Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Thl, when I said quick hitters, I was thinking about NE and their slot (now in Denver), and how his patterns should be open all game against a box 8/9 or even 10. I wasn't talking about dinks and dunks as in 4 yarders. More like 6-7 yds, to get over the LBs who are essentially camped out on LOS...eg, SEA. Had we had a slot receiver, we would have gotten SEA out of the box 8/9 because, we would have killed them with quick hitting 6-7 yd passes. If it took 2 more yds to get over the LBs, then so be it. But SEA played darn near the entire game with virtually 10 guys either on or at the LOS. Just little dinks over the LBs head was the distance I had in mind. It was open all game.
Now had we done that, in time SEA would have moved off the LOS and we would have seen a more conventional 4/3 or 3/4. Then we turn frank loose. Point is we didn't have that pass last yr, and I mean I can't remember ONE of those thrown. Whatever, it was disgraceful not to have had that in our playbook. This yr we have the talent for it and if roman still doesn't use it...then fire him.
Brady sees 8-10 man fronts? And, Welker is one of the best and shiftiest route runners in the league. There's a reason why he seems to always be open. There's only 1 Welker.
When I hear "quick hitters" I think of 1 step and 3 step drops. An offense cannot and should not do that against 8 man fronts. When the 49ers see 8 man fronts (they don't always do), they are also getting press alignment on their WRs. CBs press to throw off the timing of routes. From what you are suggesting, Kap, facing 8 man front, takes a 3 step drop (quick hitter) and has to wait just a tad longer for the route to develop as the WR has to beat the press. By that time the defensive linemen see the three step drop, stop their pass rush, and get their hands up. This is what all defensive linemen are taught to do. When a QB takes a 1 or 3 step drop, get those hands up to knock the pass down.
I agree with jonnydel that adding another 2 yards to the route depth isn't going to do anything. When LBs read pass (post snap), they don't just stand there and continue to crowd the line of scrimmage, they get depth on their drops to play passing lanes (zone) or man up to their coverage assignment.
If we are talking specifically about beating SEA, then short range passing can work, but I feel it's better to be thrown after the LBs hit their zone landmarks in cover3 (not quick hitters). Kap drops back (5 step or 7 step), gets good pass protection, then because there are only 4 underneath zone defenders to cover 6 underneath zones, find the soft spot. The longer the play can be prolonged, the more open WRs become against underneath zone coverage as the LBs sag further away from the line of scrimmage, spreading themselves thin. SEA knows this and have drafted some of the fastest LBs in the league to cover more ground in pass coverage.
I feel that short passes from quick hitters (1 step, 3 step) are a no no versus 8 man fronts and will not force defenses to stop going 8 in the box. To get them to stop going 8 in the box, make them pay by beating them intermediate or deep, somehow. To execute short range passing, get good pass pro on 5/7 step drops, then allow the underneath zone defenders to get stressed by having to cover so much grass area for such an extended period of time. Allow the WRs to find the soft spots.
jonnydel, in the example you showed above, it looks like Staley is going for the chop block as Kap looks for that block to open up a passing lane. What ended up happening on that play?