Greg Cosell’s Film Review: How coaching set up Arizona’s two long touchdowns

The Arizona Cardinals hit two long touchdowns in the second half of their win over the Philadelphia Eagles, and the two plays appeared to have no connection. But if you watch the film, you could see that the first score set up the second. 

The first, an 80-yard touchdown to Larry Fitzgerald, was the result of the Cardinals understanding tendencies and calling the right play to beat a defense they knew was coming. The second, John Brown’s 75-yard game-winning score, was a great concept and a perfect call to beat the defense Philadelphia adjusted to after the first score.

Let’s examine the coaching moves that went into the two scores, and how the two plays were connected, because there was some really high-level coaching involved.

The first play to Fitzgerald came out of an empty backfield. In previous games this season and in the first half of Sunday’s game, the Eagles checked to “zero blitz” against an empty backfield. They don’t do it 100 percent of the time, but it’s a strong tendency and the Cardinals knew it. And, knowing what the Eagles would do, the Cardinals invited it.

The Cardinals designed the play that was Fitzgerald’s touchdown to beat “zero blitz.” You can tell that by receiver Ted Ginn, who lined up next to Fitzgerald. He didn’t even run a route, he went directly to block safety Malcolm Jenkins. Carson Palmer had a one-step drop, Fitzgerald ran a quick slant, Palmer hit him and he went for the score.

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Since this play came on the first possession of the second half, it seems like the Cardinals decided at halftime to run it, after confirming the Eagles’ tendency against empty backfields. In my opinion they said, “If we go empty they’re going to get blitz. So we’ll invite the blitz. And let’s have a play that beats it.”

That’s superb coaching, but the chess match isn’t confined to that one play. The first time the Cardinals ran an empty set after Fitzgerald’s touchdown, the Eagles rushed just four and played “quarters” zone behind it. That’s a very important point to remember. After the touchdown, the Eagles decreased their blitz frequency as a whole and played more zone coverage. They mixed in an occasional third down blitz, but kept a safety in the deep middle.

On Brown’s touchdown, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians used a concept he likes in that situation, one he borrows from Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman. Arians does an excellent job of combining routes that could get a first down on one side of the field, and have route combinations to get an explosive play on the other. Other teams do this, but usually it’s to beat different coverages; the left side will have a combination to beat “Cover 2,” the right side will have a combination to beat “Cover 3” and the quarterback will decide which side to use based on the coverage. That’s common. Arians is a very strong believer in explosive plays. He likes to have opportunities for explosive plays built into many calls.

The Cardinals used an empty backfield on their last three plays, including on third and five. The Eagles ran “quarters” coverage – the adjustment they made after Fitzgerald’s touchdown. The Cardinals ran a flat/curl/seam seal to the right for the first down, and Brown ran a “sluggo” (slant and go) to the left. He lined up with minus splits, close to the formation, and a “sluggo” from a minus split is an excellent route against “quarters,” which the Eagles ran to Brown’s side. Brown distorted the “quarters” responsibilities of cornerback Cary Williams and safety Nate Allen because of his alignment. It looked like Allen was at fault, and he got plenty of blame, but the responsibility was more on Williams than Allen. Here’s why:

Andre Ellington lined up outside Brown and ran a shallow cross, disappearing from the play. In “quarters,” the cornerback is responsible for the vertical route furthest to the outside, which is “1 vertical.” It’s not common to see “1 vertical” come from inside the numbers, but “1 vertical” was Brown. That’s Williams’ responsibility.

Palmer made a great throw, and Brown made a great catch for what turned out to be the game-winning score. But it was a great call, set up by another play earlier in the game. That’s the kind of maneuvering that makes studying the game of football so interesting.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.