What Is: Contain/Lane Integrity Comment Count

Seth

“The more you tighten your grip, Governor Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”  –Princess Leia

It is one of the easiest ways to sound like a knowledgeable football watcher: The pass rush is closing in. The receivers are all covered. Then suddenly the quarterback is running through air. “Contain!” you yell with appropriate obviousness to the people who obviously aren’t paying attention. “You must keep contain!”

CONTAIN

Contain is a concept put in every play design, a plan to be understood before every snap, and a mantra to keep in mind. “Contain” isn’t limited to pass rush; in fact it’s exactly what a Force Player is doing on any given run. Coaches don’t use this term so often—rather you’ll hear them talk about “lane integrity” or “leverage”.

GAP/LANE INTEGRITY

Before the snap, every play is a running play, because that’s where the ball is. No matter the defense, the defenders will have gap responsibilities, sometimes more than one.

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GAPS: Are usually labeled A to whatever. Brown doesn’t go beyond D (which he defines as off a tight end’s butt). The A gaps are between the center and the guards. B gaps are between the guards and tackles. C gaps are between the tackles and whatever tight ends or backfield material exists.

[Hit THE JUMP to solve the mystery]

Pulling and lead blocking will add gaps or move them around, so defenders have various “Keys” (dependent on the offense’s tendencies) for how to react to that. For example against an offense that uses lots of fullback lead blocking, a linebacker responsible for that fullback in coverage will react to the fullback’s first step forward by shooting up into his gap and popping the fullback. Or a backside linebacker will react to a guard pulling by attacking the frontside shoulder of that guard. Or maybe a tight end coming in motion will alert an outside linebacker that he’s to attack the next inside gap.

PERIMETER SUPPORT: I wrote a thing on the outside lanes before. The crease, alley, and outside lines are usually covered by space players and defensive backs. Interior lanes are usually reserved for linemen and linebackers, since the close space means you’re more likely to have to bang into someone to keep your lane integrity. Here’s the run assignments against trey in Michigan’s normal alignment:

OL are shaded to show alignment of the DL—the nose is on the left guard’s inside shoulder for example—but that’s also an indicator of their lane responsibilities.

There’s one extra gap because the running back (green dot) might run to either side. The free safety has the middle 1/3rd of the field in coverage, but he’s also lined up over the running back for a reason: if he heads outside to create an extra crease, that’s the FS’s responsibility. He’s technically two-gapping; free from blockers back there, provided everybody else is doing their jobs, by the time the ball gets to where the free safety is needed he’s had plenty of time to react and close down that space.

TWO-GAPPING: This is just 3-wide and you can count 11 possible lanes. So no, all 11 defenders aren’t always given one lane: often they’re tasked with two-gapping. Two-gapping linemen do this by dominating their blocker so they can threaten to either side (a true 3-4 like UCF’s will do this almost every play. But you can also have a safety watching multiple perimeter gaps. A cornerback who’s carrying a receiver deep still technically has the lane outside that receiver—since that won’t matter unless the running play gets that far downfield it’s a moot point, but those assignments become key to defending WR screens.

Michigan will two-gap with linemen often when pass-rushing. You’ll see Taco do it for example by blasting the OT back until the pocket collapses. That sort of dominance allows Taco to attack the quarterback to either side of that blocker. Taco is great at this. It’s also dangerous.

The point is control, not placement. Whatever happens next, you have to CONTROL your gap.

LEVERAGE: Coaches will also talk about “Leverage.” Your gap is one thing, but being in position to keep your gap where it belongs is also crucial. That is leverage: being in position to control your gap and attack the ball if it comes there. If you’re in your gap and facing away from the ballcarrier, you don’t have leverage. If you get way upfield, or get blown downfield, or get kicked way outside so your buddy’s now defending a lane big enough to drive a house through, you’ve lost leverage.

On the other hand if your lane is the “A” gap and you’ve blown the center into the guard on your way into the backfield, and you’re still on your feet and in control, well, you’ve still got leverage to keep the ball from attacking your gap and to force the ballcarrier into your friends. You gain leverage by taking it away from your opponent: dominate the correct shoulder, fight your way back if you’re getting pushed out of your lane, and always be in position to affect as much space as possible.

PASS RUSHING CONTAIN: In a passing context, it means to cut off the quarterback’s escape routes so he can’t run away from the rest of your pass rush. You do this by controlling your lane and gaining leverage. A pass rusher has a hierarchy of responsibilities. Grossly simplified they are:

  1. ID and get into your blocker. Get your hands on him, don’t let him do whatever he’s trying to do to you. You want to close the distance as soon as possible and fight off his hands so he can’t keep you at length.
  2. Control your lane. You don’t widen on your initial steps, and you don’t let the OL get you out of your lane. If you feel that happening, you fight back to where you belong. Even if you’re not in your gap, compressing the space between the lineman blocking you and the next guy will control your lane.
  3. Beat the blocking. Rip, punch, whatever: there are lots of techniques for getting by your blocker, and he’s got lots of techniques to match you. It’s a mini-game. But for him keeping you from the quarterback is Job 1; for you getting past him is job 3 after controlling him and controlling your lane.
  4. Attack the passer. Once you’ve made contact with your blocker you get your eyes on the ball so you’ll know whether to put your hands up to block, whether to slow up to cut off his escape from your buddy, or whether to pounce now. You don’t jump, and you don’t hit the gas, because if the quarterback goes under you it’s all for naught. Arrive in control.

THAT SOUNDS EASY. LET’S YELL IT!

This isn’t as simple as it sounds. Competitive athletes want to destroy the blocking and end the play as soon as possible, so yes, sometimes they just get out of control. You don’t want to nerf your defense’s aggressive instincts though. This game was a good example, as in the first half Michigan gave up lots of long QB scrambles by losing contain, and in the second half they played their ends more conservatively, meaning instead of sacks the quarterback had the opportunity to roll out of the pocket and throw it away down the sideline. It’s a dial, adjusted by what you can get away with and other strategic goals, not a hard and fast rule.

As a result the techniques that defenders learn to keep contain are often more about precision than holding back.

TRENCH WARFARE

But pass rushing is a bit different. The call I’m familiar with is “HIGH HAT” or “LOW HAT”. The hat in this case is the quarterback’s. If he’s standing up his hat is high—you are defending a pass. If his hat is low he is handing off or faking a handoff—you are playing a run. Those terms persist, but at every level higher than what they’d ever let me play defensive linemen aren’t keying the QB usually.

They’re playing against their blockers. High level lineman play kind of becomes a super-mean version of the hand slap game (warning: link contains Seagal). The DL have moves, the OL have counter-moves, and over the course of one game these matchups can get dang intense.

The war is also uneven. Strongside contain is more conservative than backside contain, since quarterbacks will more often see and be in a position to attack a hole right in front of them, and offenses often do things to run off the help defenders on that side. Regardless of formation strength or where the tight ends are, pass rushers can be more aggressive behind a quarterback’s back because the time it takes the QB to turn around and run provides a window to pursue.

This aggressiveness is important for generating pass rush, but it’s also a recipe for the rushers to go off script.

GOOD CONTAIN:

Below is Hill’s pick six from the Hawaii game. I want you to watch McCray, the linebacker who’s lined up inside Hawaii’s right tackle:

McCray controlled his blocker by winning the arm battle, then got WIDE, saw the RB set up to help on him, and only then attacked that D gap.

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McCray’s technically pass rushing—I mean the guy’s blitzing—but he’s got a tackle who could push him wide and an eligible receiver (the RB) so he’s being cautious in his approach, putting himself where he can make sure the QB doesn’t escape.

Everybody has a lane somewhere. McCray’s is between the OT and the RB. Outside of him, in the “alley”, Delano Hill is in position to come up on a scramble. Mone, Winovich and Wormley are breaking through but they’re also closing in without getting out of their lanes. Godin stunted outside and is in the same position as McCray. Wormley can use the success of his friends to get aggressively upfield against a guard, and that threatens a sack if the QB doesn’t throw it RIGHT NOW…to Delano Hill.

BAD CONTAIN:

I’m guessing that when Gedeon got matched one on one with the slot receiver that McCray was supposed to take both the C and B gaps, with Thomas covering the crease. Like so:

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I’m basing that on Gary plunging into the A gap off the snap (if he blasted the guard then Gary might have been two-gapping but going for the space between the guard and center like he did says to me that this was his assignment. It also makes sense since that occupies the center who might need to be helping the left guard deal with Winovich, since Glasgow is stunting over to the backside B gap.

Glasgow and Winovich put on a stunt that almost got Winovich in for a sack. And he would have gotten away with it too, but McCray’s outside rush got mirrored by the OT and thus McCray wound up too far upfield to control the C gap. Not in lane, no leverage = bad contain.

Comments

Maizen

September 13th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^

Isn't it concerning we're putting Gedeon on slot receivers and not Peppers? McCray got out of his rush lane but Gedeon was ridiculously slow in reacting to the Qb run. In fact he saw it happening and still decided to stick with the WR. It was so odd to watch.

This happened again in the game only this time it was McCray on a slot and Peppers still inside the box. Seems counterintuitive.

antonio_sass

September 14th, 2016 at 3:53 AM ^

I agree. It seems at times we're misutilizing peppers. on a bunch of plays he's blitzing from a WDE or SDE position (much like we used Jake Ryan when he was a SAM) and he's 1v1 against a tackle. tough matchup for him and it seems like when it happens he often gets washed out of the play. i'm no d-coordinator but i think i'd rather have gedeon rushing off the edge and peppers covering the slot (or at least peppers blizting in combination with a D-Linemn filling the same gap).

Dymonte should have the seam covered with a slot going against mccray or gedeon, but i think we'd be in trouble on drag, corner or quick post routes against decent receivers (something I think we'll see a fair amount against colorado). 

HUGEtractsofland

September 13th, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^

I thought that Gary in that particular play was to blame. He shoots right at the snap and knocks Glasgow off balance. It appears that Gary should've played his man straight up, because a three man stunt doesn't make a whole lot of sense in this play with the setup they are presenting. You can't expect Winovich to cross three offensive linemen on an extended stunt to get to Gary's original gap. Also we've seen Gary blow stunts before, so it makes sense he has missed another call on this play.

Mongo

September 13th, 2016 at 1:17 PM ^

Maybe McCray was a bit out of his lane and lost some leverage, but the issue was Gary must have missed the call altogether and thought the stunt was to his side. He and Winivich are like face mask to face mask at the center ... You can virtually hear the "oh shit" when they meet. Gary must have just missed the call on the play. His job in that stunt is to bull-rush his man straight up into that lane, with Glasgow coming on a blind-side stunt for the sack. That is my read of the tape. I would just chalk that one up to freshman mistake.

funkywolve

September 13th, 2016 at 3:18 PM ^

Looking at the replay a few times, Glasgow definitely thought the stunt was with Winovich.  At the snap, Winovich goes hard left, Glasgow takes a false step left and then Glasgow rips the olineman to the left so Glasgow can stunt to the right around Winovich.

His Dudeness

September 13th, 2016 at 4:35 PM ^

I was taught contain was to keep the runner toward the middle of the field from you. As if you have a seam marking going through you and each end is on the  goal lines. As long as that runner is from you and your seam toward the middle of the field, you have successfully contained your side. On the other side of the play there is a DE or OLB or CB who is doing the same. So you both funnel the play toward the big uglies DT, LB or S.

Now lane integrity is entirely different.I think McCray does successfully contain his side. Had Gary successfully maintained his lane integrity, he would have been there to either tackle or significantly slow the QB on this play. That's just how i see it. I could be completely wrong.

PeterKlima

September 13th, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^

Logged in to post this same comment.  I think it was on Gary for the reasons you stated.  He is a true frosh, it happens.

EDIT:  Just noticed this language in the original post about Gary "but going for the space between the guard and center like he did says to me that this was his assignment."

I bet he THOUGHT that was his assignment, but McCray looked like he knew his assignment as well.  I have to think Gary made a mental error from the get go.

michiganfanforlife

September 13th, 2016 at 11:48 AM ^

Love these breakdowns. Outside contain is huge, and it's something they will improve over time. I'm not worried about giving the opposing QB some runs as long as we keep smashing them. This year's defense is really fun to watch. They make a ton of TFL's and that will just lead to more momentum plays that can change the game. Please keep the articles like this coming, they are really fun to read




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

His Dudeness

September 13th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^

I see that example of "bad contain" as a breakdown of lane integrity by Gary and also a horrible read by Thomas by taking at least 2 steps to his right as the QB had already taken the ball down and began running in his crease. That's Thomas' responsibility.

I'm no coach, but that's what I would use to teach if I were.

 

Seth

September 13th, 2016 at 12:16 PM ^

On a typical Cov 1 play I'd agree, because you have a linebacker in the hole to take an inside gap. On this play the Mike got taken out of the play by the running back going way out to the slot and running an out route. Given the blitz, that should trigger a check for McCray that he now has the B gap (and has to control the C gap until help arrives.

If Gary had the frontside B gap either:

  1. He's two-gapping, in which case why is he firing into the gap and not the guard?
  2. He's one-gapping and Thomas(?) has the A gap

This play was designed for Gary to affect the center, who's got Glasgow lined up in a zero over him, and should be blocking Winovich. So once the LB help is pulled into the slot McCray has to take a B gap.

His Dudeness

September 13th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^

Ok that makes sense.

I just watched the whole play again from the side view and IMO McCray needs to drop back off the line there so he can read and react when the Mike (Gedeon?) is taken wide, instead of just lining up off tackle and running up the C gap. I think...

I generally don't like any play with no linebackers behind the line in the middle (A or B gap responsible). We usually tend to get gashed on those.

Seth

September 13th, 2016 at 12:36 PM ^

Since Brian still has to cover this in UFR I wasn't going to repeat his work. Dymonte reacting faster could hold this to a 4th and short attempt, but McCray losing contain cost Michigan a sack/punt from the goal line.

J_Dub

September 13th, 2016 at 12:14 PM ^

Thanks for posting this.  I have watched football (and played for 2 years in high school) but never really spent any time studying, so these posts are a nice, structured way to learn more about the sport I love.

Sorry for the dumb questions here but a couple:

"There’s one extra gap because the running back (green dot) might run to either side."

I see every gap as covered.  In fact, the S and FS are in the same gap - no?

"TWO-GAPPING: This is just 3-wide and you can count 11 possible lanes."

This is probably the same questio, but I cound 10 lanes.  There are only 10 offensive players in the diagram, one is a QB, there are lanes in each side of the remaining 9 players, no double counting = 10.  What am I missing?  Does the QB create a gap?

Mr. Elbel

September 13th, 2016 at 12:16 PM ^

Becoming one of my favorite series on this blog. Pure learning about football. Helps a fan like me who has never played any sort of organized football that wasn't in a backyard understand what's going on in front of him as well as helps my experience of this blog even more. Excellent, excellent work. As always.

-NTB-

September 13th, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^

Thanks so much for doing these. As a guy who never played organized football, these tutorials are really making me appreciate the game in a way I never thought I would. Especially valuable are the edited clips with arrows and slow-motion. Makes concepts much easier to grasp for the untrained eye.

Now I don't have to be blindly angry every time Michigan is gashed by an athletic (-ish) QB who breaks contain. Having an idea of who's to blame on each play and that the problem theoretically fixable is oddly comforting. 

MichiganSkeptic

September 13th, 2016 at 1:46 PM ^

The easiest way to illustrate containment is to look at the way MSU and other teams began to deal with Denard.  They slow-rushed him and basically formed a cup in front of him, forcing him to pass from a closing pocket.  The goal was to make him come to them, rather than them chasing after him; and it was very effective.

MichiganSkeptic

September 13th, 2016 at 1:46 PM ^

The easiest way to illustrate containment is to look at the way MSU and other teams began to deal with Denard.  They slow-rushed him and basically formed a cup in front of him, forcing him to pass from a closing pocket.  The goal was to make him come to them, rather than them chasing after him; and it was very effective.

MichiganSkeptic

September 13th, 2016 at 1:54 PM ^

Another point:  These QB "scrambles" (they're not really scrambles, just recognizing opportunities to run from the pocket) are much more effective against man defenses than zone.  In the highlight play, the CBs are all looking at their receivers and sticking to them like glue; and don't even realize that the QB is running until he's at least 10 yards past the line of scrimmage.  In zone D, the DBs are pretty much all facing the line of scrimmage looking to pick up receivers coming into their zone.

Jon06

September 13th, 2016 at 4:36 PM ^

I confess I don't read Neck Sharpies, so the frontside, backside, and "against trey" stuff requires more reconstruction than I'd like. Please keep these simple!

MadMatt

September 14th, 2016 at 7:38 AM ^

Seth,

Thank you, this is an extremely lucid explanation of an real inside football concept.  The verbiage, diagrams and video footage complimented each other perfectly.

I have one question about how modern a modern 4-3 compares to some of the line play we saw in the 70s and early 80s.  By modern 4-3, I mean two different kinds of tackles, an NT and a 3-tech, instead of two DTs with similar assignments.

Is the modern 4-3 comparable to the Steelers alignment from their Steel Curtain years?  In other words, one DT over the A gap and pointed towards the center instead of the guard; Joe Greene played this way a lot.

Is the modern 4-3 comparable to Tom Landry's "flex defense"?  This had one DT playing a couple of feet off of the line, but still in a 3 point stance.