Only for Guild Members » who could end up in the booth for next season

Patrick Mahomes is the hottest name in the NFL. He is having a stellar first year as the signal caller for the Chiefs offense and has them looking like serious Super Bowl contenders.Mahomes has a huge arm and the vertical passing game is a big part of what the Chiefs do. The four-vertical passing concept is the foundation of the vertical passing game and sets up other deep concepts as well. Here is a look at the Chief’s four-vertical passing concept.Back in Week 2 Jordan Evans Jersey , Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton comes across the formation and safety Morgan Burnett bumps out as Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill motions. They end up in an inverted form of Cover 2, the Sutton playing the deep half and Burnett playing the flat. Mahomes’ first read should have been Chris Conley, the slot wide receiver on the other side of the formation, who runs the bender route (vertical route that bends to split the difference between Cover 2 safeties). Burnett jumps the swing route by running back Kareem Hunt instead of dropping underneath Hill’s vertical route. This coupled with Sutton sitting on tight end Travis Kelce’s seam route means Hill (who is generally the second read against Cover 2) is wide open. Mahomes passes on these open receivers and throws the ball just behind Kelce who catches it for a touchdown. This is good placement, as it keeps the ball away from the safety.Here Kelce has kind of the opposite of the bender mentioned above. In this empty formation, Kelce lines up as the third receiver on the bottom of the screen. His job is to run the vertical seam route on the top of the screen, which would naturally cause his to bend his route across the formation. If there was a deep middle safety the middle of the field would be closed (MFC) and he would run across the safety and make the safety choose between the two seam routes. Since the middle of the field is open (MFO) with two deep safeties, Kelce splits the two safeties and Mahomes makes the right read, throwing him the touchdown.This is a really interesting play design, and really just another way for the Chiefs to get players in the same parts of the field as they were on the first clip. Hunt, who is lined up as the widest receiver on the left-hand side, motions into the backfield and swings to the right. The next guy inside of Hunt is wide receiver Sammy Watkins who runs the seam, while the third receiver Preston Brown Jersey , Chris Coley wheels and becomes the outside deep threat. Similarly, Kelce is wheeling outside of Hill’s seam route on the bottom of the screen. Mahomes throws an incompletion in the direction of Watkins.On this play from Week 1, the two receivers on the bottom of the screen run vertical, while full back Anthony Sherman wheels out from his H-back position on the top of the screen. This play is a little different in that Kelce hitches up. The Chiefs have a diverse passing game that stems off of the four vertical concept and features many variations. Kelce’s presence forces the most athletic defender on that side of the formation, cornerback Trevor Williams, to run with him while linebacker Kyle Emanuel sherman runs with Sherman. Mahomes throws a great ball here, converting it for a touchdown.The Bengals tend to run more MFC, with Jessie Bates III as the lone safety occupying the middle of the field. When the Chiefs run two receivers up the seams Mahomes will be reading Bates to determine where the ball will go. Bates must play in between the two routes and read Mahomes in order to determine where and when to break on the ball. The Bengals will also likely see deep comebacks on the outside as cornerbacks Dre Kirkpatrick and William Jackson play off in Cover 3. Jim Nantz has been the lead announcer for many events during his 34 years at CBS. Calling four major championships in a span of 106 days will be something new.Nantz calls his fifth Super Bowl on Sunday when the New England Patriots take on the Los Angeles Rams. That will be followed by the NCAA Men’s Final Four and the Masters in April. What will be new this year is the PGA Championship moving from August to May.“I’m trying not to look to far ahead, but it is an exhilarating stretch,” Nantz said in a phone interview. “It sounds a little overwhelming, but there are many outstanding events coming up.”Nantz has done the Super Bowl, Final Four and Masters trifecta four times (2007, ’10 Ryan Glasgow Jersey , ’13 and ’16), but changes to the PGA Tour’s calendar gives CBS the first two majors instead of the first and last.Besides the aforementioned events, Nantz is just as excited for the upcoming golf tournaments at Pebble Beach and Los Angeles as well as calling the Big Ten basketball tournament.One of Nantz’s main goals during Super Bowl week in Atlanta has been to make sure Tony Romo enjoys the experience and doesn’t get too caught up in calling his first Super Bowl.“I’m thrilled for him. He has been consistently great since our first game. He has been slightly refined, but the thing to remember is we have done only 44 games. It still remains very new,” Nantz said.Romo was asked earlier in the week if he planned to join Nantz and Nick Faldo during a golf broadcast. He said he would love to improve his game and eventually qualify for a PGA event.Other things of note for Super Bowl weekend:PREGAME JUGGLINGScheduling the segments for a four-hour pregame show may seem like a daunting task, but “Super Bowl Today” producer Drew Kaliski said that there is a certain flow to figuring out when to air certain pieces.“You can’t come out of the gate at 2 (p.m.) with all football. We are going to touch on the game, but there are other pieces that are important,” Kaliski said. “As players start arriving at the stadium, we will start to get more into the analysis of the game.”In other words, features on the Atlanta music scene, an interview with Joe Namath 50 years after leading the New York Jets to their only Super Bowl, and CBS News’ interview with President Trump will happen from 2-4:30 p.m. with the last 90 minutes geared toward analyzing the game.CBS Sports President Sean McManus viewed most of the pregame features on Friday and said during a phone interview that he is extremely pleased with what he has seen.“I have never seen a variety of pieces and features that are more attractive,” McManus said. “We have everyone from Warren Buffett to Hank Aaron to Magic Johnson. I am really excited about them.”Among the pieces that McManus mentioned are a look at Atlanta and its role in the Civil Rights Movement; a feature with Rams defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh that includes an interview with Buffett; and looking back at the 50th anniversary of Super Bowl 3 with Namath.SPOTLIGHT ON TOPSCBS’ Super Bowl programming kicks off at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday with “That Other Pregame Show.” The show has been on CBS Sports Network on Sunday during the regular season and provides a lead in to “The NFL Today Jordan Evans Jersey ,” but this is the first timeTOPS will be seen on the main network.The program, which has a more relaxed feel compared to other pregame shows, has made former Raiders president Amy Trask one of the more underrated analysts. It will also mark the first time a woman director and producer have been at the helm for a network pregame show.“This is a tribute to the work (producer) Deb Gelman and (director) Linda Malino have done, and the confidence we have in them,” McManus said.WHO’S NEXT?Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Larry Fitzgerald are frequently mentioned as players with potential to be great analysts should they decide to move into television. But they aren’t likely to retire for another year or two.There is one player and a coach, though, who could end up in the booth for next season: tight end Benjamin Watson, who is retiring after 15 seasons, and former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. Both have appeared on various shows from Atlanta this week and have been highly regarded through the years for their interaction with various crews during production meetings.“You have to find someone who wants to make it a second career and work as hard as they did as a player or coach,” McManus said. “What also matters is how you see the field and can you analyze the offense and defense? How likable are you on TV? That’s something you can’t predict until the light goes on.”