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 Friday, January 7
George pressures the Cowboys
 
By Sean Salisbury
ESPN.com

 

<img src="hhttp://espn.go.com/i/nfl/playbook99/wkwc_dalmin_1.jpg" width=400 height=480 border=0>

The Vikings passing game scares everyone. They have so many ways to beat teams. They also have a quarterback in Jeff George who gets rid of the ball quickly.

This is a great red-zone play. George can get it down field in a hurry. The Vikings will hope for three-deep coverage, as shown in the diagram. They will send all four receivers on "9" routes (go routes); George will pick a side and a player. He will read the free safety and try to move him to one side then go the other way.

Once he decides to go a certain way, he will then work inside-out. If the underneath coverage doesn't get deep, then George will fire a line drive to eighter Andrew Glover (Y) or Cris Carter (H) at about 18-22 yards, before the free safety gets there. If the underneath coverage (weak-side linebacker or middle linebacker) gets deep, then George will hit his five-step drop and throw the go route outside against single coverage by the corner.

This play is excellent against any down and distance. The big key is for all four receivers to be at the same-yardage level when George is ready to throw. This puts the defense in a mode to have to commit to someone.

It is critical that George throws on time and works the free safety away for the side he intends to throw.

 


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