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X’s and O’s: Green-Ellis’s Cartwheel TD vs Vikings, Week 8

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Over the next several days, I’ll be taking a look back into the 2010 regular season at the X’s and O’s of the New England Patriots’ most memorable touchdowns. The Patriots’ Official Website put together a list of 2010′s most memorable touchdowns, and these will be the basis for the plays that will be analyzed. These X’s and O’s pieces, like the ones I did during the season, diagram the play and explain how it worked.

Today, we’ll take a look at RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis’s touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 8. The highlight of the play is the cartwheel done by Green-Ellis as he is flipped by a defender into the end zone.

The image above may look familiar to you. The formation for this play is almost identical to the one I reviewed a couple of days ago, also a Green-Ellis touchdown. The only real difference is that tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Alge Crumpler are on opposite sides of the formation. OG Dan Connolly is once again lined up as a fullback and serves as a lead blocker for Green-Ellis. You might think that this is an obvious run play, but we’ve seen the Patriots throw out of a similar formation.

The play that is run is a fairly straight-forward off-tackle run. RT Sebastian Vollmer (#76) blocks up to the second level and takes on the linebacker, while Connolly lead blocks through the whole made by Vollmer. TE Alge Crumpler (#82) blocks the defensive end out, helping to create the hole for Green-Ellis to run through.

Green-Ellis is met just before the end zone, sending him tumbling into the air. This play would be pretty standard fair and likely not have made the “Most Memorable” list had it not been for this spectacular finish.

To view footage of this play as well as other highlights from this game, click HERE.

Previous X’s and O’s of the Patriots’ Most Memorable Touchdowns of 2010:

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