It's one of the few ways a runner can legally accept a handoff while approaching top speed, and when executed properly, the jet sweep makes it difficult for perimeter defenders to fully commit against interior runs. Defenses typically gain a feel for the upcoming offensive play when they see which opposing players are in the huddle. Four wide receivers means a pass is likely. Three tight ends means a run is likely. Sniffing out the jet sweep, however, becomes nearly impossible until the receiver goes into motion.
The play does not come without risk, though. If the timing isn't precise, a fumble is very possible. More significantly, a defensive end can anticipate the play and crush the ball carrier. Or a cornerback can get a free shot if a receiver lined up on the perimeter fails to make an effective block.
For those reasons, only receivers with sturdy builds or exceptional speed -- or both, as is the case with Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson -- are legitimate candidates to thrive with the jet sweep.
"It happens very fast," Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner said. "The ball's on the edge real fast. It's an outstanding design. ... You're not going to run that if you don't have guys that, when they get their hands on the ball, do something special. It takes a very fast runner, and it's a bonus when you have a guy that's 220 pounds doing it. The receiver's going to take a physical pounding on that, because he's basically playing running back."
When Turner joined the Vikings in January, he quickly went to work on ways to maximize Patterson's speed, vision and elusiveness. Just two plays into Minnesota's season opener, Patterson had carved out a 12-yard gain on the jet sweep. He later gained another 23 yards on the play and also cashed in a 67-yard touchdown run out of the backfield in a blowout win over the St. Louis Rams.
Months earlier, the world watched the Seahawks run the jet sweep twice to Harvin for 45 yards in Super Bowl XLVIII, and because the NFL is a copycat league, it's logical to wonder how prevalent the play might become. Harvin ran the sweep four times in the season opener against the Green Bay Packers, gaining 41 yards, and a few other teams employed the play throughout Week 1. In addition to the Vikings with Patterson, the New England Patriots performed it twice with Julian Edelman for 21 yards, and Golden Tate attempted the play once Monday night for the Detroit Lions, gaining 4 yards.
"The jet sweep was pretty effective today, and we were able to get the edge," Harvin told reporters after Seattle's win over Green Bay. "It's added another dynamic to the offense."
Said Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell: "I think we have a piece of the puzzle [in Harvin] that can do it very effectively with great speed and great quickness. He really runs like a running back runs. He doesn't run like a wide receiver. To be able to find the right guy to fit into it is a big deal."
In a survey of ESPN's 32 NFL Nation reporters, more than half the league's teams have run the jet sweep in a game or practice. "It's just about making guys miss," Patterson said. "It's always fun making guys miss."
How to defend against the jet sweep
Defensive coaches say the key to stopping the jet sweep is for the edge player on the play side, usually a defensive end or outside linebacker, to maintain focus and find the ball. That player is often unblocked, with so much of the offensive personnel selling the action of the play the other way.
In addition to disciplined play on the edges to go with man coverage and a free safety deep, on what are usually vertical routes to spread the field, teams must keep enough defenders in the box to effectively defend it.
Frequently, if the play is run with three wide receivers to one side of the formation at the snap, a tight end is the lead blocker with just one defensive back in front of him.
That defensive back is charged with beating the block and turning the ball carrier back inside where the help is.
"There are a lot of offenses right now that are using those types of plays, where they have obviously dynamic receivers that are really good with the ball in their hands," Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. "They are on the edge of the defense very quickly. It's a huge recognition play for the defense -- to see it and be able to keep it contained.
"It's another way for the coordinators to get the ball into their skill players' hands to allow them to get a quick-hitting play into the defense and try to make a dynamic, explosive play. That is definitely a difficult play to defend, to see and to recognize. Certainly one that has had a lot of success."
The next read-option?
The Denver Broncos, at the crossroads of necessity and desperation, essentially dropped the read-option on the NFL world in 2011.
They did it neither as a lark nor a change of pace. They did it out of desperation after turning to Tim Tebow as starting quarterback and with a season hanging in the balance. John Fox's coaching staff, which included current Chargers head coach Mike McCoy and current Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, installed the read-option in a week and headed to Oakland hoping for the best in a pivotal AFC West matchup against the Raiders.
Lo and behold, the 2-5 Broncos flummoxed the Raiders to the tune of 299 rushing yards in the first of what became six consecutive wins. Despite ending the regular season with three losses in a row, the Broncos ultimately won a playoff game, as Tebow threw for 316 yards on 10 completions against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Through it all, the Broncos knew the clock was ticking on their experiment. They often answered questions about Tebow and their unorthodox offense with wait-and-see responses. Then came Jan. 14, 2012.
In a 45-10 loss to the Patriots, Tebow was battered as the Broncos ran the ball 40 times for just 3.6 yards per carry. The disciplined Patriots held Tebow to 13 rushing yards on five carries. After riding the read-option to a six-game winning streak, the Broncos closed the 2011 season by losing four of their last five games.
You know the rest. Peyton Manning was signed, Tebow was traded and the Broncos moved on. Several teams have subsequently used the read-option, with varying degrees of success, but few lean on the strategy consistently over the long haul. As Fox said about trying to stay ahead of the curve in the NFL:
"The people in this league, no matter how you look at it, are the best at what they do. They often have the best human talent on the field, and people, once it's on film, spend a lot of time trying to take everything you do apart. We spend a lot of time looking at what we do, at what everybody else does. In the end, it's a bigger, faster, stronger league, and if you have the roster that's bigger, faster, stronger, with a good plan, you can do more, and you can stop more from being done to you.''
That's why teams that use wrinkles such as the read-option and jet sweep eventually face an unavoidable reality.
As a dash of spice in the mix, these tools can be effective and make an impact. But the competition is always watching and devising a counterattack, and the shelf life might simply be determined by who's running it and who's trying to stop it.
ESPN NFL Nation reporters Terry Blount, Ben Goessling, Jeff Legwold and Mike Reiss, and ESPN.com Insiders Mike Sando and Matt Williamson compiled this report.
