Coaching Football Offense:12 personnel and the issues it causes for defenses

12 personnel is a very effective formation grouping in the NFL.

12 personnel  causes issues for defenses. #1 teams are throwing more out of it than in years past. Thus it makes you question if you want to be in nickel or not. The 2nd thing you are seeing more of is teams running empty sets out of 12 personnel. They will often get zone coverage vs this grouping so it helps the passing game. You watch the 49ers and other teams and they make a living out of 12 personnel. If they get a soft box they will run it, if they get a loaded box, they will go play action and throw the ball behind cover 3 defenses. It’s easy yet affective.

It forces defenses to defend more gaps in the run game. The offense can be look one way, and then another when it needs to be. For example, the offense can be traditional with a two tight end set or have one off of the line of scrimmage as an “H” back position. You can also split the tight end out, put a speed guy inside and cause more issues. The great advantage of 12 personnel is so that there is an immediate threat from the offense to attack any of the eight running gaps created from tight end to tight end. Most defensive coordinators will feel compelled to have an 8-man front on defense and if they don’t, offenses will take advantage and run the ball.

Many teams this day and age will be a 4-2-5 base team. When you run this defense you have to make decisions with 12 personnel. What package do you want to run:

Here are your choices:

1. Keep your 4-2-5 base and adjust the front, but you have to do something with the SS, do you go under front? What is your run and passing strength. The way teams utilize the jet motion make you reconsider a few things. Do you bring a safety into the box to compensate.

2. Or do you go big personnel and change to a 3-4 or 4-3 base and make you better vs the run but may have some issues in pass coverage. That's why you've seen this evolution of the big nickel position, a 6 1 200 lb safety type. 

How do you handle motion with both zone and man defenses when teams motion from 12. Motion out of 12 puts stress on the defense and can create voids and structure issues defensively. You can create angles in the run game like BC Below. Teams are also often changing the passing strength so that factors in to your adjustments.

They run jet sweep action but go pin and pull the other way. Defense tries to rotate to cover 2 which opens up the running lane the other way.

Nice 10 yard run.

Washington

Here the WFT tries to have their ss play as an inside lb. and the Rams go play action and throw it over his head for a 40 yard gain

Interesting enough is the one time the WFT stays nickel vs 12, on 1st and 10, the Rams come out in I and put Everett as a fb. They run play action and hit Everett in the flat for a 40 yard gain. They got away from it on 1st down because they shut the Rams down early out of 12 and did it with 4-3 personnel and then went nickel and got burned. Either the cb or 31the SS is wrong. 

But you can see the nickel look, either c2/4 but it looks like 4.

You see the play action developing

Nice design and they get the bacll to the flat.

But again 12 vs nickel gave the rams an advantage 

2. Go 4-3 and bring a lb in the game like WFT and the Colts to name a few. Do you play a traditional 3 lb defense.

3. Change to a 3-4 look like the Steelers, Ravens Bucs and Rams will often do vs 12. They will play a 3-4 vs 12 personnel but vs 11personnel and 10 be in a nickel look.

RAVENS

Here the Ravens go to a 3-4 front vs the Giants in 12 personnel. The Giants go empty because of this and run the snag pattern to the front side and the slant pattern to the 1 wr side.  The pass gets broken up with the off man coverage to the single side. With the inside leverage may have been better off going to the front side or checking the speed out. Tough because the cb was off. CB makes a nice play and breaks it up.

Later in the game, they run play action with 12 out of tight wing set, The Ravens SS runs with the vertical route for 12 yards in cover 3 which opens up the Back check releasing for the easy check down and 7 yard gain.Teams will play more zone if they go big vs 12 personnel, so a nice play design and 7 yard gain. If he works the dig vs MOF closed it's a 20 yard gain. Checked it too early with great protection.

They get good spacing and excellent route concept.

Here are the 2 clips mentioned above

4 Lastly, if zone do you stay 2 high or cover 4 or do you bring a safety down and play cover 3 to it. Playing cover 3 opens the deep over concepts and slant windows up (see Titans below). Cover 2 teams can take advantage of the middle of the field out of 3x1 formations like the Bucs do. Cover 2 gives you one less man in the box. Again, how do teams defend it.

Again , its an issue. Can you stop the run with a light box.

The over route opens in the crossing concept. Nice design.

Gronk is open in the void.

5. If man free, do you combo and who do you combo with. Do you flip the cb to the twins if they are a wing 12 team. Do you match it personnel wise. How do you play your lb and fits, especially with all the Jet motion teams.

Here the 49ers go 12 and run jet. The Giants are in cover 1. The 49ers take advantage of the leverage the TE has on the Safety when they run jet and fake the wide zone the other way. The play action freezes the linebackers so they are in no position to help underneath. Also, the cb alignment is outside in cover 1 so it allows the good in breaking route for a nice 12 yard gain.

jet motion freeezes the linebackers

outside leverage by the cb on tight end opens the middle of the field and gives the tight end the leverage he needs. No help because of teh great run action.

Te wins the battle and gets open for the nice 12 yard gain. 

Here's the clip out of 12 personnel. 

6. You can take advantage of teams if they stay base personnel, 3-4 or 4-3 by going to empty and throwing the football. Many holes in zone defenses. Rams go empty with 2 te on the right . Bucs in 3-4 and cant get aligned below. Nice change up vs teams staying base defense vs 12. 

Nice job here spreading everybody out. Going empty from 12 causes major issues and most teams won't play man.

Take advantage by spreading the field.

In week 17 The Browns  went 12 personnel and went 11 snaps of empty. They were 9/11 in this situation for 93 yards. This set the stage for doing it in the playoffs  vs the Steelers in the wild card game where they had great success with it.  Of the 2 plays in week 17 that they weren't successful, one was a drop in the hands of Hopper, the other was a sack on a missed read by Mayfield. Pretty successful day for them throwing it out of 12 personnel. 

IN WEEK 17 , Defensively the Steelers played base personnel the 1st 2 times vs 12, then got out of it and went Nickel on 7 of the snaps and dime on the other 2 which were 3rd and 5 situations. 

Here's one of the routes they ran on 2 occasions

12 forces you to go zone or stay big.

Nice design with the basic route concept with the dig and snag behind it.

Here's a few clips of the empty package they ran vs the Steelers.

In The playoffs, the Browns came out in 12 personnel and went empty. The Steelers had to go soft zone against it and led to an easy 6 yard completion on the stick route. The right outside lb who usually rushes is now a flat defender. The next play they hit landry for 40 yard td.

Good design again highly effective

The great thing is teams get soft and play base personnel and coverage.

These are just some of the concerns and questions you have to deal with on the defensive side of the ball. 

Here is my YouTube video on how the Browns attacked the Steelers in 12 personnel and went empty in the process.