As we have covered in many of our other articles, Matt Canada is one of the truly original Offensive Coordinators in football today.
You can read our other play summaries here:
Play #1, Play #2, Play #3, Play #4, Play #5, Play #6
But his Jet Sweep Zone Option is probably my favorite.
The basis of the play is a Jet Sweep with a zone run opposite. Defensively you have to account for both possibilities with the right number of defenders.
This gets tricky because if you don’t account for all the right gaps and go for one of the fakes, you could end up on the opposite side of the field from the ball carrier.
Watch how this play ends and see how divided the defensive structure ends up. Six defenders account for the inside zone and four account for the jet sweep. Mess up just one of those numbers defensively to the wrong side and the offense has a touchdown or big gain.
Jet Sweep Play Breakdown
Assignment and Technique
The Yetti shift tells Y and the opposite Tackle to shift trade with the F dropping down to the wing on the unbalanced line side.
The Zipper motion tells the Z to fake a Jet motion to the right, then plant and come back to the left for the handoff.
Right Tackle Assignments: Block man on if covered, if uncovered – reach block nearest defender. He must attack to get leverage.
F – Release upfield to first force defender who shows outside DE.
LT, LG, C, RG and Y: Full zone block to the right. Attack defenders, don’t sit and wait for them to come to you. Canada uses simple covered/uncovered zone principles since defenders could be moving all the way up to the snap.
Key Coaching Points
The speed of the Jet is critical to it’s execution.
The benefit of the under center Jet is the QB can peek at his motion man and call the snap on time since he does not have to watch the ball being snapped.
Because of this, it is the QB’s responsiblity to call the snap at the right moment. All the Z is responsible for is being at full speed. Most offenses who run this out of shotgun put the timing responsibility on the running back who often cannot operate at top speed.
At this speed, there is no possibility of the DT laying a finger on the Z if he has the ball.
If he does not get it he should execute a great fake turning his shoulders away from the line and accelerating out from the formation.
Jet Sweep Play Strategy
In this play that I would categorize as a “Jet-Zone Option”, the offensive line is blocking for two different run plays simultaneously.
The Jet motion is deceptively holding the C gap defender (Defensive Tackle) accountable to his gap.
However the right side of the line from the LT over will block full zone (covered, uncovered stay on your track principles) to the right.
Canada is pre-snap asking his QB to determine the best run of either a sweep or a zone. The QB will pick one or the other and execute a fake and a handoff. I believe Canada may be telling him to make this call based on the safety look or if he senses an unbalanced shift from the defense.
If the defense plays it well and stays balanced, either play works.
But if he sees an unbalanced defense he has the freedom to take advantage and make sure the ball carrier to that side is given the ball.
Lastly, using a great play action fake at the end of the play is also very effective in keeping defenses honest.
Conclusion
Coach Canada’s offensive strategy is simple. Force the defense to account for multiple very real threats and then disguise the play as long as possible.
This gets players in great situations where they have the numbers advantage or at the very least, space to attack and open grass.
Want to learn more about Matt Canada?
Master Of Disguise: Breaking Down Matt Canada’s Offense
Do you like Shifts and Motions?
Check out Coach Kenny Simpson’s Talk that covers them in much more detail HERE
