Tag: Interviews

Chaos around the line of scrimmage, defensive backs smashing into each other and a wide-open receiver picking up easy yardage are all key objectives of NFL mesh routes.

The mesh point of an offensive play creates a discombobulating influence that can turn a great secondary on its ear. In a game where fractions of a second are the difference between touchdowns and turnovers, every ounce of separation gives way to pounds of production.

Finding those moments of hesitation get increasingly more difficult as you move up football’s food chain. By the time you get to the NFL, defensive backs have seen nearly every mesh variation you can think of. They’ve drilled it thousands of times between practice and game scenarios. They’ve bred out the instinct that creates the panic an average human feels seeing a 200-pound ball of muscle charging directly at them. They’ve worked out systems to mitigate and change of direction forced by a complex route tree.

But mesh still works. We see it every week, in short range situations and downfield. It’s a perfect concept occasionally run imperfectly to prove it still has the capacity to surprise. That doesn’t mean it’s infallible.

Case in point: the Detroit Lions’ second failed fourth-down attempt in the second half of the 2024 NFC championship game. A confluence of shallow crossers in the middle of the field is designed to create an easy throw for Jared Goff at the first down marker. Two different Detroit targets run from the left side of the formation to the right, bumping San Francisco 49ers’ defense off its man-to-man coverage on a pivotal down. One on-time pass, and the Lions’ march toward the end zone, in a three-point game, continues.

But the 49ers know something the Lions don’t. It’s not man coverage. And when Logan Ryan peels off his wideout to settle into the spot where Jameson Williams expected to have an easy catch, the play goes off the rails. Pressure means Goff has to improvise. His scrambling throw to Amon-Ra St. Brown falls short and another scoring drive is erased in San Francisco’s eventual 34-31 win.

Even if it didn’t work, the 2024 NFC title game gave us yet another example of a concept that’s existed since the forward pass and is still relied upon in the biggest moments of a team’s season. Let’s talk about that, as NFL wideouts and defenders share why this simple strategy works so well, even after millions of reps.

NFL mesh concepts: A timeless, unstoppable offensive strategy — if you do it right (Part I)

Covering an NFL wide receiver isn’t the most enviable job. Defensive backs are tasked with tracking some of America’s fastest athletes, and every head fake, every stutter step, every foot plant is designed to throw them off the receivers’ scents and create space for a big gain.

Now imagine doing all that with a 6-foot-3, 230-pound ball of muscle and anger running straight at you.

That’s exactly the challenge New England Patriots defensive back Jalen Mills faced in a Week 7 showdown with the Buffalo Bills. He was designated to trail tight end Dawson Knox, who split wide toward the sideline. Knox took three steps, shook his hips and turned inside with his eyes on the goal line. Mills moved up to challenge him, hoping to take away his inside leverage in a crucial red zone snap.

Then, just as he lurched forward to make his move: Bam!

Running back Latavius Murray, running his own corner route, sliced through Mills’ peripheral vision with a jarring hit. Knox ran free, catching an easy completion in the most compressed part of the field and gliding into the end zone for what would have been six points, if not for a reasonable offensive pass interference penalty flag — one that doesn’t always get called.

gotta make the rub route a little less obvious, but solid effort nonetheless pic.twitter.com/nCsfqfDcPm

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 22, 2023

That’s the beauty of the mesh concept; it’s timeless in offenses, ranging from the run-heavy early NFL to pass-heavy, air-it-out era in which we’re currently thriving. Simple in its execution and perpetually difficult to stop. It creates space for vital gains while breeding confusion near the line of scrimmage.

The forward pass became a staple of gridiron football in 1906. Mesh wasn’t far behind; the lure of mashing two defenders into each other proved too tempting for even the simplest coaches to pass up.

The mesh concept is easy enough to help inexperienced quarterbacks thrive playing freshman football. It’s difficult enough to stop that you’ll see All-Pros execute it in prime time until the death of the universe.

And while the mesh concept has been around almost as long as the game itself, it’s drawn extra scrutiny in recent years. A rising tide of analysis — ranging from reporters with greater access to game film to announcer booths stocked with former players eager to call it out — has helped make a mainstay route more visible than ever before.

But what is mesh? Why do teams continue to rely on a call basic enough to come from Baby’s First Playbook?

The concept is simple, really.

Covering an NFL wide receiver isn’t the most enviable job. Defensive backs are tasked with tracking some of America’s fastest athletes, and every head fake, every stutter step, every foot plant is designed to throw them off the receivers’ scents and create space for a big gain.

Now imagine doing all that with a 6-foot-3, 230-pound ball of muscle and anger running straight at you.

That’s exactly the challenge New England Patriots defensive back Jalen Mills faced in a Week 7 showdown with the Buffalo Bills. He was designated to trail tight end Dawson Knox, who split wide toward the sideline. Knox took three steps, shook his hips and turned inside with his eyes on the goal line. Mills moved up to challenge him, hoping to take away his inside leverage in a crucial red zone snap.

Then, just as he lurched forward to make his move: Bam!

Running back Latavius Murray, running his own corner route, sliced through Mills’ peripheral vision with a jarring hit. Knox ran free, catching an easy completion in the most compressed part of the field and gliding into the end zone for what would have been six points, if not for a reasonable offensive pass interference penalty flag — one that doesn’t always get called.

gotta make the rub route a little less obvious, but solid effort nonetheless pic.twitter.com/nCsfqfDcPm

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 22, 2023

That’s the beauty of the mesh concept; it’s timeless in offenses, ranging from the run-heavy early NFL to pass-heavy, air-it-out era in which we’re currently thriving. Simple in its execution and perpetually difficult to stop. It creates space for vital gains while breeding confusion near the line of scrimmage.

The forward pass became a staple of gridiron football in 1906. Mesh wasn’t far behind; the lure of mashing two defenders into each other proved too tempting for even the simplest coaches to pass up.

The mesh concept is easy enough to help inexperienced quarterbacks thrive playing freshman football. It’s difficult enough to stop that you’ll see All-Pros execute it in prime time until the death of the universe.

And while the mesh concept has been around almost as long as the game itself, it’s drawn extra scrutiny in recent years. A rising tide of analysis — ranging from reporters with greater access to game film to announcer booths stocked with former players eager to call it out — has helped make a mainstay route more visible than ever before.

But what is mesh? Why do teams continue to rely on a call basic enough to come from Baby’s First Playbook?

The concept is simple, really.