After turnover, Bears take a perfect shot

After a turnover in the NFL it is time to go up top and test the secondary. That's exactly what the Bears did against the Browns on Thursday night when quarterback Josh McCown hit Dane Sanzenbacher on the Pump-Seam for a touchdown after a Jeremy Jones interception.

In this diagram, the Bears have their Posse personnel (three wide receivers, one tight end, one back) on the field in a Doubles Slot Wing alignment. The Browns counter with their base nickel front (four defensive linemen, two linebackers, five defensive backs) playing Cover-1 (man-free) in the secondary.


With the ball in the high red zone (20- to 35-yard line), the Bears run a vertical concept that puts stress on the free safety. It's ideal field position to take a shot to the end zone.

To the open (weak) side of the formation, Eric Weems (X) runs the Sluggo (slant and go) vs. press coverage. Weems takes a hard inside release, stems to the slant and then breaks up the field vertically. To the closed (strong) side of the formation, Brittan Golden (Z) works the Smash route with Sanzenbacher (W) on the inside vertical seam.

The key to running the Pump-Seam is the protection along with the backfield action from the quarterback. With the tight end (Y) and running back (R) blocking to the closed side of the formation, the Bears have created a seven-man protection scheme. That provides plenty of time for McCown to pump to Weems on the Sluggo and come back to Sanzenbacher on the seam.

Where is the free safety help? When McCown pumps, this holds the free safety and forces him to shade over the top of Weems. That creates a one-on-one matchup with Sanzenbacher on the Browns' nickel corner (N). With Sanzenbacher creating leverage at the snap (winning to the outside), he can stack on top of the Nickel corner, put him in a trail position and finish the play on a nice ball from McCown.

It was a smart play call from the Bears given the game situation, and it led to six points.

Special contributor Matt Bowen, who played at Glenbard West and Iowa, spent seven seasons in the NFL as a strong safety. You also can find his work at nationalfootballpost.com.