Cutup Friday: 2021 Browns Double Stick - Dragon
This breakdown is taken from The 2021 Cleveland Browns Complete Offensive Manual
Double Stick – Dragon is a pre snap pick-a-side quick game/3-step concept. Against two high, the quarterback is taught to work the Double Stick side. Against single high, the quarterback is taught to work the Dragon side.
The term Dragon is used for the slant and arrow two man concept. Dragon is an old term used in the west coast offense to name the concept. The goal of the concept is to get the slant behind the flat defender as he is chasing the arrow route in a single high structure. The quarterback is taught to hit the slant behind the flat defender, before he gets to the hook window.
Against two high, the defense can pass off the dragon concept. In cover two, the corner will pass off the slant and sit on the arrow route. The hook player will pass off the arrow and sit in the slant window. The next image shows Dragon against cover 2.
In certain cover 4 checks, the flat defender will chase the arrow, and the safety can rob the slant. The next image shows Dragon against cover 4.
In trips, the offense does have the ability to still work Dragon against cover 4 if the weak (free) safety pushes strong.
The Double Stick side comes into play against two high. The #3 receiver will usually have outside leverage on the middle linebacker/#3 defender, as he has a run fit responsibility too. The next image shows the window for the Stick route to settle in against two high.
Against man coverage, the Stick routes will stay on the move and work away from their defender. In this sense, Double Stick is a versatile all-purpose quick game concept.
The Browns would often shift to get to this concept to try and give the quarterback a pre-snap idea if it will be 1 high or two high.
The Browns reserved this concept for base downs and did not call it on 3rd or 4th down in 2021.
Most often, the #3 Stick route would be run by one of the tight ends. The Browns would have Landry, an excellent route runner, on this route occasionally as well.
Why it Worked: In week 8, Mayfield works the #3 receiver on the Stick route against a two high defense. The tight end does a nice job with his route technique to separate on the route.
The Browns called Double Stick – Dragon often in week 10 when the game got out of hand in the second half. Brown’s quarterbacks worked the Stick route against a variety of looks.
In week 12, the Browns get a big gain to the arrow route out of the backfield against a single high look from the Ravens.
In week 14, Mayfield hits the slant against single high man. The Browns would often flex out a tight end to run the slant as well. In this case, Hooper wins inside leverage on the slant route.
Why it Didn’t Work: The biggest threat to Double Stick – Dragon, on paper, is a post snap coverage rotation, particularly from single high to two high. This is exactly what happened in week 1. Mayfield sees single high pre snap, but by the time he catches the snap and sets his eyes to the Dragon side, the Chiefs have rotated to a cover 2 and pass off the slant and arrow. This forces Mayfield to hold the ball and allows Chris Jones to beat the right tackle for a sack.
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