Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Counter Weak out of Strong I Y Off Close is a power run play designed to pull blockers away from the strength of the formation and attack the weak side edge. The diagram shows the fullback and offside guard pulling across the formation to lead block while the offensive line down blocks to create a natural seal, and the HB takes a counter step before following the pullers through the alloted crease. This is not a man or zone beater in the passing sense, it's a gap scheme run that lives on misdirection to freeze linebackers and force overpursuit before cutting back to the vacated weak side lane.
Defensive Reads
Key the weak side defensive end and outside linebacker first, if they stay home and don't get pulled by the strong side flow this play has nowhere to go. Watch for a Mike linebacker who reads counter step quickly and flows over the top, that indicates the user is spying the pulling guard rather than reacting to the strong side action. Man coverage shells with the corners locked on the outside receivers open up more room for the lead blockers since there's less traffic near the edge, but zone shells with a hard-flowing linebacker crew clog the cutback lane. Look for a safety cheating down into the box pre-snap on the weak side, that's a sign the defense has diagnosed the counter tendency and will get an extra body to the point of attack. If the defensive tackle on the play side widens or crashes down hard on the down block, that disrupts the pulling lane and forces the HB to bounce it outside earlier than designed.
Usage Tips
Run this out of early down situations like 1st and 10 or 2nd and short when you have not shown counter action yet, since defenses that have seen it once will start crashing the weak side immediately.
Check the defensive front pre-snap, this play wins big against odd fronts and defenses that flow hard to the strong side, but gets clogged against gap-sound 4-3 fronts with disciplined defensive ends who sit and read.
Pair this with HB Blast and Zone Split Lead from the same set to keep linebackers guessing between strong side power and weak side counter, both start with similar strong side action.
If the defense starts keying the pulling guard and fullback, mix in Mtn PA Counter from the same set, it uses the identical backfield action but turns it into a play-action shot to freeze the second level.
Avoid calling this into heavy blitz looks where the weak side backer is showing an A-gap or B-gap blitz presnap, since the counter's timing is too slow to answer a fast interior blitz.
