Breaking Down Shanahan - The Yankee Concept (Preseason Week 3)

[Saca312]

So, football starts today. The Panthers face arguably the best offensive mind in football. So, considering that, I thought it would be helpful to go over one of Shanahan's go-to deep plays: The Yankee Concept.

The concept involves play action and max protection. It's a two man deep crossing combo, with the underneath receiver running a deep over route, while the other one runs a deep post over the top. The goal is to take advantage of speedy receivers and a respectable run game.

The play-action can cause problems with linebackers biting on the hard play-action, and the speedy receivers can pose problems for Cover 1 & Cover 3 defenses and their safeties.

Shanahan loved using this concept last year with Julio Jones. This became a staple for the offense and led to a lot of success.

On the play above, the Falcons sell out the run with a split-zone sift block, The Raiders bite, letting Julio Jones free on the post route. The result is a large gain as Julio's speed proved to be too much for the Raiders defensive backs.

The 49ers were able to take advantage of this concept in the preseason. @Jeremy Igo was hinting it as something the Panthers should watch out for in his thread before, and it certainly will be. 

Take a look below:

49ers in 21 personnel around the 46 yard line. Pierre Garcon is the underneath receiver wide right, while Goodwin's the outside receiver wide left. 

The 49ers sell out the zone-run fake and draw the linebackers in. Goodwin plays out a skinny post as he passes by the defensive back. The Viking safety gets drawn away by McDonald's dig route, letting Goodwin loose with his speed.

The goal of this play is to sell the run and force all responsibility on the safeties and corners, utilizing the receiver's pure speed to outrun and beat the defensive backs in coverage such as cover 1 or cover 3.

One thing to note is how Shanahan likes going for this play around the 40 yard line range. Don't be surprised to see a play like this around that area.

Ideally, the best counter to this style of play would probably be a Tampa 2 inspired type of coverage.

Simply put, the safeties have to be stout. The hope is a smart MLB like Luke Kuechly sniffs out the play for what it is, but that won't always happen. The safeties will be the ones with the main responsibility.

The Strong Safety has to gain plenty of depth to watch for the post route. Getting deep allows him to have plenty of space to adjust based on the opposing WR's speed. The free safety has the responsibility of going after the crosser from the underneath receiver by driving down and stopping him.

So, don't be surprised to see something like this from Shanahan. Hopefully, the Panthers will be able to counter what can be a deadly play.

[Saca312]

However, another perfect counter would be simply shutting down their run game.

If they can't run, chances are they'll go for the pass. If our linebackers drop back in coverage, that helps out the secondary tremendously, plugging down all the underneath routes and allowing more men to cover down deep.

[ecu88]

For those that criticize @Saca312 forget that he is pretty damn good at breaking down concepts, defining the characteristics and traits of teams, plays, etc. He brings offseason homerism and seasonal realism when it is time. Great read Saca!

[panthers55]

1 hour ago, Saca312 said:

So, football starts today. The Panthers face arguably the best offensive mind in football. So, considering that, I thought it would be helpful to go over one of Shanahan's go-to deep plays: The Yankee Concept.

The concept involves play action and max protection. It's a two man deep crossing combo, with the underneath receiver running a deep over route, while the other one runs a deep post over the top. The goal is to take advantage of speedy receivers and a respectable run game.

The play-action can cause problems with linebackers biting on the hard play-action, and the speedy receivers can pose problems for Cover 1 & Cover 3 defenses and their safeties.

Shanahan loved using this concept last year with Julio Jones. This became a staple for the offense and led to a lot of success.

On the play above, the Falcons sell out the run with a split-zone sift block, The Raiders bite, letting Julio Jones free on the post route. The result is a large gain as Julio's speed proved to be too much for the Raiders defensive backs.

The 49ers were able to take advantage of this concept in the preseason. @Jeremy Igo was hinting it as something the Panthers should watch out for in his thread before, and it certainly will be. 

Take a look below:

49ers in 21 personnel around the 46 yard line. Pierre Garcon is the underneath receiver wide right, while Goodwin's the outside receiver wide left. 

The 49ers sell out the zone-run fake and draw the linebackers in. Goodwin plays out a skinny post as he passes by the defensive back. The Viking safety gets drawn away by McDonald's dig route, letting Goodwin loose with his speed.

The goal of this play is to sell the run and force all responsibility on the safeties and corners, utilizing the receiver's pure speed to outrun and beat the defensive backs in coverage such as cover 1 or cover 3.

One thing to note is how Shanahan likes going for this play around the 40 yard line range. Don't be surprised to see a play like this around that area.

Ideally, the best counter to this style of play would probably be a Tampa 2 inspired type of coverage.

Simply put, the safeties have to be stout. The hope is a smart MLB like Luke Kuechly sniffs out the play for what it is, but that won't always happen. The safeties will be the ones with the main responsibility.

The Strong Safety has to gain plenty of depth to watch for the post route. Getting deep allows him to have plenty of space to adjust based on the opposing WR's speed. The free safety has the responsibility of going after the crosser from the underneath receiver by driving down and stopping him.

So, don't be surprised to see something like this from Shanahan. Hopefully, the Panthers will be able to counter what can be a deadly play.

Agree he will run it but don't agree we need the strong safety deep or a Tampa 2 concept. First of all the best defense against the deep route is not giving him time to throw. If we run blitz and they run it is a stuffed play. If they pass we sack him. 

First of all the 49ers don't have Julio Jones and if we play man on the outside with cover 1 on top we can easily defend this. You don't need zone on max protect and only 2 receivers going out and you surely don't need the Luke and the strong safety deep in the event they run.