Putting together the ideal (low) red zone package

How the top teams punch it in when it's scoring time

There are few things more frustrating to the football-watching public than a sour red zone offense. The endless fades. Slamming into the middle of the line of scrimmage. Settling for field goals rather than touchdowns. There is a special place reserved in football hell for those running a mundane, pedestrian red zone package *cough* the Broncos *cough*.

Like recovering a family member from the depths of Prague, scoring in the red zone requires a particular set of skills. Space is compressed. Everything hits a little quicker. Running intricate route combinations is tough; the group runs out of real estate. A slimmed-down menu gives the defense a shot to throw up a brick wall. 

That’s why defenses en masse are so keen to embrace the bend-don’t-break philosophy: Force the offense to drive all 100 yards and you up the chance of the offense stubbing its toe, committing a back-breaking error, or running into limited options once they land in the red zone. The more predictable an offense is (a…