From the FanPosts. Great stuff, as usual. -Joel

Situation

With 31 seconds left in the second half, Alex Smith and the Chiefs have driven 50 yards to the Bears nine yard line with a second and goal to go. The Bears haven't shown much of a pulse this game, but I'm sure Alex was feeling some pressure to finish this drive with a TD, since previous drives weren't producing more than field goals.





Pre-snap Information

Offense

The Chiefs break the huddle in '12' ( 1 RB, 2 TE and three WRs) personnel and take their time snapping the ball, getting to it with four seconds left on the play clock. Shotgun formation with wide receivers on the right spread out, and TE Demetrius Harris is just off the left tackle to the short side of the field.

Defense

The Bears roll out a Cover 2 (two deep safeties and cornerbacks covering short outside) showing three linebackers standing up in coverage, and four rushers. The Bears are showing no blitz on this play.

The 'Mike', or Middle LB is responsible for covering the center of the field, and generally should help cover passes behind him between the hashes. Zone coverage like this has some weaknesses, and they are generally expressed as 'seams in coverage'.

Matt Bowen (Breakdown god) does a nice explanation of how teams started exploiting Cover 2 in the red zone earlier this decade. Keep note of his third suggested way of exploiting this coverage, put your speed on the inside. As you see, WR Jeremy Maclin is the inside receiver.

No. 50 Jerrell Freeman, a free agent pickup from the Colts is the Mike LB. PFF rates Jerrell well, and indicates he was one of the best free agents available this year.

If you think this set up looks familiar, it is. You saw it about 30 seconds earlier on the play before. Smith attempted a pass to Ross Travis (Travis Ross? ... PLEASE BAN PEOPLE WITH TWO FIRST NAMES).

One play earlier. Same Set.

But if you're a real star, you'd also remember a similar offensive setup in last year's Pittsburgh game. Very similar look. Different players, and different results.

2015 Steelers vs KC

Opportunities/Threats

Offensive Strength Pre-snap

Maclin is being covered by No. 30, backup safety Demontre Hurst. Hurst lacks experience and size, and is safe to say that he's not looking forward to covering Maclin on this play. Maclin likely has the whole right side of the end zone open to him if he beats his man. Advantage, Chiefs.

The two tight ends, Travis Kelce and Harris, on the left provide a great deal of threat to the defense also. They're both a threat in the passing game, and could make a wheel route by the RB difficult to get to if they're blocking downfield.

Albert Wilson only has one defender to beat to have a lot of the end zone to himself, too.

Defensive Strength Pre-snap

This is what caught my eye. This defense is giving up the run to make passing difficult. The wide split of the defensive line is begging for a run here. Surely game manager Alex Smith will take the easy play that will surely get the RB to the second level?

There are seven defenders in coverage that are occupying a tight field. Zone somewhat deters the pass, because zone coverage doesn't offer Alex Smith as many opportunities to run up field as man coverage does.

Again, seven in coverage is a challenge for a passing play. Coaches most likely teach their young QBs to call a inside run audible here.

Post Snap

For the defense, there's a problem with having the middle linebacker cover the center of the field. The center of the field can be attacked from multiple sides. When multiple people come at him, he has to make a choice, and abandon the others. He must depend on others to cover that part of the zone.

Also, the safety covering Maclin has a lot of directions to cover, and he knows he help in two directions; towards the middle, and the safety behind him. So the center of the field may not be his top priority in coverage, knowing that he'll be the only one stopping him from running a flat, fade or corner route.

Play at the end of QB dropback

Demetrius Harris runs to the seam between the Mike and Strongside LB and starts to break. Maclin runs straight to his primary defender. These two receivers have now come straight up to each side of the Mike LB. This forces the Mike to make a choice of covering one or the other on each side. The Mike linebacker will often choose the strong side (TE side), or the side with the most receivers. In this case, he does just that and follows Demetrius Harris.

Meanwhile, Maclin has put his defender on his heels by running directly at him before making his cut.

Smith has taken a defense that has loaded against the pass, and has just created a nice hole in middle of the field. A smart play caller would know that a quick receiver could exploit this hole if he were to get there quickly. Matt Bowen talks about how teams can exploit Cover 2 with speed in the middle, and Andy / Alex work up just that sort of solution.

Just how big is the passing lane? Feast.

Result

No. 50 breaking for Demetrius Harris left No.30's safety blanket away. He gives up the inside route and nearly gives up a touchdown. If Maclin doesn't bobble this, it's a TD.

Summary

According to the presnap read, the play ran probably isn't the first list of plays to run if you were doing Football 101. This is the call of an experienced QB and WR combo, taking candy from the weak. Knowing the right play to call, and going the extra step of calling plays that exploit matchups makes functional QB into a play making QB.

Smith knows Maclin is better than the safety covering him, and delivers the ball safely to a vacated zone.

Maclin is good at football.

I sort of feel bad for the Bears. Many of the breakdowns on 'How to QB' always show the Rodgers throwing against the Bears.