Saints running back Alvin Kamara is great at many things. But when the Saints call the “Choice” concept for him, Kamara’s so tough to stop.
When the Saints face off with the Bears on Sunday afternoon in the wild-card round, they may have receiver Michael Thomas, who has played in just seven games this season, and has been out since Week 14, with various injuries. That would certainly help their passing game, The Saints may also have running back Alvin Kamara, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on January 1. The fact that it’s a Sunday and not a Saturday game gives Kamara an opportunity, though the Bears probably wish that wasn’t the case.
When Chicago and New Orleans met in Week 8, Thomas was not present, but Kamara very definitely was. In a 26-23 Saints win, Kamara rushed 12 times for 67 yards and caught nine passes on 13 targets for 96 yards. When the Saints were prepping to play the Buccaneers the following week, head coach Bruce Arians made his feelings about Kamara quite clear.
“I coached Marshall Faulk – this guy’s scarier,” Arians said of Kamara (Arians coached Faulk in Indianapolis in 1998 when he was the Colts’ quarterbacks coach). “He’s got great speed, he’s got great hands, he’s got wide receiver skills – but he’s a hell of a running back. He’s a tough tackle. I thought in the first ballgame we did a good job, but he’s expanded his role. Drew [Brees] is really doing a nice job of finding him in the passing game and Sean [Payton] is putting him in position to be successful. We’ve got our hands full – hopefully we can do as good of a job this time.”
Bruce Arians on Alvin Kamara: ‘I coached Marshall Faulk, and this guy’s scarier’
In two games against the Bucs this season, Kamara ran 21 times for 56 yards and two touchdowns, catching 10 passes on 14 targets for 60 yards and another score. The comparison to Faulk is interesting, because Faulk wasn’t just a great running back — he was also one of the most evolved receivers at his position in NFL history. Kamara, who has the most receptions (326) on the most targets (409), the most receiving yards (2,824), and the second-most receiving touchdowns (15) among running backs since he entered the league in 2017, has done his best to live up to that.
The Bears’ defense, which has fallen apart in the second half of the season, might find Kamara more challenging this time around than they did in Week 8 — especially if Thomas is active, and Sean Payton can move Kamara on Thomas’ side of the formation to create all kinds of impossible matchups.
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But for our particular purposes, let’s look at how Kamara bedeviled the Bears with the “Choice” route, and the “HB Choice” concept.
This example of “Choice” is from Jon Gruden’s 1998 Raiders playbook — “Choice” has been a West Coast Offense staple for years, and Payton, who worked with Gruden as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach when Gruden was the offensive coordinator in 1997, has a ton of West Coast concepts in his offense.
In “Red Right 22 Scat HB Choice,” you can see that the halfback, to the left of the quarterback, has a series of option routes dependent on the alignment and behavior of the edge defender, the weakside linebacker and the free safety. It’s a three-way go in which the back could take a quick out route or in-cut after flaring out and running straight, or he could work to more of a slant. The ability of the halfback to react quickly based on defensive alignment and behavior is of crucial importance, and this is one of the many things that makes Kamara so great.
It was on this 47-yard reception that Kamara “Choiced” the Bears to death. Kamara is reading the edge defender, weakside linebacker, and safety to his side, he sees that the edge defender (Khalil Mack) and safety (Tashaun Gipson) are flaring out of the formation — probably expecting Kamara to run some kind of wheel route — and the linebacker to his side (Roquan Smith) peels off to cover tight end Jared Cook to the other side. Kamara knows that the middle of the field is going to be completely open, and all he has to do is run a little Texas route, and amble on down the field.
“So, it’s a choice route,” Payton said the day after the game. “And there’s certain coverages that make it more desirable, if you will. A team that’s playing true zone, Alvin’s going to turn around and kind of catch a ball in space. But when you’re getting man-to-man or you’re getting some of these match coverages, he can break out, he can break out if he feels like he’s getting overplayed, then he can angle in front. He’s pretty good at running that and so truly he has three choices that make it friendly. Drew’s able to see the indication steps he’s taken relative to what he’s doing. So he really has some options on that play.”
As for Kamara, he said that the play was set up with “a lot of film study. If you asked Sean [Payton], I think it’s a feel route. You’ve obviously got to know the coverage. But it’s a lot of feel that goes into that. And just on that particular play, Khalil Mack was kind of in a wide nine technique. And when the ball was snapped, as I kind of wide released, he dropped and kind of expanded. So the inside was buck-naked, the linebacker expanded and he expanded. So, I just, was a little bit patient and, gave him some eyes and looked at him a little bit and broke in. [Mack] is a great player, one of the best in the league, if not the best. But, I’ll take me, running the route against him any day.”
Certainly so. Kamara went on to further explain how often he and Brees are on the same page when the call is “Choice.”
“We are about 10 for 10. I’ll take us on that route, any day. I think just running it the past four years, just compiling a whole stockpile of just different looks and scenarios, two minute scenarios, first quarter scenarios, third, fourth quarter, up in the game, down in the game, got-to-have-its and just-let’s-get-its. I think Drew and I kind of got the time on task that we have. It’s a high success rate when we call that play. So, whatever Sean [Payton] said, I know he probably had a whole monologue for you about it. I just say, we kind of do what we got to do when the play is called.”
Later that week after the Bears game, Brees said that he’s perfectly happy when the “Choice” call comes in, and Kamara’s the target.
“Well, it takes a guy with great feel, patience, understanding and timing. And the great thing about choice routes is that you have a three-way go. So in most cases, the defense can’t be right.”
The Bears weren’t right on that play. And while Chicago ranks second behind only the Washington Football Team in defensive DVOA when covering running backs, they’re well aware that Kamara is a different cat. They could experience more painful reminders on Sunday, especially if Kamara’s active and “Choice” is the call.
