350 - Hollywood: Winner Takes America (Patreon)

350 - The Jet Screen

The game had turned in less than a quarter. Comfortable at halftime, the Angels had lost their lead and now faced one Pittsburgh drive after another. Trouble was spreading to their own sideline.

By the time Nolan got there, teammates had separated Andy and Holmgren. The two coaches stood at opposite ends of the bench, refusing to look at each other.

They offered Nolan different answers. Holmgren wanted to return to the plays that had worked in the first half. Andy wanted the defense reshaped to counter Pittsburgh's direct-snap package.

Neither man stood to gain from the argument. They believed different things about risk, and an old irritation had made the disagreement personal.

Nolan was both the quarterback and the reason the expansion club had any chance. In practice, that made him the one who would decide.

Whichever coach he chose, another mistake would sharpen their rivalry. He could imagine one of them walking away if it got bad enough.

He studied the field.

"Neither plan wins this for us," Nolan said. "I have another way."

He had felt the failed play from inside the pocket. Neither coach had.

The jet screen asked the back to show protection, slip through the line, and catch a quick pass with the blockers between him and the rush. The more defenders the offense drew toward Nolan, the more room the back might have after the catch. It also left Nolan exposed, just as practice had shown.

He replayed the moment before the fumble. Edgerrin's route, not the idea itself, had been the problem.

The Angels sent the offense back out.

"They've shown the same formation," the CBS announcer said. "Surely they won't call that again."

"He's lost his mind," Holmgren muttered from the sideline.

Before the snap, Nolan pulled Edgerrin close and gave him one quiet instruction.

The back sold the block and released. Rushers came free again, but Nolan got the ball away a beat earlier, just before they reached him.

His short throw cleared the helmets in front of him and reached James behind the line of scrimmage. As the back caught it, the linemen turned to seal the gaps the rushers would need to retrace.

The screen broke down under pressure a moment later. It had held long enough for James to cross the line to gain.

Holmgren's mouth fell open. He had not even seen where the throwing window had appeared. Relief followed the surprise: Andy's play could work.

Andy saw the adjustment at once.

In practice, James had released between the tackle and guard. This time he cut between the center and guard.

The shorter path saved perhaps two yards and less than half a second. It was enough for him to reach the spot while Nolan still had time to throw. That tiny shift had changed the play.

Andy had examined the scheme from every angle and missed the one thing that mattered. Without Nolan's read, they might have buried it after Sunday.

Even James looked startled by what two steps had accomplished.

A quarterback felt the timing of a collapsing pocket in a way no one on the sideline could. Nolan had realized James was arriving too late; he couldn't ask the back to become faster in the middle of a game, but he could shorten the route.

On the next snap, James hit the new path even harder. Nolan put more speed on the pass. The back caught it in stride and turned upfield.

He reached the Pittsburgh thirty-seven before anyone brought him down.

Two successful screens were enough to make the Steelers call timeout.

When play resumed, Nolan saw the adjustment.

One fewer defender rushed. A linebacker stayed with James instead.

Pittsburgh had taken away the screen and given up space elsewhere.

Nolan showed the same throwing motion, then turned away from the edge defender. Once he had a pocket of room, he found Donald Driver downfield and drove the ball toward him.

Driver fought through the corner's contact, held his route, and leaped. He landed with both feet in the end zone.

"Touchdown, Los Angeles!" the announcer cried. "The screen forced Pittsburgh to change its coverage, and Callahan found what the change left open. No defense can cover every answer at once."

"The Angels are growing around him too. James hit that lane faster, and Driver held his ground through contact."

Driver, a seventh-round pick out of Alcorn State, had become one of Nolan's most reliable targets. Their connection had already produced far more than anyone expected from a late pick.

The Angels had the lead again. Nolan's next concern was how to keep it.

Pittsburgh still had its direct-snap package.

Like the jet screen, it offered several choices from one look. The Angels' defense had been chasing each possibility a step too late.

"Why not put Mike Rucker on Stewart?" Nolan asked Rhodes. "He's our best at getting into a backfield."

Rhodes shook his head. "Rucker has to stay on his side and contain the man taking the snap."

The running back lined up behind center. He could run or move the ball to Stewart.

"Then somebody else has to take Stewart. He's getting the ball too cleanly."

Rhodes looked at Nolan. "There is somebody. You. You've spent every week reading rushers and making them miss. You know what would make a quarterback miserable when he's split out there."

"You're built to press him, and you can keep up when he moves." Rhodes sounded more certain with every word.

"Let's do it," Nolan said.

He was no trained edge rusher. Against an ordinary offensive tackle he would have little beyond strength and speed. This wasn't an ordinary assignment. Stewart had left the backfield and was lining up like a receiver. Nolan needed to follow one man, not master an entire defensive front.

The risk was worth a try. Nolan agreed to the switch.

When the substitution was announced over Three Rivers Stadium, the few Angels fans in the stands cheered. They had not often seen their quarterback play away from the position, and their presence at an away game was itself a sign of the franchise's growing following.

Nolan took a linebacker spot while another player came off. The other three linebackers kept their assignments. Nolan watched Stewart.

Stewart looked back.

At the snap, Nolan closed on him. Stewart began to retreat as he had on the earlier plays.

He was still within five yards of the line and no pass was in the air. Nolan got his hands on him, legally disrupting his release. Stewart was strong, but Nolan had the leverage and refused to let him run free.

The back saw Stewart tied up and kept the ball. Pittsburgh had little time to choose another option. Rucker and the front met the runner for a loss.

"There it is!" Rhodes shouted.

For one snap, Nolan had taken Pittsburgh's favorite option away.

On second down Stewart retreated farther into the backfield. Nolan could not reach him before he broke into space, but he stayed close.

Stewart tried to shake him with one cut after another. Nolan held his ground.

The back threw toward the sideline. The ball sailed out of bounds.

Second down was over. Pittsburgh had not recovered the yards it had lost on first.

On third down, Stewart did the opposite. He broke forward into a receiver's route.

Nolan had to cover him in space now, a cornerback's job rather than a rush assignment.

He could stay with Stewart or track the incoming throw; doing both at once took training he didn't have. Nolan glanced up for the ball.

Stewart cut sharply and gained a step. A corner left the slot receiver to help, opening a window elsewhere.

The back found the slot man. Pittsburgh escaped with a first down.

On its next snap the offense returned to a conventional look. Nolan had been beaten once, but he had made the direct-snap package harder to trust. Cowher chose not to keep gambling on it.

Nolan came off the defense, and the Angels resumed their usual alignment. Pittsburgh's offense slowed again.

Los Angeles kept its own new play in the plan. Another fourth-quarter touchdown off the jet screen sequence pushed the lead into double digits.

"That's the game. The Angels have a win they badly needed to keep their playoff hopes alive."

After Monday Night Football aired that week, Nolan was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week again.

Away from the field, the individual cheerleader books had a very different result. Most of them were selling badly.