Breaking it Down: The 49ers Game-Winning TD Pass

When is it ok for a grown man to cry? When he is 6'3'', 250-pounds

While San Francisco 49ers Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman received a lot of credit for calling the gutsy quarterback sweep that put the 49ers ahead with a little over two minutes remaining, it was Quarterbacks Coach Geep Chryst (the brother of recently hired Pittsburgh Head Coach Paul Chryst) who called all of San Francisco's two-minute plays against the Saints, including the game-winning touchdown pass from Alex Smith to Vernon Davis that clinched a 36-32 victory over New Orleans and a berth in the NFC Championship.

Chryst emphasized this specific play throughout the practice week to beat the Saints' tendency to run a form of Tampa 2 coverage in the red zone. He specifically knew the backside safety would play flat footed, two-yards deep in the end zone.

The design was pretty simplistic on the 49ers part. It was the execution on the end of Smith and Davis that was flawless. Couple this with the lack of execution from New Orleans' defense and San Francisco came up with a play for the ages.


On 3rd and 4 on the Saints' 14-yard line and with 14 seconds remaining and one timeout, San Francisco came out in a 2x2 shotgun formation with running back Frank Gore flanking Smith on the left side. Tight ends Vernon Davis (85) and Justin Peelle (81) lined up on the left. Davis had a tight split and was on the line of scrimmage, while Peelle was tight to Davis and off the ball. On the right side of the formation wide receivers Michael Crabtree (15) and Kyle Williams (10) were split wider. Crabtree is the #2 receiver on the ball and Williams is outside the numbers off the ball.

To the playside, Davis cleared and ran a post/dig while Peelle ran a curl route.
On the backside, San Francisco ran a typical smash route with Crabtree running the corner and Williams running the hitch.
New Orleans' defense came out just like Chryst thought.

The Rocket Toss Series

It's a quick-hitter!

After reading Coach B Dud's post on a series based offense, I wanted to give some insight on how to use the Rocket Toss, a normal flexbone staple, as a complete series within that or any offense you employ it with.

Series based offenses work well because coaches can find the defenders who are cheating and take advantage of them with a different play that looks extremely similar. If a defense over commits to the motion man, they can be hit backside with play x. If the LBs fly out with motion, the offense can run play x back inside. All this occurs off the same look.

We get a lot of teams who start out in a quarters look against us and roll coverage towards our motion man by bringing a safety down into the box. Having complementary backside plays works well against teams who over adjust. All these plays are drawn up against a 4-4 look, or what we might see after a team rolls their coverage towards the motion.

1. The Rocket Toss

From a teaching standpoint, this should be the simplest play to run. All the OL follow normal zone rules. Give a quick slotback the ball in space and you have a very easy an effective play. This play has worked well on the goal line when teams are expecting to see inside veer and they get the same motion they see throughout the game. Defenses can easily be caught off guard with a quick hitting, outside play. If your PST has trouble reaching the PSDE, you can have the PSSB chip the outside shoulder before working up to the next level.

PST: Zone step and reach PSDE
PSG: Zone step to PSLB
C: Zone step to N
BSG: Backside cutoff to ILB
BST: Backside cutoff to next interior lineman
Q: Open up to the left and toss the ball to the Z over the tackle, boot out right
F: Block BSDE
H: Block PSOLB
Z: Normal motion to F's butt. Look to catch pitch over tackle.
X: Stalk block CB
Y: Cutoff block to nearest DB

2. The Boot Pass

After giving the illusion of Rocket toss with the motion and fake pitch, the QB boots to his right and has a myriad of options at his disposal. Our QB reads, flat, to drag, to post-corner and then to the dig. He rarely gets to the dig though unless a safety has been occupied by the drag route. The pulling guard attempts to kick out the PSDE and the QB will step up as necessary in this situation.

PST: Slide left
PSG: Slide left
C: Slide left
BSG: Pull right for boot, kick out or log PSDE depending on action
BST: Step inside to protect inside gap
Q: Open up to the left, fake toss and boot to right
F: Flat
H: Draf
Z: Normal motion to F's butt. Carry out motion into flat
X: Backside Dig
Y: Post Corner