Two Man Beater Concepts from the 2023 Rams
Beating man requires getting the ball out fast, routes that run away from defenders, and separation.
Today is a quick look at two man beaters from the 2023 Los Angeles Rams in the first matchup agains the Seattle Seahawks. These two plays are worth looking at because beating man is essential. Personally, I am always curious as to how teams build man beaters into their concepts.
Both of these plays occur on 3rd down, a popular down for man coverage. Beating man requires getting the ball out fast, routes that run away from defenders, and separation. All of those will be present here.
Man Beater Number One
It’s 3rd & 4 and the defense is playing MOFO with man underneath. The offense has a nice crosser dialed up off the in-motion but the ball ends up on a classic man beater route. The out-and-in from the TE is where the ball ends up, but the design of the play has multiple answers to man.
First, the WR in motion is good design because the motion switches the WR from the number one receiver to the number two. This quick switch gives the defense the opportunity to communicate who has who and potentially mess it up. That doesn’t happen so the low crosser is dealt with inside leverage that takes away the route.
It appears that this route was where the QB looked to first. The reverse whip route by the TE looks to be second. Initially, the TE is facing a man defender with inside leverage. So something has to give for the route to get open. As it would be, the defender overreacts to the out break and loses the inside leverage he had. The ball placement is immaculate, and the catch clutch. Result…seven yard gain and the first down.
Man Beater Number Two
The defense is now in a MOFC structure. Again the Rams have a WR coming in on a motion though this time into a bunch formation. The defense is playing straight man to the bunch — they don’t switch anything off.
The motioning WR’s route is impressive — he motions to become the new number three receiver and runs a burst corner route. The issue for the cornerback is he has to chase him from behind and has to be worried about this receiver running all across the field. That would’ve been a good option too, but the route is a corner.
The five man pressure from the defense isn’t an issue, and the QB knows exactly where he wants to go with the ball. One of the benefits of man for the QB is that there is less of a worry about defenders keying his eyes. Against this MOFC structure, all the QB needs to worry about is the free safety. With the corner route breaking away from that safety, that worry dissipates.
This gives a tremendous security in the decision making process for the QB. His decision making becomes simplified — find the best run-away route. Then his only job becomes throwing a ball that will give his WR a chance. He can throw with air without worry, and without all the accuracy that zone requires.
That’s not to say accuracy isn’t a major factor against man, in general. But on a route like the corner you can see that the WR’s separation and leverage on the cornerback gives him space to work and adjust to the ball. For example, if the ball had been thrown a little lower toward the line of scrimmage, he’d have been able to work down to it. That’s not necessary as Stafford is a beast of a QB and throws a dime. Result…first down and an explosive play.
Until tomorrow,
Emory Wilhite
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