Pitt’s Jet Sweep + Inside Zone
I have been watching a good amount of Pitt’s 2016 film lately. They did several interesting things under OC Matt Canada (who just got the LSU OC job).
To me, the most interesting thing they do is the way they package Jet Sweep with their Inside Zone (IZ) run game. It is unique to me in that they are executed the EXACT same.
Pitt runs the Jet going one direction, with the IZ going the other way. From looking at several clips of this it appears that Part of the team is blocking IZ, while others are blocking for the Jet.
For example, imagine Jet going Right, with IZ (and the Rb) going left.
Everyone from the RT position over toward the left, will be blocking IZ Left.
Everyone from the Right TE position and/or H back Position will be blocking for the Jet .
Notice I said “position” to describe each spot. That is because Pitt does a lot of unbalanced formations, and often a tackle will be over next to the other tackle, and end up as the 3rd man to that side, or “the TE position”. His follows the rules as if he was a TE.
Below are some diagrams to describe what I am talking about.
The beauty of doing it this way, gives the defense NOTHING they can key on and read to get all of their hats to the football. There is nothing tipping the offense’s hand. Box players have to play/respect the IZ. DBs/Force players have to respect the Jet. DE’s get caught in between, seeing TE/H Backs run one way and OL go the other way, unsure of who has the ball, and still having some responsibility for QB boot if the Jet and IZ were both faked.
Below I will go through some clips of this concept. You will see it really divides the defense as players have to honor their responsibilities and it isolates defenders, forcing them to try to make open field tackles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOMORGVFRJk&t=3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pj4c0yQ3Ek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BGlakMvZ-Q&t=43s
My favorite thing about this play series, is that it completely cuts the defense in half. In the 3 clips above you see defenders being fooled by where the ball is and it reduces the ability of the defense to pursue the ball. I think it also makes the Jet Sweep a more viable option than just “hope it gets the edge”. Because the LBs have to honor the Inside Zone action, it removes them from being inside out flow players on the Jet. Even if the defense is able to force the Jet to cut it up, there aren’t LBs sitting there to blow it up… they are trying to tackle the RB on the other side of the field.
Great concept from Pitt, and I look forward to seeing LSU run it next season. I am curious to see the challenge it presents to those NFL SEC defenses.
