Each week Coach Bass brings his 30 years of NFL coaching experience to USA Football. Email Coach Bass your question.
Steve from Salinas sent the following question:
Coach Bass, I'd like to ask you how you'd attack a 6-2 defense with the I-Formation. We ran extremely well against 5-3 and 5-2 defenses, but we've struggled against the 6-2. And the team we play in the championship game on Saturday runs the 6-2. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Steve,
When you face a defensive scheme of this type, you have a few adjustments that you can make and still retain your base Power I offense. If you approach your offensive scheme from a mathematical standpoint, then you can start to design plays that have a chance for success.
One way to start is to play some of the game with two tight ends. Counting the FB, this gives you eight blockers who can account for the eight-man front. You can get a helmet on the front six and the two backers.
This type of formation also gives you the ability to run to either side of the formation with equal strength. You have the option of running either to or away from the flanker, who can give you a blocker downfield on one of the defensive backs.
If a second tight end is not a good option for you based on the players you have on your squad, you can achieve the same mathematical configuration by running a slot formation.
Have your two wide receivers on one side of the ball and have the flanker line up near the tackle, where he can hinder the movement of the outside defensive player on the line. In this alignment, they will either move one of the defensive backs to the slot side or loosen up one of the backers making it easier for you to run to the opposite side.
If the defensive end is playing wide, making running wide a difficult situation, then you can change up the blocking. Have your offensive tackle and tight end block down on the first defensive lineman to their inside, pull the guard and either have him turn up in the hole and block the LB when he shows or have him kick out the DE. If the guard is blocking out on the DE, the FB would lead up for the LB. When the guard is turning up for LB, the FB should be the one to kick out the DE. The tailback should either follow the guard or FB who is leading up the field.
The other consideration is to develop a short passing game to your two wide receivers. They will be one-on-one with the defensive back; the quarterback would use a three-step drop. The routes could be a 4-yard slant route or a 4-yard hitch route.
Faking the lead play up in the middle will hold the two backers and you should find that the tight end can settle over the middle and be open for an easy pass with seven offensive players in position to protect the QB.
Try to achieve a numerical standoff where you know you can put a blocker on every front eight players by formation adjustment or by personnel changes.
One thing that I always did when coaching offense was to always have a sheet with every defense we anticipated meeting during the year and then drawing up the play against each of them. So when we met a team, we already had an idea of the adjustments we were going to use.
You might want to consider doing that during this offseason so you will feel well prepared prior to the start in the fall. Good luck.
Coach Tom Bass
Coach Tom Bass, the technical writer and advisor for USA Football, is a 30-year NFL coach who has also authored several books, including "Play Football the NFL Way" - the first "how to" book ever authorized and published by the NFL. Coach Bass is happy to personally autograph his books to you. Book ordering information can be found at http://www.coachbass.com/.
