The Passing Chronicles: Doubs to the Pylon (aka, Coco Swab)

I had another play all lined up for this week, but then this one called to me so I did a late pivot. I never said it was a good story.

The play today comes from the week 10 loss to the Steelers, which dropped the Packers to 3-6 on the season and staring at a stretch of games against the Chargers, Lions and Chiefs. I don’t remember being the most optimistic person in the world at the time, but now? Now I’m great.

Let’s get to the play.

.@jordan3love finds @RomeoDoubs for the TOUCHDOWN! #GBvsPIT | #GoPackGo

: CBS pic.twitter.com/G0OHKdEsAR

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 12, 2023

We’re looking at the call itself and the responsibilities. As a reminder, this is how the Packers structure their calls:

1. Motion/Shift
2. Formation & Strength
3. Formation Variation
4. Motion
5. Run Concept or Pass Pro
6. Pass Concept

Playcall: Motion Gun Crip LT Open F Counter 2 Jet Coco Swab

Here’s how that may sound when called in the game:

(I intentionally muffled the audio in an attempt to replicate what it may sound like coming through the QB’s headset and added the crowd noise for the same reason. This probably is a very bad idea.)

Motion: Motion

This just indicates that there will be motion later in the play, so be on the lookout for it.

Formation & Strength: Gun Crip LT

This is a 1×3 formation, with the tight end aligned as a the lone receiving option on the left, while there is a bunch look on the right. 

Formation Variation: Open

The original Crip LT calls for the Y to align in-line. The Open term tells him to split out 5 yards from the tackle.

Motion: F Counter

This tells the F receiver – the inside man on the bunch – to run a Counter motion. Counter sees the receiver starting a fast Fly motion under the line, then reversing back to the side he started from.

Pass Pro: 2 Jet

2(00) Jet is a 5-man Slide protection calling for 4 to block down to the widest rusher, and the backside tackle blocking away from the slide. In this case, that calls for the right tackle to kick out to the right, while everyone else looks to block down to the left. 

The running back is reading inside-out starting at the center. He is checking-and-releasing: that is, if he is not needed to help in pass pro, he will release into his route.

Pass Concept: Coco Swab

We looked at the Coco concept back in week 4, but it’s worth bringing back again because it’s a concept they really like and, as we see here, pairs nicely with other concepts.

Coco is a two-man concept consisting of a Corner route and a C.O. route. The definition of a C.O. route is one of my favorite route definitions in the Packers playbook: “A predetermined Choice Route that breaks out.” A Choice route that strips the choice. 

Swab is a two-man concept consisting of a Basic route and a Shallow Cross. It’s one that can look a lot like Mesh without actually being Mesh. (In the confines of the low red zone, it looks like they convert the Basic to a High Shallow Cross, which breaks at a shallower depth and has an option to sit in the middle of the field.)

(As always, I used Dan Casey’s Play Caller’s Club book as a template for the above image. It’s a really fun book to mess around with.)

Trailing 7-0 with a shade under 5 minutes to go in the 1st quarter, the Packers are facing 3rd & 7 at the Steelers 8 yard line. The Steelers have a split-safety look, with one of the safeties playing directly over the bunch on the right and the other aligned deep over the center. That sees the Steelers with 4 defenders over the 3-man receiver bunch on the right side for the Packers. 

When Jayden Reed [11] goes in motion, he is followed by Desmond King [25], signaling that the Steelers are likely in man-to-man (not uncommon in this part of the field). As reed returns back to the field, you can see the Steelers defensive backs communicating the switch, as King would have a hard time fighting through all the flotsam and jetsam to pick up Reed coming back out to the right. That sees Patrick Peterson [20] picking up Reed on the C.O., while King picks up Romeo Doubs [87] on the corner.

While the Steelers do a good job switching the assignments, that still leaves Doubs with outside leverage on King, and Doubs is running a Corner route. Damontae Kazee [23] is the safety that starts over the bunch and he has outside leverage on Doubs, but the Shallow Cross from Luke Musgrave [88] causes Kazee to turn his eyes to the middle and wait on the crosser. By the time Kazee tries to help with Doubs, it’s too late.

King and Kazee are too far inside and Peterson is tied down in the flat by Reed. The throw goes to the back pylon and Doubs hauls in a beauty for 6.

On this call, the Corner route is the Alert. As we’ve talked about before, the Alert isn’t a part of the progression itself, but is the first option if the defense is giving a specific look. Given the defensive look they got with the shift, it makes sense why Love went with the Corner here.

With the protection sliding left, that leaves Zach Tom [50] on an island against TJ Watt [90]. Watt hits a spin move and beats Tom to the inside, but Love gets rid of the ball before that can become a problem.

You’ll never hear me complaining about a nice little high-low concept in the low red zone. This is a really nice play and Love does a good job of seeing what the defense is doing and getting it out on time.

---

If you want to go back through the rest of this series, I thought I’d gather all the links up here. Hope you’re learning half as much reading this as I am writing them.

Week 1: Gun Trio RT Open 2 Scat H Choice Buffalo
Week 2: Motion Sink LT Zoom Z Fly P19 Waggle Z Dagger
Week 3: Shift Gun Trips RT G Open H D 3 Scram Z Shot Bow
Week 4: Gun Dyno RT 2 Jet Coco Stitch
Week 5: Bunch LT FK 19 Keep LT
Week 7: Shift Crush LT Z Insert 12 Dos Shield
Week 8: Shift Gun Crush RT Z RT 365 Shield Return
Week 9: Motion Gun Trips RT F Behind FK Mirror Swinger Y Cross

---

Albums listened to: Blindside – Silence; mewithoutYou – Pale Horses; Low – Things We Lost in the Fire; Unwed Sailor – Underwater Over There; The Breeders – Pod