least mitigating circumstances — probably also true that 90% or so of prep and focus for Nebraska will have been for the run, and QB run in particular, so I imagine even at 28-0, even the DBs but especially the EDGEs and LBs were still keying on run threats, no?
October 3rd, 2023 at 10:23 AM ^
I start to worry that Jim is going to hire Seth away from us. OTOH, he can just read Neck Sharpies.
October 3rd, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Coaches know X's and O's and how to attack them via gamefilm. Seth does a great job illustrating it for the fans, but this is nothing revolutionary for the coaches. If coaches need to go to the blog to read it to figure out the scheme, they shouldn't have a job.
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:30 PM ^
This. I can imagine Neck Sharpies being helpful to JV coaches, middle-school coaches, and players new to the game who are trying to teach or understand the basic concepts. Some college teams, by necessity, get super simple, but Michigan is on the opposite extreme: they are operating at a level that you wouldn't see out of the NFL a few decades ago. The most use I could be to Michigan would be charting tendencies, and that is way less fun for way less money over way more hours than my current job.
I love filling out spreadsheets as much as the next nerd, but my writing is the skill I've really focused on developing, and that would be wasted on them.
I explain things coaches already know so that a fan watching the game can pick up on what's going on, because I watch the game as a fan who wants to KNOW what's going on. It's sort of a direct response to the way broadcast announcers mystify the game by talking about minutiae that you can never see on film because that's what they drilled on when they were in college (e.g. Huard and a QB's footwork). What are you going to be able to say about footwork that isn't just repeating Huard or bullshitting like you know something? But you can see a safety bail for a middle third, look for angles, and tease out who's supposed to be covering when the ball goes in the air. And if you make that connection you'll enjoy the game more. That's whom I write for. I'm not leaving MGoBlog until I retire, and even then I'll probably still be writing something.
October 3rd, 2023 at 1:06 PM ^
Thank you for not only the post, Seth, but also the time you take to answer stuff in the comments. Your writing is, to me, what makes your technical analysis posts great.
I hinted at this in a previous Neck Sharpies post I think (I'm sure you get a ton of "suggestions" so just keep doing your thing!) but I would love to be able to watch a game and know where to look - especially against like Indiana or Bowling Green or whatever. Maybe a Neck Sharpies that goes something like: Here's a screenshot of the formation and the play - here's where most people's eyes are - here's where you need to look - this is how you know to look there next time this play comes up. Something like that.
October 3rd, 2023 at 6:49 PM ^
Thanks, I realize that the purpose of this feature is to teach key concepts. I do see these guys identifying problem areas for the team, though. Maybe those are obvious to the coaches, too.
October 3rd, 2023 at 10:36 AM ^
That picture at the top reminds me of the scene in Airplane when everyone is lining up in the aisle to club that passenger who was freaking out.
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:34 PM ^
That's exactly what I thought!!!
October 4th, 2023 at 9:22 AM ^
Get ahold of yourself!!!!
October 3rd, 2023 at 11:04 AM ^
Thanks, Seth. Isn't the Rutgers first series gash the same problem, with McGregor sort of sheepishly occupying his zone but not, you know, covering a receiver there?
my new Mgoblog solitaire game is trying to figure out in advance the subject of this weeks Neck Sharpie. Reading the Monday Podcast summary gives clues. I nailed it this week.
October 3rd, 2023 at 11:07 AM ^
doesn't Minnesota build their entire offense out of RPO slants?
October 3rd, 2023 at 11:15 AM ^
I think a false start should have negated Nebraska's first successful slant. Nebraska's left tackle (Corcoran) started so early that the Chiefs' right tackle even said "Dude, come on."
On a completely unrelated note, the leading picture looks like one of those 80s-era photo effects that rotoscoped and superimposed a series of images of a single figure in motion, except that it's four different guys all lined up to hunt down the same receiver.
October 3rd, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^
I don't see a false start? Which video are you referring to? I looked everywhere and I don't see it?
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
I believe it's the play that Seth labelled Amoeba Fail 2 and pinned on Moore.
You can see Corcoran get into his pass set about a half second early; when center snaps the ball, he's already moved a half yard back. It's not quite as bad as I remembered live, but it is pretty obvious.
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:36 PM ^
Yes. They called this on him later in the game, probably after Michigan pointed out he was getting a head start. This is actually pretty common. And in the NFL a version of it is actually legal, believe it or not:
October 9th, 2023 at 11:09 PM ^
It's not a false start. OL in 2-pt stance hasn’t been flagged for a false start when the back leg goes in motion early AS LONG AS the front foot stays set & trunk doesn’t move.
October 3rd, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Feels like this is a communication issue? On the second example, it seems like Harris should give Stewart a quick yell.
What is our man/zone ratio?
October 3rd, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
I came for the football analysis and got a bonus lesson on two(!) British monarchs. Bravo Seth!
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^
I could do a multi-part series on Henry II. Probably my favorite historical figure. I've actually got a few edits to his Wikipedia page (all from WL Warren, who wrote the definitive secondary source on Curtmantle based on translations of the pipe rolls). It's weird that his son Richard the Lionheart gets such good press when all he did was go gallavanting until it bankrupted the realm. Henry II is the king who took all the ill-begotten power consolidated by the Norman colonizers and put it into institutions of law. He did a lot of bad shit too, but in the process he laid the foundation for English, and ultimately American justice.
And yes I swear my Henry fandom is all about The Law and not that fact that he's history's most famous stout, bookish sports nerd with too much energy.
October 4th, 2023 at 12:36 PM ^
I almost fell out of my chair seeing references to Stephen of Blois and Henry Plantagenet. As a history buff who is most interested in the medieval period especially revolving around the Plantagenet kings. I agree, Henry was far superior to Richard, but I think Richard gets so much good press due to dying at the height of his power and prowess. While he did bankrupt the kingdom it was his dear little brother John who gave the kingdom all away and gets the much deserved bad press he gets, but only because of the Robin Hood legends. Do you happen to listen to Dan Snow's This is History podcast? Its all about the Plantagenet dynasty.
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:39 PM ^
Zone coverage (as Seth explains it) feels to me like handing off calls in tech support.
We all cover for each other, but my area of expertise is my "zone". I'm primarily responsible for people who use X* product. If I take a call and it's about X, I stay with it. If a call gets forwarded and I'm the wrong person (it happens), I forward them to the right team. When everyone's doing their job, in a perfect world, you only have to worry about your responsibilities (but you kinda need to know what everyone else does).
In practice, you know darn well that's not how it goes. It's based on perfect execution and mutual trust, and many places lack both. So I felt bad handing off a call and would often get the next team to ack(nowledge) the ticket, ack the call, I get the customer's callback number, and make extra sure they've been picked up before moving on. It's just how I'd like to be treated, if I was in their place. But this makes me temporarily unavailable to my dedicated clients, so if one of them calls while I'm still talking to someone I shouldn't be talking to, they get forwarded to a different expert as part of overflow coverage. . . it's a breakdown.
What I'm getting at is, one player's mistake becomes another player's uncertainty. Sainristil for example is probably feeling pulled in all different directions because he's seeing his rustier teammates bust their coverages in practice and wondering if he has to cover for them, but doing so would put him out of position for his primary responsibilities. It's like if you tug at just one corner of a brittle net, you get holes everywhere.
*no, not that "X", a placeholder "X"
October 3rd, 2023 at 1:58 PM ^
Is this the same scenario that Rutgers scored on during their opening possession the week prior?
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:31 PM ^
No, on that one Sainristil simply tripped and Moore whiffed the tackle. Jimmies and Joes vs. Xs and Os, as they say.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
Another way to stop covering grass is just to not leave your man until you pass him off to someone else. If 2 recievers enter your zone, oh well, thats just an RPS loss and more on the playcaller. If you leave your zone because you are following a wr, oh well at least that guy is covered.
The players are trying to anticipate maybe a little too much instead of just following the guy that is right in front of them.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:15 PM ^
Sainristil definitely looked like he was still covering the flat when the receiver turned in on ball release. Fuck slants, fuck IU, fuck OSU.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:40 PM ^
Whoa. IU taking a haymaker out of nowhere.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:53 PM ^
Nah, it's warranted. They showed our weakness to the slant to OSU several times back in the aughts and more recently.
October 3rd, 2023 at 3:54 PM ^
I've never thought of Henry II as a defensive player. In my mind, he's all about offense.
October 3rd, 2023 at 5:53 PM ^
He's all linebacker. Thick, smart, reactive, loves to dictate where his battles will occur, and constantly being pulled in every direction. Linebacker is HARD man. Sometimes you're SURE you've got a good run on the Archbishop of Canterbury and then suddenly the guy pulls out a hare shirt and throws downfield. And then when you finally think you've got this guy bottled up your damn linemen hear you say "Will no-one rid me of this turbulent quarterback" and hit him after the whistle.
October 3rd, 2023 at 4:37 PM ^
Is it wrong that my first thought about Stephen of Blois was a flashback to GERG? The Anarchy!
October 3rd, 2023 at 6:58 PM ^
Brian and Seth (and the lot of you), you've taught me so much. I ID'd the issues (Stewart 2x, Moore, Saab/Will) live -- I didn't ding Mike E. Sainristil (cuz that guys wily) so I missed one.
I could never have done that 5 years ago, certainly not to this degree. Thank you!
October 4th, 2023 at 8:30 AM ^
I'm curious if McGregor and Harrell had this same problem or it it was mainly Steward and (to a lesser extent) Moore? Did you catch any plays with the same coverage with them in the game?
October 4th, 2023 at 2:19 PM ^
I didn't. Remember everyone got like 15-20 snaps in this one so it might not have come up.
October 4th, 2023 at 10:52 PM ^
No, no, no, Seth. This is all wrong.
(Just kidding. Had to give you 2010 flashbacks.)
October 6th, 2023 at 9:47 AM ^
Lol! Thank you sensei.
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