FanPost

Converting 3rd and long by Andy Reid

Rich Schultz

From the FanPosts -Joel

When you're a defensive coordinator and the opposing offense is facing a 3rd and long, you do what any sane coach in the NFL will do: drop 8 guys to cover.

Bill Davis (Eagles' defensive coordinator) did this against the Chiefs on Thursday night and Andy Reid had one of the best strategies I've ever seen (since I've been watching the Chiefs and how horrible those offenses were before, whereas anything that Andy does is awesome) against this cover defense.

In this post I will show you how Andy countered that 8-man cover with one of the simplest but effective plays in his playbook.

Sam Monson also made a great breakdown of these plays in this PFF article.

First big play, Chiefs facing 3rd-and-15 from their own 15-yard line. TE Sean McGrath and 2 WRs (DMC and D-Bowe) on the right side, one back (Cyrus Gray) and Donnie Avery on the left side. Eagles come with a 3-man rush and they drop 8 guys to cover.

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In this play every player not named Smith and Avery runs straight to find a man to block. It is a perfect play. Avery gets into open space with four blockers in front of him and converts a very difficult 3rd and forever.

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You can see here how Avery is the only receiver looking for the ball and Gray, McGrath, McCluster and Bowe are all looking for a guy to block. Also how quickly and easily was Eric Fisher beat? He really needs to improve if he wants to continue playing in this offense. This is an excellent screen without facing much pressure (although Smith did face pressure thanks to Fisher).

The next play, 3rd-and-19 at the Chiefs 35-yard line. Again one back (Gray), Avery on the left side and this time 3 WRs on the right side (Junior Hemingway, DMC and Bowe). This time the Eagles bring 4 rushers and drop 7 to cover. Same thing happens.

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This time the line did a good job blocking and the WRs plus Gray did a superb job blocking in the open space to make Avery look really fast (which he is).

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McCluster and Bowe with the crucial blocks for Avery to make it to the first down.

So Andy made a crossing-route screen using the speed of Donnie Avery, the great accuracy on short throws of Smith and the great blocking ability of Gray, Bowe and McGrath. It's the perfect personnel to make that play.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.