The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans kicked off the 2020 NFL season last night and boy was it fun to learn a thing or two from watching it.
I noticed a handful of concepts that caught my eye that can be helpful not only to those wanting to learn the game but for those who would like to use these concepts in their chosen video game.
Perhaps the biggest thing that stood out the most was Andy Reid’s creative use of screens.
Reid will be the first one to tell you that he doesn’t mind using other coach’s ideas if it helps his team win so some of the concepts below are both old and new.
What matters is they work and that Reid understands the idea of giving the ball to your best players however you can.
The first screen play is to tight end Travis Kelce. Reid set this play up earlier with a run using the same formation and motion from Mecole Hardman.
.@TKelce takes the screen pass inside Houston territory. #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #HOUvsKC on NBC
📱: Watch free on NFL App // Yahoo Sports App: https://t.co/JE1vatFZxv pic.twitter.com/ooIz7hbLZk— NFL (@NFL) September 11, 2020
The next play is a goal line screen for six. Good stuff.
The Chiefs motioning into Wide Bunch to run Goal Line Screen pic.twitter.com/yOSsDLbMEc
— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) September 11, 2020
The Flat Screen and NCAA Football 06
I want to give special attention to the Flat Screen concept.
As you see above, it is designed for the third innermost skill player to run a Flat route while the other two receivers run upfield to block for him.
A backside Post-Flat combo helps if there are too many defenders on the other side.
In NCAA 06, you don’t need actual blockers for your flat route, you just need higher routes above it to distract defenders, especially against Zone coverage.
Once the Flat route gets the ball, his teammates will block for him anyway.
The first example is Gun Trips Over – Trips Attack. From the right hash, the Flat route is a great Man and Zone beater.
Against Zone, X and Z run deep routes to distract defenders leaving more room for S to do his thing.
This is as close as we can get to the Flat Screen the Chiefs use but it works great.
The next example is also from the Gun Trips Over formation called Flood.
The same ideas apply, S runs a Flat route while X and Z run deeper routes.
This Flat route, although slightly slanted, is still great against Man and Zone.
The last example is Gun 5-Wide – Deep Outs. This time R runs a Shallow route to the left while X and S run deeper routes above.
This too will give R enough space underneath to make a play against Man and Zone.
You can use sub packages to get (most) your best players in this position to catch the ball and make a play.
Also, regarding the Flat route, this concept works best with a shorter Flat route. A 3-yard Flat works better than a 5-yard Flat.
The biggest thing to remember is that a Flat or Shallow route needs a couple of deeper routes above it to give it room to attack.
Notice how these three examples did not have actual blocking receivers, but they are not needed, at least initially. Like I said earlier, the deeper routes will attempt to block one the Flat or Shallow get the ball.
There are several more plays like this in NCAA 06 so what I jsut wrote barely scratches the surface.
The funny thing is, I’ve never tried Trips Over – Flood because I was afraid the slant out would go too deep. But I definitely use the screen and “flat screen” concept. I only use screens against zone – I’ve never had luck against man in any NCAA game.
They do work better against zone but they’re not useless against Man either. The pseudo-screens in this post are potent against everything.