For weeks on end, the Patriots' defense had been lauded for its blitz packages and what it could do in concert on the back end. ‘Tricky Tampa 2’ became a common discussion point, with defenders showing one look pre-snap and then “spinning” into something else post-snap.
But first in Chicago, and then again this past weekend against Green Bay, smart offensive play-callers/play designers (Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur) found a way to neutralize some - if not all - of that movement by leaning into something that’s growing in popularity as this season progresses. That’s the quick snap.
What’s that, you ask? It's different than tempo or no huddle. In the Packers’ case (and the Bears), they would break the huddle, get over the ball, and snap it within two seconds. As we illustrated in Musings on Tuesday, Jordan Love did that 10 times, generating four explosives, including that first-quarter 49-yarder down the sideline to Matthew Golden. On that play, Kevin Byard played one coverage and Christian Gonzalez another (Gonzalez was right, fyi). But that’s the point.
“I think especially when you look at our defense, how much disguise and the stuff that we do, I think teams try to go quick counts, especially on third and longers, because they know that's when they get a lot more exotic fronts, exotic coverages,” Byard said. “So instead of having a quarterback trying to read in motion, man, and all that stuff, they just hear him snap the ball and try to get guys into their routes and stuff like that.”
“I would say that when the center has his hand on the ball, we should probably be ready,” Mike Vrabel said, adding, “Teams around the league do it to teams that pressure on third down or move guys around. That's part of understanding and trying to explain to them that this is what teams are going to do. They're not going to sit there and wait, and let you line up six guys, blitz them and do whatever you want. So, we've done okay with that, and then there are times where we probably could be a step quicker to get lined up.”
Like, say, last Sunday.
Now, obviously, no offense can or wants to live in quick-snap mode for the majority of their snaps. Still, perhaps the 10 times the Packers did it, or the Bears, who lead the league with 74 such plays this season, are just scratching the surface of how far this can go,
Consider the teams Johnson and the Bears used it against the most: the