Cleveland Browns using power run to neutralize outside linebackers
By Joel W. Cade
Defenses were able to neutralize the West Coast offense, in part, by expanding the role of the outside linebacker to fit smaller and faster personnel.
The game of cat and mouse is played at two levels in the NFL. Both intermingle and any separation is purely artificial. But for the sake of explanation, let’s separate what cannot be separated on the field.
Offenses employed schematic changes to neutralize the outside linebacker. At this point, outside linebackers were coming off the edge untouched to be blocked by smaller running backs. Problem: how to slow down or stop Lawrence Taylor? Schematic answer: Extend the edge.
Offenses began to extend the edge of the formation to spread the outside linebacker further out or put them in assignment conflicts to neutralize their impact. This was done in several ways.
The Washington Redskins under head coach Joe Gibbs decided to extend the line of scrimmage by going to two tight end sets to one side. One tight end would line up next to the tackle, with the second tight end slightly behind in a wing position. This formation extends the outside linebacker further out from the quarterback, meaning he must take a longer route on a blitz. It also creates conflict as the linebacker must decide if he is responsible for the second tight end or the running back.
At the University of Miami another creative solution occurred. Outside linebackers were now smaller and faster, but were they good enough in coverage to defend a running back lined up in the slot? The Ace offense of head coach Dennis Erickson used running backs lined up in multiple positions to put outside linebackers in a bind. It is the same offense that Marshall Faulk terrorized linebackers in as a member of the St. Louis Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf.
The most creative response was the zone run. As offenses became smaller and faster, offensive coordinators like Mike Shanahan and Gary Kubiak created an offense designed to allow smaller, quicker offensive linemen to utilize the defenses’ aggression and speed against itself. But the offense hinged on controlling the fast backside outside linebacker. With the zone-run offense came the zone-read option and the roll-out passing game.
The offense now had an answer schematically. Now it was time to answer in terms of personnel.
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