Anatomy Of A Play: Bruce & Cobb’s Improvisation
As this play begins you can see that Ticats quarterback Kevin Glenn is looking for Bruce the whole way. Bruce gets an outside release on halfback Chris Thompson and basically runs a straight go-route to the end zone.
Ticats QB Kevin Glenn underthrows the deep ball slightly, which is actually a good thing in this case because Eskimos DB Chris Thompson had excellent position on Arland Bruce III. Bruce is obviously looking for the ball early and has the advantage of locating the ball in the air before Thompson does.
Bruce makes an excellent catch with the defender all over him and is brought down just shy of the goal line. This play is just another example of how talented Arland Bruce III is at adjusting to the ball when it’s in the air.
This play begins with the offence in a shotgun set, with running back DeAndra’ Cobb to the right of Kevin Glenn. This is a designed draw play, where Cobb is expected to take the ball up the middle between the guard and centre. This is an interesting play call because there is only 41 seconds left in the half and the defence is expecting a pass.
It looks like Cobb is swallowed up by a group of linemen, but he spins away and suddenly reappears to the left of the scrum with plenty of daylight in front of him.
Cobb takes off towards the sideline and looks as if he’s about to be tackled by one of Edmonton’s defensive back’s but he executes a nifty juke move and side steps the attempt. Cobb manages to get about five more yards up field before he’s tackled from behind, turning what looked to be a minimal gain into a 19-yard run.
Both of these plays come as great reminders that sometimes it takes great individual efforts as well as executed plays to find success in football. Without some ad libbing by Bruce and Cobb on these plays, neither would be very successful. Sometimes veteran players need to work outside of a designed play’s framework and improvise, and in both of these cases that worked out very well. While the majority of football is execution and repetition, a healthy amount of instinctual reaction is needed sometimes to make big plays.
