49ers Film Room: Kyle Shanahan’s Running Game

OUTSIDE ZONE

Kyle Shanahan comes from, obviously, the Mike Shanahan coaching tree.

One underrated coach in the Mike Shanahan coaching lineage is Alex Gibbs, who is widely considered the father of the modern day version of the zone-running game.

San Francisco 49ers

While coaching with the Denver Broncos under Mike Shanahan, his outside-zone scheme made Terrell Davis a star and propelled the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl wins.

I’ve covered the inside and outside zone runs, but whereas the inside zone was the staple running play of the Chip Kelly offense, the outside — or wide zone — is the staple running play of the Shanahan offense, both Kyle and Mike.

While the inside zone seeks to push a defense vertically, the outside zone seeks to move a defense laterally and pin them to the inside.

To accomplish this, the linemen will use a blocking technique known as the “rip and run” to either pin defenders inside (rip) or, if they have that not reached their defender by the third step, seek to run them to the sideline (run).

At the snap, the telltale sign of an outside-zone run is the kick step to the sideline the offensive line takes.

On this particular play, each lineman’s goal is to get outside of their assigned defender and get between the defender and the play-side sideline:

One coaching point on this run by Gibbs and then under both Shanahan’s is that by the third step, the running back will be making his determination on where to cut up field.

Gibbs notes that:

"On the third step, the running back is either going downhill or taking the ball outside. The reason the decision is made on the third step is the timing of the blocks within the offensive line. On the third step, the offensive lineman make their push on the defenders. The push of the offensive line and the cut of the back must coincide. The back does not know where the cut will be until he gets his third step on the ground. He makes his decision on that step and commits to it. Whatever decision he makes, he lives with it. He does not dodge defenders or double cut with the ball. He takes what the picture says and gets the ball upfield and outside right away."

The running back’s responsibility is dictated by the movement of the offensive line. The blocking and movement of the defense create three reads for the running back: bounce, bang, bend. This is based on reading the two defenders on the end on the line of scrimmage to the play side.

The landmark to make the is butt of the tight end:

If there is no tight end, the running back will use the ghost alignment of where the tight end would be as his landmark. Once the back gets to this landmark, he will read the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMLOS).

If EMLOS No. 1 is hooked, the running back will “bounce” outside toward the sideline. If EMLOS No. 1 is outside of the landmark and No. 2 is sealed, he will “bang” between Nos. 1 and 2. If Nos. 1 and 2 are both outside the landmark, then the running back will “bend” it back inside No. 2.

Against the Packers in week eight, the Falcons here are in 12 personnel (one RB, two TEs, two WRs) in their pre-snap alignment.

At the snap (above pic), Falcons running back Terron Ward takes the handoff and by his third step, he already knows where he’s going. Both No. 1 EMLOS and No. 2 are sealed to the inside:

After that third step, Gibbs says this is where the running back will begin to act on his read so that on those fourth and fifth steps, he makes that cut.

In this case, with the defenders sealed inside, Ward “bounces” out toward the sideline and it’s off to the races:

The next two gifs show the “bang” and “bend” reads.

Pay particular attention to the Nos. 1 and 2 defenders on the line of scrimmage, which they pursue, and where the running back makes his cut:

(Bang read)

(Bend read)