The Tailback Blast
THE BLAST PLAY IS OUR ISOLATION PLAY WHERE ONE BACK, IN THIS CASE THE FB, LEADS ANOTHER BACK, THE TB, THROUGH THE HOLE. LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, WE RUN THIS PLAY AT THE SOFT SPOT ON THE LOS ISOLATING ON A LB'ER.
WE DO NOT RUN THIS PLAY MUCH AGAINST AN EIGHT OR NINE MAN FRONT. THE EIGHT MAN FRONT IS TOO MUCH LIKE A GOAL LINE DEFENSE. HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU SEEN THE TB GET THE BALL ON THE GOAL LINE AND BE STOPPED SHORT? VERSUS THE EIGHT MAN FRONT THE BACKS HAVE TO HIT THE HOLES FASTER THAN THE TB (LINED UP 7 YARDS OFF) CAN GET THERE FROM HIS DEPTH OR INCORPORATE OTHER TYPES OF DECEPTION. A DIRECT HANDOFF TO THE TB GIVING THE DEFENSE A SIMPLE READ IS TOO EASILY DEFENDED FROM AN EIGHT MAN, GAP CONTROL DEFENSE. IF YOU CAN SUCCESSFULLY RUN THE BLAST PLAY CONSISTENTLY AGAINST AN EIGHT MAN FROM, YOU CAN RUN ANY OFFENSIVE SCHEME YOU WANT BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE HORSES.
WE DO RUN THE BLAST AGAINST 7 MAN FRONTS. REMEMBER THAT SEVEN MAN FRONTS ARE USUALLY MAN-ON DEFENSES. THE NORMAL 4 - 3 ALIGNMENT ALLOWS US TO RUN DOUBLE COMBO BLOCKS FROM THE UNBALANCED FORMATION WHEN THE PLAY IS RUN TO THE STRONG SIDE. TO US A COMBO BLOCK MEANS THAT THE SG AND THE IOT, FOR INSTANCE, DRIVE INTO THE DE ON THE LOS. THE SG STOPS THE CHARGE OF THE DE AND THE IOT BLASTS THE MAN DOWN TO THE INSIDE. THE IOT THEN SLIDES OFF THIS HIT TO SCREEN OFF A LB'ER. TWO BLOCKS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. IT'S GREAT.
WITH FLEA MOTION TO THE STRONG SIDE, WE PICK UP AN EXTRA BLOCKER. THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT FLEA MOTION IS THAT MOST DEFENSES DO NOT ADJUST THAT MUCH TO THE MOTION UNTIL THE QB EXTENDS HIS MOTION OUTSIDE THE SE. BY NOT ADJUSTING, THE DEFENSE ALLOWS US TO PUT ANOTHER BLOCKER IN FRONT OF THE BALL CARRIER. THE WB POSITIONS HIMSELF TO SCREEN THE DE TO THE OUTSIDE WHEN THE BALL IS SNAPPED. THIS IS THE SAME TECHNIQUES HE HAS PERFORMED ON OTHER PLAYS IN THE OFFENSE. IF THE DE ALIGNS NOSE ON THE OOT, THE WB MOVES TO BLOCK THE SS FROM THE INSIDE OUT. WITH NO ONE NOSE ON THE OOT, HE WOULD BLOCK THE FIRST MAN TO HIS INSIDE ON OR OFF THE BALL (IN THIS CASE THE LB'ER) AND THE SE WOULD "COMBO" WITH THE OOT. THE SE COMES DOWN TO BLOCK THE LB'ER. THIS CAN BE A DEVASTATING BLOCK FOR THE LB'ER (BECAUSE HE IS SO INTENT ON READING THE KEYS IN FRONT OF HIM) THAT HE DOES NOT SEE THE SE COMING FROM THE OUTSIDE WITH A FIVE YARD HEAD START AND A GREAT ANGLE. THE ANGLE AND THE FIVE YARDS MORE THAN MAKE UP FOR ANY SIZE DIFFERENTIAL THERE MAY BE BETWEEN THE SE AND THE LB'ER.
DUE TO THE FLEA MOTION RESULTING IN THE EXTRA BLOCKER, THE FB LEADS THE TB THROUGH THE HOLE. IF ANYONE IS HAVING TROUBLE WITH THEIR BLOCK HE CAN HELP TO EXPLODE THE HOLE. IF PEOPLE ARE BLOCKED, HE LOOKS FOR EITHER THE HB OR FS SUPPORT IN THE OFF TACKLE HOLE. THE TB READS THE BLOCK OF THE FB AND RUNS TO DAYLIGHT OFF HIS BLOCK.
IF THE 4 - 3 DEFENSE SLIDES TO THE STRONG SIDE OF THE FORMATION, THE PLAY BECOMES EVEN MORE EFFECTIVE BECAUSE THE DE IS TOO FAR REMOVED BY ALIGNMENT TO BE EFFECTIVE. WE ARE STILL ABLE TO MAINTAIN OUR DOUBLE COMBO BLOCKING ADVANTAGE AND THE LB'ER IS STILL BLOCKED BY THE SE. IN ADDITION, INSTEAD OF RUNNING THE BLAST AT THE S LB'ER, WE CAN EASILY RUN IT AT THE M LB'ER BECAUSE HE IS NOW ALIGNED OVER THE GUARD. WE ALSO CAN INCORPORATE OTHER BLOCKING COMBINATIONS AT THE 2 HOLE AS WELL.
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