When is empty not empty?

      On film, I noticed that Giant's Offensive Coordinator Ben McAdoo had mastered the technique of getting every available receiver into route without advertising it to defenses by lining up in a traditional empty formation.
        Against the Dolphins, his unit lined up in a routine two by two formation with 11 personnel on the field.   What made the Giants different from most NFL teams is their refusal to go "hat on a hat" in protection. Instead, they forced the defense's hand by putting everyone including the running back into the route structure.
        It reminded me of a practice back at Johnson C. Smith, when Offensive Coordinator Maurice Flowers answered the question of "Who is going to block the blitzer?" by asking likewise "Who is going to cover the back?"
         In the Monday night game, the Dolphins kept coming up with the wrong answer and it cost them dearly.
        As you see in the play below,  the Fins chose to drop the free safety down into the box, to account for the running back who delayed and attacked the alley. My guess is their intent was to roll to a three deep coverage with the other safety moving to cover the middle of the field.

         Unfortunately, he didn't roll in time to help the play side corner who just happened to be covering Odell Beckham, Jr.  The second year receiver was running a "slant and go" or "sluggo."   In case you haven't seen the highlight, Beckham torched the Dolphins and the Giants went on to win the game.
         The reason for camouflaging an empty formation this way is simple.  Most defensive coaches lick their chops when an offense lines up in empty formation.  In these cases they almost always bring the heat.  It's  a numbers advantage -- with only five blockers left in protection it only takes six rushers to get a free shot on the quarterback.
         In the Giants case, it worked out because the Dolphins blew the coverage. They chose to take a away a shorter route and gave up a home run in the process.  However, if you are going to flood the field with receivers you have to take a few things into account:

1) Can my five block their four or five?  In games where you are losing individual battles at the line of scrimmage, it could be a long day.  If it's five on four with big on big protection, you get one double team. Use it wisely.

2) Are we blocking the right five?  This is a difficult proposition against a team that specializes in masking the  blitz.  They will present seven potential blitzers at the line of scrimmage and then at the snap drop one or two into coverage. If your offensive line makes a mistake when divvying up the assignments -- it could be a problem.

3) Am I asking too much?  As I learned early in my coaching career, leaving five in to block and running all verticals is not a good idea.  In one of my first games at Phillip O. Berry, we gave up a sack while trying to hit a big play down the field and when asked why  I said, "Because they brought more than we could block."  When I took over play calling duties the next season, I made sure if we were going to empty the formation, the quarterback had options to get the ball out of his hand quickly.  It's a good idea to run quick game concepts when you are only keeping five in to block.