As stated above, he wants to cut off that man’s block and get vertical quickly. The runner takes a lateral or slight delay step, takes the handoff from the quarterback, and follow’s the pulling guard’s block.He can block him whatever direction is best it’s the runningback’s job to find the open lane. He pulls and “leads,” meaning he retreats, looks first for the fullback’s block to cut off of, and then heads into the crease looking to block the first defender that shows up - typically the playside linebacker. The final piece of the puzzle is the backside guard (sometimes nowadays a tackle).He uses a “kick out” technique, simply meaning he blocks him from the inside to out, in order to create Lombardi’s famous “seal” going the other way. First, the fullback (or, more often nowadays, some kind of H-back or other player) is responsible for blocking the otherwise unblocked end man on the line of scrimmage (“EMLOS”). They can do this because they get some help to the playside.To use Vince Lombardi’s phrase, the idea is to get so much force going that direction that they completely seal off the backside. For the guards and center, that includes anyone “heads up” or covering them, but for the playside tackle, he does not want to block the defensive end or other “end man on the line of scrimmage.” These lineman use their leverage to get good angles to crush the defensive lineman, and the fact that they don’t have to block a couple of defenders on the playside frees them to get good double teams and block the backside linebackers. The lineman to the side the run is going (playside) essentially “down” block, meaning they take the man to the inside of them.
#X and o football plays full#
This gives the H-Back/TE a clear advantage, as he is coming to kick out the defender on his heels at full speed.Redskins great John Riggins made a living off the "Power O" playThe play itself is very basic: Meanwhile, the defender unblocked by the offensive line may see the play as zone read and play a feather technique to prevent the QB from keeping the ball. Split Zone creates a natural crease because inside linebackers must flow downhill play side. The running back steps downhill for the ball and has a 3-way go: continue outside (if every defender has been reached), plant his foot and press up field once defenders spill over the top, or see the cutback lane and attack the crease backside. The kick block makes the play a bit like a trap. However, the quarterback is not making a read on this defender instead, an H-Back, Fullback, or Tight End will come across the formation for a kick out block, creating a natural crease for the running back to cut back. Like Zone Read, the end man on the line of scrimmage is left unblocked by the offensive line. Split Zone (like inside zone or zone read) entails all lineman taking a play side zone step, or stepping with their play side foot first toward where the run is designed to go. Here, the Seahawks run Split Zone against the Packers for a Touchdown from Shotgun in 11 personnel (1RB 1TE 3 WR): Split Zone can be run from both Shotgun and under center. It is a great complimentary concept because it aligns with an offense’s zone principles but gives the defense a different look and blocking scheme. With many NFL teams using zone blocking concepts to run the ball, the Split Zone is a variation of both inside zone as well as the zone read.