Packers sweep

The play became noteworthy due to its extensive use by the Packers in the 1960s, when the team won five National Football League (NFL) Championships, as well as the first two Super Bowls.

It is characterized as power football[2] and usually gives the runner the choice to follow the lead blockers inside or outside, depending on how the defense reacts.

[7] Lombardi attended coaching clinics during this time, where he continued to develop a better understanding of the sweep, especially the techniques of pulling offensive linemen and having the ball carriers cut back towards openings in the line.

Blaik's emphasis on players executing their job and the military discipline of West Point greatly influenced Lombardi's future coaching style.

[10] Under his offensive leadership and assisted by his defensive counterpart Tom Landry, Lombardi helped guide the Giants to an NFL Championship in 1956.

[8][12] In 1959, Lombardi accepted a head coaching and general manager position with the struggling Green Bay Packers.

[13] Even though the Packers had not been successful for a number of years, Lombardi inherited a team in which five players would go on to be Pro Football Hall of Famers.

[14][15] He immediately instituted a rigorous training routine, implemented a strict code of conduct, and demanded the team continually strive for perfection in everything they did.

[17] The center had to cut off the defensive tackle or middle linebacker to prevent the defender from breaking up the play behind the line of scrimmage.

[20] This was due to the right guard (when the play was run to the right side of the field), who would vacate this space while pulling to lead the ball carrier.

[14] Overall though, the play was known as gaining "four-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust" that would allow the Packers to control the game clock, slowly moving the ball down the field and exhausting the defense.

[25] Tom Landry, as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, had his defense linemen "flex" (line up in an offset position) to prevent the runner from finding the cutback lanes that were essential to the success of the sweep.

[10] In addition to the Hall of Famers, Lombardi's teams included other highly decorated players, such as first-team All-Pro Fuzzy Thurston,[29] the left guard who had the most challenging blocking assignment in the sweep.

[5][23] Many of these players identified Lombardi's coaching and drive for perfection as important factors behind their accomplishments and the team's success.

[19] In nine seasons at the helm, Lombardi and his sweep led the Packers to five NFL championships as well as victories in Super Bowl I and II.