From The Film Room: Parker 13-Yd Touchdown

During Sunday's route of the Texans, there was one play in particular that stood out to me because it was a combination of a great play-call by Arians, and flawless execution by the players on the field; Willie Parker's 2nd touchdown run, from 13 yards out.  First, the play took advantage of Mario Williams aggressiveness in pass rushing.  The Steelers were in a 1-back set with 4 total receivers (including TEs).  There were 3 receivers bunched on the weak side of the field, with Santonio Holmes alone on the strong side.  The play was designed to run to the strong side.  The defense of the Texans was most likely expecting pass, as this formation and its variants typically signals we are going to pass.  Best yet, it forces the defense to roll to the weak side of the field, leaving more space on the strong side for a run play. 

Upon the snap, Kemoeatu and Marvel Smith block their men in opposite directions.  Kemoeatu locks on and drives his man to his right, and slightly into our backfield.  Marvel Smith lets Mario Williams get a step on him, then gives him a nice shove into our backfield, before turning his (Smith's) head and heading upfield.  At the same time, Roethlisberger has handed to Willie Parker, who is staring at a massive hole on the left side of the line.  The only possible deterrent is Justin Hartwig's man, who Hartwig engaged right off the snap.  As this defensive tackle tried to slide to his right (Hartwig's left) to fill the hole, Hartwig does an excellent job of remaining engaged, without holding him.  At the same time, Marvel Smith is heading upfield and hits the unsuspecting defensive tackle (busy with Hartwig) into the turf.  Parker now has clear room and is at full speed, the only possible person who can stop him is the DB covering Holmes, who Holmes does an excellent job of keeping engaged, right up until Willie is running past, when Holmes lets him go (to avoid a holding call), and the DB can only hopelessly lunge at Parker as he blows by, and gets 10 yards easily.  That first 10 yards was all due to a great play call, and the offensive line's perfect execution.  I could have got 10 yards on that play. 

This is where Willie Parker is responsible for turning the 10 yard first down, into a 13-yard touchdown.  One thing I noticed all game is that Parker seems to have a bit more agility this year than in previous years, where his "cutting" ability was average at best.  Throughout this game he showed some new moves, such as feigning a step towards one hole, then bursting to the outside (LT and Adrian Peterson are the absolute best at this), and also, a pretty tight spin move, which he used to perfection on this play.  As the last-chance defender (believe it was the free safety) flowed towards Parker, Parker plants his left foot hard and spins inside, away from the safety, and walks into the end zone.

I turned to some friends right after that play and said, "That was a perfect play call."  They took advantage of two things, 1) the Texans (and Mario Williams in particular) aggressive pass rush, and 2) the bunch formation, which last year we almost ALWAYS passed out of in the red zone.  Of course, perfect execution helps, and the play achieved it's goal of a first down, and thanks to a little Willie Parker magic, it netted a touchdown.  Great play call by Arians, great execution by the blockers, great finish by the running back.  It doesn't get sweeter than that for an X's and O's guy like me.  I'll mix it up week to week between offense and defense, and bad plays and good ones alike.