Anatomy of a Play: Cardinals Outside Linebacker Loop

To get you ready for Super Bowl XLIII, we're diagramming a couple of key plays in Anatomy of a Play.

While the Steelers have a reputation as a blitzing team, the Cardinals are actually the team that will most likely do anything and everything to create havoc on defense.

Pittsburgh believes that it can get pressure with a four-man rush. Arizona, on the other hand, will probably send five, six and even seven to put Ben Roethlisberger on the ground. The Cardinals will also likely blitz their inside linebackers in first- and second-down situations to try to create problems in the Steelers' run game.

The Cardinals also have seen enough film on the Steelers to know that Pittsburgh's offensive line struggles to pick up stunts and blitzes. This means that knowing your assignment is just as important as proper technique and footwork. One blitz that the Cardinals have used several times in the playoffs should be able to take advantage of that, and that is the Outside Linebacker Loop.

Play in and play out, the Cardinals linebackers line up based on the strong side of the formation. When they are in their standard 3-4 defense, outside linebacker Chike Okeafor is lined up over the tight end, while inside linebacker Gerald Hayes is lined up on the strong side, inside linebacker Karlos Dansby is on the weak side, and outside linebacker Bertrand Berry is lined up on the weak side. Since Berry is the team's better pass rushing outside linebacker, that gives him a better chance of getting a clear run at the quarterback.

But on this play, Berry will drop into coverage while on the other side, and the Cardinals are hoping that this confusion will give Okeafor a clear shot at the quarterback. One of the important aspects of the play is showing some false keys before the snap. Berry is lined up with his weight forward, with one foot way ahead of the other in a track stance, looking every bit like he's getting ready to come on a blitz. Okeafor is lined up with his feet parallel to the line of scrimmage, looking like his main focus is to cover the tight end. So if you're an offensive lineman or quarterback, your initial read would be that Berry is likely rushing the QB while Okeafor is not.

Just before the snap, Hayes edges up then attacks the strong-side guard/tackle gap (on the left in this example from the Eagles game). Hayes doesn't really want to disguise his blitz, it's actually useful for the offense to see it coming, as he wants to attract the attention of any back who has blitz pickup responsibility. If he does his job well, he'll occupy the left guard briefly before sliding out and taking on the left tackle. And as it happened against the Eagles, his undisguised blitz also caught the attention of fullback Dan Klecko, who came up close to the line to help out.

The key in the play is for Hayes to be unselfish -- he's not supposed to get to the quarterback, he's supposed to be the sacrificial lamb that occupies blockers, giving defensive end Antonio Smith or Okeafor a free shot at the QB.



While Hayes was taking on Tra Thomas and Kleko, Okeafor was looping behind him and Smith, hoping to sneak inside to attack the center-guard gap. Smith slides outside. If the tight end is headed out into the pattern, he might be left unblocked. If the tight end stays in to block, Smith still has a battle that he should win, as you want to get your defensive end one-on-one on a tight end.

On this play, Eagles tight end Brent Celek stayed in, and actually did a solid job on Smith, who wasn't able to swim move out of the block. But even that wasn't all bad for Arizona, as Smith stopped his rush and locked up Celek to ensure that McNabb wouldn't be able to dump the ball off to him on a hot read.

Hayes' blitz worked even better than the Cardinals could have been hoped. Guard Todd Herremann never handed Hayes off to Thomas, and Klecko's hurry to help out meant that all three Eagles ended up blocking one inside llinebacker. By the time Okeafor had looped around Hayes, Herreman had his face buried in Hayes shoulder pad. Thomas saw Okeafor looping around, but with Herreman in his way, there was nothing he could do about it.

The result was that Okeafor came straight up the middle with a free run at Donovan McNabb. Amazingly, in the confusion Hayes also managed to split his triple-team and get into the backfield. McNabb managed to get rid of the ball, but he had to throw it away for an incompletion.

This is the kind of play that will give Pittsburgh problems, especially when the Cardinals run it against the left side of the Steelers line, where guard Chris Kemoeatu has problems with blitz pickup. Expect to see the Cardinals use it several times on Sunday.