The latest episode of Quarterback Meetings with Erik Ainge provides a glimpse into what kind of stuff the team is looking for in pre-game film study. This one focuses on how two linebackers play the “interior receivers,” i.e., the tight end and the running back.
According to Ainge, what the ‘backers should do is “combo” the interior receivers, which sounds a lot like “switching” in basketball defense. If two offensive players go different directions and cross each other in the process, it creates a problem for defensive players playing them man-to-man because they are already lined up incorrectly and with all of that crossing, there’s bound to be a traffic jam. But if they “combo” and essentially hand off their guy to their teammate, they’ll each be closer to the guy they have to defend and won’t have to avoid each other in defending their respective guys.
In this video, you’ll see that the linebackers don’t “combo” and thus both the tight end and the running back are open. The running back goes left to the flat while the tight end lined up on the left goes right, and the linebackers are just out of position the entire time.