Houston

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It is a pleasure to be back on the world famous Coach Hoover blog. Today, I’m going to share another concept I learned from the Urban Meyer/Dan Mullen offense. I am not 100% sure of where it came from, but I was once told a story about this awesome play that they called “Houston.” Rumor has it that it was taken from the Minnesota Vikings with the primary purpose of beating Quarters. Ok, well that’s pretty much it for my story. I have made a few adjustments to the original concept, and overall it has been good for me. I view it as a multi-purpose zone coverage beater. It is OK against man, but not my favorite call. In this article, I will explain the Houston concept as a drop-back pass, show you how it can be effective against different coverages, and then show a few different play-action variations.

Below is the basic play out of a 3 x 1 formation.

As stated before, this play is designed to beat Quarters coverage. The outside receiver to the field runs at 12-yard Curl. The number two receiver to the field runs what we call a “Bender.” He bursts up the hash (slight outside release) and reads the area in front of him. If there is no safety or he feels that he can run by the safety, he will do so. If the safety plays deep over the top of our guy, he will “bend” inside at 12 yards at a controlled speed. The number three receiver runs a Flat route and wants to expand quickly, throttle once he gets outside of the widest receiver, and finally sit out on the numbers if the ball is still in the QBs hand. The backside receiver can run an automatic route, or we can tag him. The default route we want on the backside is a 7-step Speed-Post. We think of a Speed-Post as a deep Slant, where we want to hit the receiver coming out of his break, before he gets to the hash, and at about 17 yards deep. We should only throw this route if the weak-side hash is clear. Ideally, this receiver can recognize a hash safety, and keep his route very skinny. Our Speed-Post will also convert to a Fade vs. a Clouded CB or inside-leverage man. The RB checks his protection responsibilities (basic 6-man half-slide with RB dual-reading frontside), and runs a Check-down route off the Mike, but breaks weak if covered.

Our QB is taught to look through the middle of the field to check for rotation. Houston is a strong-side concept for us, and we want to work strong-side unless we can’t. We will build in backside throws if the coverage rolls strong, otherwise, we will stay strong-side and the pattern will stretch the coverage and give us an open receiver. Based on the specific coverage looks, the QB can accelerate his decision-making process. I will now go through some situations and explain what we want to do.

Vs Cover 2, Sam wall

Against a 2-high look, we will work strong. QB will look through the middle and see if the Bender can win. Here, the Safety is bailing deep, but the Sam is walling off the route from underneath. This tells the QB to come down and go Flat to Curl. The CB is in a bind, and we should have an open guy. Coaching point for the Curl is to recognize the under-coverage and not run into danger (Curl player) if we are open outside. The only hope for the defense is for the Mike to fly out to the Curl, which leaves us with our Check-down. We want our RB to replace the Mike if he vacates the middle, or work to the weak-side if there is coverage on the back.

Vs Cover 2 Mike wall/Tampa 2

Against a 2-high look, we will work strong. QB will look through the middle and see if the Bender can win. Here, the Safety is bailing deep, but the Mike has dropped deep to take it away from underneath. From here, there are two options. The safest bet is to just go to the Check-down right away, knowing that the RB will replace the Mike, and work weak if the Will tries to match him up. The other option is to go Flat to Curl then back to the Check-down. The first option is simpler, but requires a RB that can win. The second option takes longer, but you may end up getting a nice chunk with the Curl.

Vs Quarters

Against Quarters, a couple of things could happen, depending on how the defense plays their safeties. Here, the FS stays on the weak hash. This tells the QB that we have the advantage to the field, so we will work strong. The Bender will either run by the Safety (if Safety stays low) or bend inside if the Safety bails. Either way, the Bender is our first look. I tell the QBs that we only want this if it is obviously there because we have other routes that could be available. After the Bender, we go Flat to Curl. This really puts the Sam in a bind, and we usually get the Curl open. If the Sam covers the Flat and the Mike gets out to the Curl, we go to the Check-down.  

Vs Strong-side Rotation (Cover 3, or Quarters with FS working to the Middle)

Against a strong-side rotation, our QB should hit the Speed-Post. If the Will gets underneath it, we then go Check-down to the RB. If the defense shows rotation early with possible pressure, we want to flip the protection.

Vs Weak-side Rotation

               

Against a weak-side rotation, we will work strong-side. QB will peek at the Bender (which will stay on the hash if it is open) and take it if it’s obviously there. After that we will go Flat to Curl off the Sam. If the Sam covers the Flat and the Mike gets out to the Curl, we go to the Check-down. 

Vs Man-Free

Against a Man-Free look, the QB should treat it as strong-side rotation and go weak. Our Speed-Post has to win. We could also hand-signal our single-side WR to run a different route (Comeback, Post-Corner, etc…) if we feel something would be better.

Vs Cover 0

Against a Cover 0 look, we will alert our receivers that something is up. Our Speed-Post will now break at 5-steps, and the Bender will now become a locked Seam. This allows our QB to know exactly where the receivers will be in what is likely a max-blitz, get-the-ball-out-fast situation. Our QB wants to pick our best match-up and get the ball out.

Vs Cover 2-Man

Against 2-man, we change our attack a little bit. Since we run this play out of 3 x 1 or motion to 3 x 1, it should be easy to identify the coverage. Our single-side WR will convert to a Fade, and should attract the FS with his outside-release. The Bender will have man coverage trailing him, but with wide safeties we can take a shot down the middle. If the Bender does not look good, we go to the RB who is 1-on-1 with the Mike.

Play-Action

Jet Motion Play-Action

Using Jet motion is a great way to get the defense looking into the backfield. We will sell the Jet-Sweep (after the fake our Slot will run a Flare), then take a quick 2-step drop off it and throw from the pocket. Our QB will still look through the middle to see if a) the Free Safety moves with the motion, giving us the backside Speed-Post, or b) the coverage stays 2-high and the Strong Safety is flat-footed, allowing the Bender to run by him. If the deep routes are taken away, we will go Curl to Flare. The Jet-action tends to pull the OLB up to the Flare, and we will get the Curl sometimes. Most of the time, however, we will hit the backside Speed-Post.  

Zone Triple Play-Action

Another play-action variation is off of the zone-read with a pitch back. We bring the backside Slot in motion and it appears he is going into pitch-phase, but then continues on a Flare. The QB fakes to the RB, then takes a quick 2-step drop after the fake. The read progression is exactly the same as with the Jet-action version mentioned above.

Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. My goal in this article was to show one of my favorite pass concepts, how it can be effective against different looks, and show a few play-action variations. Hopefully you have a solid understanding of the play, and can use your own creativity to adapt it to what you do in your offense if you feel it can help you. Best of luck to you next season!

60 Y Curl from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Links

New blog, Football Know How, talking about backside tags in the passing game here.

Coach's Corner Radio Show

I was recently allowed the opportunity and privilege to be a guest on the Coach's Corner radio show hosted by John Anderson and talked about Curl-Flat, Spacing, and Ball Security.  There are podcasts of great NFL, college, and high school coaches that are definitely worth checking out: http://compusportsradio.podomatic.com/

Curl-Flat

Curl-Flat is possibly the best play in football.  It is a horizontal stretch play designed to put the defensive Flat player in a bind of trying to cover both the Curl and the Flat route.  If the play is properly executed, the Flat player will be unable to do both.  Curl-Flat is a concept that has been around for quite a while and it has stood the test of time.  Its cruel effectiveness is not hindered in any way by its familiarity; rather, the design of the play makes it almost impossible for Cover 3 defenses to stop, even if they practice against it extensively.

Cover 3 remains a popular coverage, so this play continues to be a main staple in passing offenses today.  It is not the best play against Cover 2 or Man coverage, but it is not a wasted play against those coverages either.  It also has a couple of ways that it works well vs. Quarters coverage. 

Let's examine the play against Cover 3.  The Curl route itself attacks a Cornerback whose primary responsibility is the deep 1/3 zone--nothing can get behind him.  The CB will usually be in "Off" or soft coverage (5+ yards) to help him to stay on top of the WR and not get beat deep.  If the Wide Receiver runs the route correctly, the CB cannot make a play on the ball.  

Keys for the WR on the Curl route vs. "Off" coverage

1.  Threaten him deep.  The WR must look like he is about to run a Go route right by the CB.  A WR must have enough speed to make the CB respect the threat of the Go route so that he can get the cushion needed to catch the pass in front of him. 

2.  Eyes downfield (not looking down at the ground where he is about to stop).3.  Keep your arms pumping.  Arms pumping fast help to create the illusion that you are trying to run by the CB. The arms cannot stop pumping or drop to the ground before your break, because this tells the CB, "Hey, I'm about to stop."

4.  Don't turn your head early to the QB until you drive out of your break (this is another signal to the CB that you are about to stop).
5.  A good, sharp break, coming back to the QB and to the ball under control.  It is called a Curl route, but if you literally "curl" it and run a big, lazy loop, the CB will be able to pick it off.
6.  Must have inside leverage.  If the CB is lined up inside of the WR, the WR must attack his inside # with his route to get inside leverage (position).

Some people run the Curl route as a 14 yard Post-Curl (with inside foot up): five steps vertical, then four steps (two big, two little) to the Post and break it off to the Curl.  I have run it this way before with success, but I do not believe it is the best way to run the Curl route.  It may be that WRs are turning their head too early after they make their Post cut, but I have seen more CBs make Interceptions off the Post-Curl variation than if the WR runs right at the CB.  The CB has help on the Post, so he can take a chance and jump the route, but he is on an island with the Go route, so he has to fear the vertical stem more and give it more cushion than he would like to.  The vertical stem is a nine step route (seven big, two little) with the inside foot up and comes out to a depth of 12 yards.

Flat Player
The Curl route alone will not be enough to beat Cover 3, because the Flat player can get underneath the route if he is not controlled.  The label of the "Flat" player in Cover 3 is somewhat misleading.  If the Flat player runs directly to the Flat as soon as he reads pass (which a lot of high school teams still do), the offense can severely exploit the defense.  A well-coached Cover 3 defense recognizes its primary weakness: the deep Seam area between the three deep defenders, and will coach its Flat players to help keep receivers from quickly attacking that area.  The Flat player must 1) collision and stop vertical push by any inside WR, then 2) help cover the Curl area, and finally 3) break late to the Flat area.  

Modern defenses are designating the area from 0-5 yards deep as a No-Cover Zone.  Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio describes this in the 2004 Nike Coach of the Year Manual: "In any zone coverage, the no-cover zone is five yards from the line of scrimmage.  If we are playing defense, we never want a player standing in the no-cover zone.  We want our defenders to be ten yards deep with the ability to break back into the no-cover zone to make the tackle."

The Problem with Curl-Flat

I believe that most teams do not run Curl-Flat as well as it could be run.  The problem is that they aren't putting the Flat player in a bind.  The play is designed to be a horizontal stretch, but teams split their outside WR out so wide that there is no horizontal stretch.  Also, some teams run the Curl route deeper than 12 yards, which affects the timing of the play.  I believe the play works best with quicker timing.  The quicker timing also keeps the Hook player from being able to get to the Curl route.  The Hook player is the "Danger" player, as he is unaccounted for in the QB's read.  

We used to run the Post-Curl variation of the Curl route at 14 yards and have the WR find the window.  The problem with that was that the Hook player had time to get to the Curl and protection became an issue as the QB had to wait for the WR to work off of the Flat player and then off the Hook player to get open.  I prefer the Curl route to be shorter and the timing to be quicker to make the "Danger" player a non-factor.

Film Room

Let's look at a cut-up of the San Francisco 49ers from the Steve Young, Jerry Rice, and Terrell Owens era (although Young is not the QB on this play).  Jerry Rice is running the Curl route and the defense rolls strong to Cover 3 to Rice's side.  It's a different Cover 3 variation in that the SS is rolling down to be the Hook player instead of the Flat player.   The ILB is normally the Hook and "Danger" player in Cover 3.  The SS is the "Danger" player here and he is already deeper and wider than an ILB located in the box would be.  Since the "Danger" player is now starting closer to the Curl route, it makes the quick timing of the concept even more crucial.

The Curl-Flat variation shown here is not as good vs. Cover 3 as if the TE were to run 5 yard Hook route over the ball between the Hook players, normally the ILBs.  The Seam route by the TE is however a good call vs. Quarters and it is better vs. Cover 2 than the Hook route.  

The reason I chose this cut-up was to illustrate the bind that the tighter WR split puts on the Flat player.  The Flat player must be stretched horizontally to be put into a bind.  He can sit on the Curl route, but while the Swing route is being run, he must think that, "If I don't come off this Curl route, the RB is going to catch it and run up the sidelines for 6 points!"  If the Flat player doesn't have this fear, then the play will not be as effective.

The QB must look at the TE first, whether he has the Seam route (shown below) or the 5 yard Hook route.  This helps to hold the Hook player.  He then can read the Flat player and throw off of his movement or read it as a progression: Seam, Curl, Swing.  The QB takes a 5 step with a quick hitch up.

The Post backside is usually the way to go vs. Cover 3 strong-side rotation, but when you are a 49ers QB not named Montana or Young and it's 3rd and 10, you are more likely to try to get it to the best WR to ever play the game.

60 Y Curl from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.