Today we’re looking at the 2nd Juwan Johnson touchdown from the Saints Week 1 win over the Packers, which is an absolutely wild sentence to type. We’re going to look at it and talk about the idea of mirrored concepts. A mirrored concept is a pretty simple idea: split the field down the middle and run the same concept on both sides. (Contrary to popular belief, it does not have anything to do with the 2008 Alexandre Aja horror movie Mirrors, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Smart and…mirrors? I guess?)
The idea behind it is to help the quarterback find an answer to a big question before the ball is snapped: what side of the field am I throwing to?
There’s more to it than that - there always is - but that’s the general idea. By running the same concept to both sides, you can find your favored match-up before the ball is even snapped. The field is being cut in half in terms of decision-making. There is some post-snap motion that can go into it as well, but, even if the picture changes dramatically post-snap, it still helps the quarterback formulate a plan of attack before the rush is bearing down on him.
On this play, the Saints are running a mirrored Post Fade. (I honestly don’t know what to call this. Post Fade feels right? Shallow Scissor? Snag Wheel? Is anybody listening to me?) Alvin Kamara is leaking out to the right from the backfield, but that’s just a checkdown. Before the snap, Winston is looking at the match-ups to each side. On Winston’s right, he sees Jaire Alexander and Adrian Amos. On his left, he sees Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan.
Bang. Decision made.
Winston never looks to his right after the snap. Not once. He does a comedic double-take at the coverage on the right before snapping it. “Alright, not throwing it over there.”
Alexander and Amos do a great job navigating the mesh point of the routes on the right. Amos attacks the potential flat before drifting under the fade. Alexander follows the route to the inside, immediately putting himself in position to undercut it.
King and Sullivan run into each other. King shuffles to the inside with the break while Sullivan stays in place, leaving them both on the same plane. When the routes break, Sullivan simply crashes into King, because that’s what happens.
By having a mirrored concept, Winston was able to determine which side had the better match-up. He chose…wisely.