Fly Sweeps in the Wide Zone System
How Wide Zone teams use the fly sweep to protect their backside and give the Wide Zone misdirection.
When building an offense it is key to build answers to the problems you are going face. We already looked at adding Keepers, and how to attack the defense with them. (Click here to read about Keepers if you missed it.) The next phase is to add the fly sweep.
The fly sweep is a quick-hitting perimeter run away from wide zone. Much like the Keeper, the threat of the sweep forces teams to defend both sides of the formation. This is also a great way to get your faster receivers the ball in space. Combing the fly sweep with wide zone and keepers gives the offense a complete series to attack the defense.
Fly Sweep
The Fly Sweep is a simple addition to the Wide Zone play. The burden of adding plays in the running game is on the offensive line. Adding completely new running plays takes a lot of work to get good at. The more plays you can add without teaching anything new to the guys up front the better.
In these examples, the offensive line and running back are still executing as if wide zone is the play call opposite the sweep. This creates conflict for the linebackers. They have to honor the Wide Zone, but this leaves a lack of alley players to try and stop the sweep. The defense is stretched horizontally to the max.
Packers Fly Sweep Right Fake 19
The Packers are attacking the weak side of the formation. This is great if a team is rolling their coverage to the strength.
The Patriots roll back to the motion, but the corner is still in man. They get a 2-for-1 block because the corner follows the single receiver. This allows the slot on the sweep to reach the perimeter.
The Patriot’s front 7 are all playing the wide zone, leaving just the corner and safety to try and stop the sweep. They seal the safety and get to the edge for an easy touchdown.
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