Jeff Piercy
CFL.ca
With four teams left in the hunt for the CFL’s version of the Holy Grail, “Outside the Lines” by yours truly has turned into “Outside Looking In”, and so I have decided to shift gears. Leading into this weekend’s Division Finals I have elected to turn my blog into more of a “chalk talk” and give the CFL’s greatest fans (the people that actually read my column) something to watch for this weekend.
Behold as I walk you through the one offensive play that embodies the Canadian Football League. This play, or some rendition of it, is a part of every CFL playbook and something you will likely see many times this weekend.
How many times have you seen a CFL quarterback fake the run, pull the ball from the grasp of the running back, boot outside the pocket, and throw to one of his receivers? Probably numerous times, and I am about to explain the factors that go on behind the quintessential CFL play.
Here is a basic offensive formation, with the QB lined up in the “shotgun” position, and a RB at his side. Defences will typically line up with four defensive lineman and two linebackers in “the box”, as shown.
The obvious problem here, from an offensive prospective, is that there are more defensive players, six, than there are offensive lineman, five. Therefore, on any given running play there is one more defensive player than can be blocked.
Now offensive coordinators, being the astute bunch that they are, have devised a way to compete with this extra defensive player. It is called the “Sally” game. Don’t ask me the origins of the word “Sally” because I can’t remember them, but the word is of some signifcance.
The play is executed by the QB “reading” the unblocked defensive end.
If the defensive lineman bites on the run fake, and crashes down the line of scrimmage hoping to make the tackle, the QB pulls the ball from the RB and throws to his receivers to the side who are running their predetermined “Sally” routes.
If the defensive lineman does his job, and plays the boot honestly, or what defensive coordinators call “50/50”, meaning he is playing both the run and the boot evenly, the QB will give the ball to the RB and hope that the defensive lineman will not be able to chase the play down from behind.
I hope my homemade illustrations, and explanations, have been clear, and that the four teams left contending for the Grey Cup run this play this weekend so I don’t look like an idiot.
Enjoy the games this weekend.
Jeff Piercy is in his fourth CFL season. He was a second round pick in the 2005 Canadian Draft.
