The zone read is the NFL’s hottest craze right now. Defenses just haven’t yet figured out how to stop a situation where the quarterback could either run or hand it off to a running back.
Alex Smith fakes to nobody, Chiefs still buy it on TD run
Alex Smith, consummate option QB, runs the zone read perfectly even without a running back to fake to.
It even managed to be effective for the Chiefs, even with a relatively slow running back in Alex Smith, and, um, no running back:
Another angle, via @lukezim -- note how Texans linebacker Whitney Mercilus, No. 59, actually holds up to try to read which way Smith is going instead of charging right at the QB.
Not just a touchdown, but a touchdown where he was completely untouched and had tons of room. Teams should fake to players that don’t exist more often.
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