Trap
What it is
Deliberately leaving a defensive lineman unblocked so he penetrates, then blocking him from the side with a puller.
Why it matters
Trap uses a defender's aggression as the blocking scheme: the harder he gets upfield, the further out of the play the trap block puts him. It is the classic answer to a penetrating three-technique who is beating double teams, and it teaches a defensive lineman the lesson every coach wants him to learn — that an unblocked lineman is usually a trapped one.
Both sides of it
Running it
The lineman over the trapped defender ignores him and releases to the second level, which is the influence — the defender reads free and runs upfield. The backside guard pulls flat and blocks him from the inside out, at an angle he never sees. The back hits downhill immediately, because trap is a fast-hitting play and hesitation lets pursuit recover.
Stopping it
An unblocked lineman should be suspicious, not delighted. The trapped defender's answer is to squeeze down the line and get skinny rather than sprint upfield — meeting the puller with the inside shoulder and closing the hole with his own body. Linebackers must recognise the pulling guard immediately, since the release of the lineman over the trapped defender puts a blocker on them a beat early.
Also called
Programs call this trap, influence trap, short trap or mid-line trap. The Coach answers to any of them.
Related
This entry is authored, not generated. It is one of 205 in the index that the AI-ssistant Coach retrieves from, and that Film Study tags clips against.