Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Update 11/30/2011

So I've had an intensely boring day so far, reading reports about the logistic operations of the UK armed forces in the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Don't ask.

The main thrust of this is that I have an article up my sleeve that will either be finished over the course of the next 6-8 hours, or possibly tomorrow. I'm going as quick as I can in between other tasks!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Week 12 picks

Have we really only got 5 more weeks of the regular season? Damn. Time to pick some winners for Sunday I guess, then let you in on what I'm working on for my next article. I'm already 2-1 this week, so let's try and build on that. Briefly then;

- I'm taking Atlanta over Minnesota. Adrian Peterson is missing for the Vikings which will severely hamper them.
- Bengals over the Browns. The Browns are probably one of the two worst teams in the league at this minute, along with the Jaguars.
- Panthers over the Colts. It's the Colts for crying out loud. Even the Panthers defense and Cam Newton can overcome that challenge.
- Texans at Jaguars. Even with Matt Leinart at quarterback, the Texans should get the win over Jacksonville.
- Jets over the Bills. The Bills just lost Fred Jackson to injured reserve, their offense going with him. Say bye, bye to your season Buffalo.
- Cardinals over the Rams. The Rams certainly have the capacity to play well, they just don't do it very often.
- Titans over the Buccaneers. Because as bad as Tennessee have been, the Buc's have probably been worse.
- Bears over the Raiders. The Raiders are missing a whole bunch of players and Caleb Haine is a solid back up quarterback for the Bears.
- Seahawks over the Redskins. I always complain about the Seahawks, but they're probably better than the Redskins on balance.
- Patriots over the Eagles. The Vince Young lead Eagles will struggle to match firepower with the Patriots.
- Broncos over the Chargers. I've been practically driving the Tebow bandwagon, so I can't jump off now.
- Steelers over Chiefs. Blurgh, the Chiefs.
- Saints over Giants. I give up defending the Giants. F**k 'em.

Right, so what am I working on... actually not all that much. There's a couple of things I saw watching the NFL's "Playbook" show that I want to bring up, so that'll probably end up being a combi post sometime next week, inlcuding Blaine Gabbert and a word on passing lanes.

Friday, November 25, 2011

So I've been pretty inactive this past week.

From what I've seen around the web over the last few years it seems to be a curse that affects many a blogger. You have a whole bunch of free time on your hands so you think to yourself "you know what'd be a cool idea? If I shared all of my inane ramblings about a given subject with the world..."

Then you spend the next year or two writing your blog, pouring time into like it was a needy child that just constantly cried all day, everyday. Throughout this time period your readership can generally be counted using the fingers on one hand.

Then when things finally start to pick up and you actually begin to put together a consistent and moderately sized readership, all of a sudden every last drop of your spare time is getting consumed performing largely pointless errands on other peoples behalf. Just when you're starting to get over the hump, suddenly you find a long downward slope on the other side.

So apology's for the lack of posting recently. But for now at least I've managed to scrape together the time to take a look at one of my favourite positions on the football field, offensively at least; the Fullback.

I love Fullback's. Not quick enough to play tight end, not big enough to play linebacker, fullbacks are the forgotten players of the offense - an echo from the past when teams ran the ball 50 times a game, games didn't last three and a half f**king hours, and you actually used to spend more time watching the game than you did watching adverts.

Over the years however Fullbacks have fallen out of favour as teams progressively shift more towards pass orientated offenses that require three or four receivers and don't run the ball anywhere near as much. Under those conditions a 240 lbs lead blocking rhino isn't as useful as another 200 lbs gazelle at the wide out spot.

All is not lost though. Even in today's world of spread offenses and rules balanced to favour the forward pass, fullbacks can still contribute. Their main advantage is the ability to sneak out of the backfield on short yardage, play-action downs - especially in the red zone - and catch simple passes in the flat. There are still teams that run the ball fairly commonly, thus calling on their fullbacks to perform the traditional duty of lead blocker. And now more and more teams are designing misdirection runs out of I-formation sets to get the ball to their fullbacks. We're going to look at just a few of these plays over the course of this article.

First though we need to take a trip down memory lane and look at some of the old formations that teams used to use that prominently featured the fullback;




Now while my diagram may indeed look like a particularly shit game of "Connect 4" (click the image to enhance... just the size sadly, it'll still be badly drawn) there is a point to it. The highlighted players in yellow and red are the tight end and the fullback respectively. Really I only needed to do that for the final two formations, but hey. Indeed those last two formations may just look like mirror images, but trust me they're not. As you can see from the yellow blob on the end of the line, the tight end is to the right in both cases.

These are the types of formations that formed the back bone of most "pro-style" offenses from the 1960's through to the late 80's at least. Each formation gives certain subtle advantages compared to it's siblings. It's at this point that I'm wishing I'd had the foresight to label them with numbers. Of course I still could and you'd never know, but that's too much like hard work.

So starting in the top left we have the "split backs" formation, a favourite of many teams. Bill Walsh used to refer to this formation as simply 'Red' and it was the default formation around which his offense was built. The key to what makes the split backs so dangerous is the versatility. You have three down field receivers and two backs who can leak out of the backfield to attack the underneath coverage, giving the coordinator the option of sending five receivers out into a pass pattern.

Alternatively he can keep one, two or all of the three interior receivers (the two backs and the tight end) in to pass protect, and can do so in a dazzling number of combinations. Ok, perhaps not that many, but more than enough. You can also run the ball quite effectively, in no small part thanks to having that fullback in their to lead block for the running back.

Shown second is the "I-formation" which facilitates the downhill running game a little better and provides a better two-way threat to run the ball to either side, as well as creating some quick developing play-action passes. The main drawback is that it takes longer for the backs to get out into pass patterns when the quarterback takes a straight drop.

The two bottom formations lean heavily to one side or the other. The formation on the left facilitates running to the weak side, in particular toss runs to the weak side, with the quarterback pitching the ball quickly to the fullback. It allows the backs to quickly get out of the backfield on passing plays and "flood" the weak side of the defense. It also permits the protection to be set much better against blitzes off the weak side, especially if the weak safety is bltizing. The formation on the bottom right does similar things, except this time to the strong side.

In all of this the fullback plays a key role. He's usually a better pass blocker than the half back. He's often not bad as a receiver, despite my early dig at them. Indeed, Roger Craig of the 49ers was the first player to achieve both 1,000-yards rushing and receiving in a single season (1985), all while playing from the fullback spot as illustrated above. Fullbacks also make good ball carriers; just ask Franco Harris.

From the positions above the fullback can easily get out into most short-medium pass patterns and can also be brought into the running game as a ball carrier with a bit of creativity. Mostly this involves quick toss sweeps to the outside with the halfback lead blocking, as well as inside runs where either the halfback lead blocks through the hole or, the halfback runs to the outside in order to misdirect the defense (particularly the widest linebacker and defensive lineman) and allow the offensive line to concentrate on blocking the interior defensive players to create a path up the middle for the fullback.

We still see some of this in action today which is where we're going to head now, looking at a few plays from last Sundays games.

We'll start in Green Bay as the Packers took on the Buccaneers and facing a second down with less than a yard to go the Packers called upon the many talents of defensive lineman B.J. Raji, those talents being largely that he weighs over 300 pounds and is pretty strong! The Packers lined him up at Fullback and dipped into their playbook for a bit of simple misdirection. Let's take a look;




What the Packers do is to leave the outside backers of the defense completely unblocked. The defense - quite naturally I should point out - are expecting the Packers to use Raji as a lead blocker, piling his significant weight into the hole in order to clear a path for the running back. When those outside backers see everyone block down inside and give them a free path to the running back they think all their Christmas's have come at once.

What the Packers actually do is have quarterback Aaron Rodgers stick the ball straight into the gut of Raji (that's quite the significant target area to aim for!) and then step back behind to fake the hand off to the running back. At first glance it just looks like the quarterback has stumbled getting out from under center, or has bumped into Raji on the way back. It's not until the linebacker hits the tailback and you see him throw out his empty hands to break his fall that you realise what's happened.

This simple bit of misdirection allows the Packers to concentrate numbers at the point of attack and overwhelm the defense to the inside. Result of the play - touchdown. Here's the video.

Next up is the Seahawks versus the Rams, and a classic misdirection run for the fullback that leads to a touchdown.

The first thing to note about the play that we're going to see is that the fullback is Marshawn Lynch, who would normally line up as the tailback. That should be the first clue that tips off the defense. But to keep them on their toes the Seahawks are going to use a dive/toss play, where the fullback runs straight downhill as if it were a dive up the gut and the tailback immediately runs to the outside as if the play is a toss sweep.

Depending on who the play is designed for the quarterback will either fake the hand off to the diving fullback and then pitch it out to the tailback or he'll fake the pitch and instead give the ball to the fullback. This decision is pre-determined when the play is called in, unlike an option play where the quarterback has to read a defender.

Let's have a look at the diagram;




As you can see the tail back (the dotted line) goes immediately to the left when the ball is snapped. The key to this play is that a hard run by the tailback and a good fake by the quarterback will hold that backer on the left and usually the support man behind him. Both of them will key the tail back breaking off and will be forced to step in that direction just to be safe. This allows the left tackle - along with the rest of the Offensive Line - to block down on the inside defenders, leaving one or two men unblocked on the backside of the play.

As you can see from the red track leading from the fullback Lynch receives the ball and slides to the right, aiming for the gap that develops between the tight end and the right tackle. However he sees the two linebackers converging on this hole and decides instead to bounce it right around the edge. The tight end does a great job of getting his hands into the defensive ends chest and jacking him up, stopping him from reaching out to get at Lynch.

Then it's just a foot race between the linebacker and Lynch to get to the pylon, and there's a good reason that Lynch plays running back and the linebacker plays linebacker; speed. Touchdown Seahawks. The video is here.

Unfortunately that's all I have time for today. Hopefully you've learnt a bit about how fullbacks can still be useful even in these modern, pass happy times. There's so much more that they can contribute than what I've shown here, but at least this gives you a taste. By using misdirection teams can hold defenders or make them chase ghosts, allowing even the lowly fullback to sneak in a few yards and the odd score.

I'll leave you with this budget video that I found on YouTube of one of the most versatile fullbacks ever to play the game and one of my favourite players of all time; Tom Rathman! Enjoy.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Update; November 23rd

I'm working on something!! Trust me, I am. Or at least I'm trying to. It will likely be up somewhere in the next 10 hour span.

EDIT; Ok kiss that plan goodbye. Instead the next article will have to wait till tomorrow, where I'm going to look at those forgotten soldiers of the offense; Full backs.

Also I forgot to tally up my picks for week 11 and I can now tell you that I was 10-4 for this week, which puts me at 100-64 for the season, which I believe is a lot better than last year.

And finally I've remembered that we have Thursday night football. What with it being Thanksgiving and all that there's 3 games, so I'm going to take;

- The Packers over the Lions, because I still think the Lions are badly over rated,
- The Ravens over the 49ers, because the 49ers aren't that good either (except on defense),
- The Dolphins over the Cowboys, because the Cowboys struggled to beat Washington last week,

So Happy Thinksgiving and hopefully I'll see you tomorrow.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Week 11 picks

After a success on Thursday night with the Broncos, time to pick the rest of the week 11 games. This is going to be a greatly abbreviated version compared to normal. I just find my own commentary during these previews often gets redundant and boring once I get past the main thrust of why I'm picking one team. And I'm writing it, so I can't imagine what it's like reading it.

- Bengals @ Ravens; And I'm going with the Ravens. The Bengals are missing A.J. Green and the Ravens will likely focus in on Ray Rice as a form of over compensation after last week, which I think will work well.

- Jaguars @ Browns; Oh God. I'm so glad I don't live in Cleveland. Every week just seems to be another horrible match up. I'm not a big fan of the Jaguars, but I'm even less of a fan of the Browns so I'll take the Jags to win it.

- Panthers @ Lions; If it wasn't for the Panthers defense I'd take them. But I can't. Their secondary will have great difficulty containing the Lions, so I'm backing a Lions win.

- Buccaneers @ Packers; Do I even have to explain this? Packers win.

- Bills @ Dolphins; Miami is hitting back and the Bills have been unsteady lately, but the Dolphins defense still can't tackle and I see Fred Jackson having a lot of fun. Bills win.

- Raiders @ Vikings; The Raiders are still missing a number of key offensive players and it's going to be tough sleding against the Vikings defense. I'll support my assessment of Christian Ponder and take a Vikings win.

- Cowboys @ Redskins; Cowboys. By a mile.

- Cardinals @ 49ers; 49ers. Just a little too strong defensively right now.

- Seahawks @ Rams; As much as I dislike the Seahawks, their run defense is a good match for stopping Steven Jackson, who basically constitutes about 90% of the Rams useful offense. Seahawks win.

- Titans @ Falcons; Falcons. The Titans are getting better, but the Falcons are set defensively to give them problems and the Titans D will struggle I think to cope with the Falcons.

- Chargers @ Bears; I'll take the Bears on account of the Chargers spectacular ability to kill themselves off in games. Also have to like the Bears pass rush against an injury riddled Chargers O-line.

- Eagles @ Giants; Giants, Giants and more Giants.

- Chiefs @ Patriots; The Patriots are still winning even when they don't play well, which is often seen as the mark of a true championship team, regardless of the sport. And they're playing the Chiefs. The Chiefs. Patriots win.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Cardinal Creativity

At last, a chance to sit down and look at the Cardinals offense from last week against the Eagles. There's two plays in particular that interest me, mainly because of the way the Cardinals involved players coming from the running back position into the passing game. Just keep in mind that I come at this from the perspective of being a huge fan of Bill Walsh and having long been obsessed with watching old 49ers games to learn more about how Walsh got the tight end and the running backs involved in the passing game, so if I sound overly enthusiastic and pleased about throwing the ball to running backs, now you know why.

The first play is a pass that came on 4th and 2 with just 3:10 left in the game. The Cardinals are driving down the field for what would eventually be the winning touchdown. Naturally they have four wide receivers on the field, but the Eagles defense play this look in a weird way. As you'll see in the diagram below they have their usual "wide nine" (nine technique) aligned defensive ends, but they also have five down defensive linemen and go man to man in coverage.

Normally at this point in the game when defending a lead, teams will try and use a much softer coverage, with plenty of deep defenders and usually a reduced pass rush in favour of strong underneath coverage, the idea being to force the offense to execute perfectly all the way down the field. The Eagles went the pressure route though and it cost them badly on this play. Let's take a look at the set up;


The Cardinals had just sent Larry Fitzgerald in motion to the right which is why you have that stack of two receivers on the right hand side. LaRod Stephens Howling is in the backfield. Judging the best I can from the camera angles he appears to "cheat" outside just a little, lining up a little wider than a back normally would in the shotgun. Obviously the defense is expecting pass so such an alignment isn't telling them a whole lot they don't know, that it does kind of hint at a pass route over staying in to pass protect.

What the Cardinals are going to do that is quite interesting (to me at least) is to have the wide receiver to the left run across the middle of the field, thereby drawing the corner (in man coverage) across with him and also focusing the attention of the safety to the middle, which is then going to allow Stephens-Howling to get out of the backfield and run clean up the left side. Something else happens here as well which I would normally moan to the high hills about, but I'll let it go because the Cardinals suck and they need all the help they can get; the receiver clearly sticks out an arm to obstruct and delay the linebacker who is locked in man to man on the running back. It's a fairly blatant 'pick play', but as I've said (re; moaned) many times before, the league seems totally disinterested in such blatant pass interference against defenders.

(For those interested in the specific rule; "Actions that constitute offensive pass interference include but are not limited to; a) Blocking downfield by an offensive player prior to the ball being touched," and contrary to the insistence of the hosts on the NFL Network's "Playbook" show there is no such thing as a "legal pick" or a "natural rub". There is however, obstructing/blocking/impeding/"significantly hindering" the progress of an eligible player to deny him the legal opportunity to catch the ball.

I'm an offensive guy really...)

Now don't forget the time situation here - it's the fourth quarter and there's only a little over three minutes left to play, with the ball on the Cardinals 32. They've still got 66 yards to go to reach the end zone and if they can stop the clock by getting the ball carrier out of bounds then that's a huge bonus. Here's a look at the pass routes used;


As you can see the receiver on the left comes off the ball quite shallow, aiming just above the linebacker M who he picks before crossing the field and running another "Mesh" type pick play with Larry Fitzgerald coming back underneath. The safety got pulled away to the middle by the post route and the drag, and only reacts to the running back once the ball is in the air. The pick on the linebacker gives Stephens-Howling just enough of an advantage in the run for the sideline, allowing John Skelton to drop it in over the linebackers head. Stephens-Howling gets to the Eagles 38 for a pick up of 30 yards before he was pushed out of bounds by the safety, keeping the drive alive and stopping the clock in the process.

Just as important as the pass routes though was the protection, which for once in a Cardinals game wasn't that bad. The line adjusted to the over hanging defenders well and kept the pocket perfectly clean for Skelton. Proof that miracles do happen occasionally...

The second play is the touchdown that ended the drive, putting the Cardinals up 21-17, a lead which they would hold onto to win the game;


This time the Eagles stick to just the four down linemen and appear to be planting their flag on the goal line, putting four guys across in a zone look, with three underneath defenders. At the snap those three underneath guys (B, B and S) all drop back and form a three man wall along the middle of the goal line, covering at least the width of the offensive tackles, with the other four deep defenders spreading out a little to make what is effectively a seven man picket fence defending the end zone. The only problem for the Eagles is that their's is the flimsiest picket fence in the history of picket fences.

Now originally the Cardinals had started with a bunch to the left, but they motioned Early Doucet out of that bunch and into the backfield where he lines up to the left of the quarterback. At the snap Larry Fitzgerald, who was at the top of the bunch, just runs up and out a little, running a simple hooking pattern. The receiver next to him delays his route for a second and then runs behind Fitzgerald and up into the end zone.

The main effect all this has is to clear out space in the defense for Doucet running a little short swing pattern out of the backfield. The only person who comes close to making a play is the free safety who got his attention diverted by the crossing receivers before trying to come down and make the tackle. Unfortunately tackling seems to be something that the Eagles don't do particularly well, as was the case here.

Doucet celebrated his score with a bit of 'Tebowing'.

But what was great about the play was how once again the Cardinals used their receivers almost as a diversion to create space underneath for the easy completion which got them the score. With a young and inexperienced quarterback like John Skelton, plays like this make it so much easier for the offense to consistently keep the chains moving and to help the quarterback avoid making critical mistakes at critical times.

When you go back and watch the 49ers offense of the early to mid eighties with Joe Montana at quarterback you see much the same thing; lots of effort made to clear out deep defenders in order to create space underneath for the tight end and running backs. When you compare and contrast this to the approach that Denver is taking to their passing game, it makes for quite an eye opening experience.

I'm just a big fan of passes like this, that cleverly combine the routes to manipulate and distract the defense, while forcing what I would call a true "spread" of the defense, by combining short, intermediate and deep passes all into one play to stretch the defense vertically, while also using formations to make the defense spread out horizontally. It's a great design and a credit to the Cardinals coaches. Whether they can keep that up against San Francisco is up for debate!

Tomorrow = picks for week 11.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Tebow tops the Jets, plus an update

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Outside of Tim Tebow's family and die hard Broncos fans it seemed like I was the only person on the planet who took the Broncos to win it. And it paid off!

God I love listening to the reactions as people try to find an out as to how he did it, in particular because the option is not supposed to work in the NFL, something we've clearly known to be false for a long while now (the quarterbacks long term health not withstanding).

9/20 was Tebow's final passing numbers, but it just doesn't matter. What matters is the end result and that's another W for the Broncos and for Tim Tebow. Sanchez may have finished the game with a better passer rating but then Sanchez threw a pick six and Tebow didn't, which I imagine will go down like a sack of Lead ingots in the New York press (if you're not old enough to know what an "ingot" is then just... bah, go back to your iPod).

It was actually Tebows running on the last drive that had the biggest impact, mainly out of empty or single back sets when his pass protection broke down. That's really a big part of why Tebow is succeeding where Kyle Orton didn't, because the Broncos pass protection sucks and while Orton often made bad passes under pressure, Tebow just tucks and runs, keeping the ball with the Broncos and keeping the chains moving.

However the unsung heroes of the Broncos recent revival  are the defence. Aside from the interception returned for a touchdown by Andre Goodman, the Broncos defense also managed to pile pressure on up front. Rookie Von Miller had 1.5 sacks and four total QB hits, as well as three tackles for loss. Elvis Dumervil put up another 1.5 sacks and the defense as a unit contributed a few more tackles for loss, holding Jets running back Joe McKnight to just 59 yards from his 16 carries.

That puts both teams at 5-5 now and it makes me 1-0 for picks.

Now I was going to do a post about the Cardinals offense from last Sunday but that will have to be put back till tomorrow now as I've had a pretty busy day. The good news though is that I had my meeting at work and I've got at least another two weeks of staying on the same sort of schedule that I am now, so no real disruption till at least the beginning of December. From that point it's likely that I'll break the blog up into scheduled posts on maybe two or three days of the week, depending on how it all falls together.

So Cardinals offense tomorrow, then picks on Saturday. See you then.

P.S. Here's a Lead Ingot for those that are interested


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Jets @ Broncos

So yes, this week I've remembered about Thursday Night Football and I'll get my pick in. Tomorrow I want to take a look at some of the Cardinals offense from last Sunday, but tomorrow is also an important day because I find out how heavily my work schedule will change over the coming few weeks, which will naturally impact the blog.

So, picking Thursday night.

Such a big part of me wants to take the Broncos! I love the fact that they're still winning games despite not really throwing the ball at all and being somewhat limited in their run game. And you know what? I actually am going to take the Broncos!

Here's the thing; the Chiefs knew what was coming and still couldn't stop it. They played man coverage, they loaded the box, they knew about the option and all those things that people have said will make the Jets more effective. Considering the Jets defense probably isn't much better than the Chiefs against the run, I actually fancy Denvers chances.

At the same time, Mark Sanchez still isn't playing as well as he needs to, to help the Jets win games. Playing against a Denver defense that is actually pretty good and has a good pass rush isn't going to help his cause much.

I can just see this being one of those stupid, bizarre games where the Jets really should win it on paper but then blow it come game time. Maybe Tebow will throw ten passes. He might throw none. He might surprise the Jets and throw thirty. Whatever happens, I think this game is actually going to be a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Broncos win.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Setting Slide or Turnback Pass Protection

Okey dokey. So the other day I was talking about the Colts O-line and how they seem to have become dependent on Peyton Manning to set protections for them. But what the hell does that actually mean? "Setting Protections" or "Adjusting Protections"? It's a good question (why thank you) and one I intend to answer now.

So the long and short of it is that when a pass play gets sent in to the quarterback, part of the play call will tell the linemen and backs how the offense is supposed to account for pass rushers. Sometimes the backs stay in, some times the tight end stays in, sometimes it's just the five guys up front on their own. Now that's all fine and dandy, what with the protection being organised in such way as to compliment the pass being called, but what happens when the defense comes out and gives you a front you don't like the look of?

Say for example you have no running backs staying in to protect, but your looking at the left side and you can see three guys waiting to rush, plus a safety walking down who could potentially be a fourth rusher. That's not good. So what are you going to do? Just roll with it and hope everything turns out ok? I wouldn't recommend that.

It's at this point that a guy like Peyton Manning steps in and changes the protection, directing the offensive line towards the danger, or telling the running back to check a certain player before releasing, or telling the tight end to stay in and help out. Something which Manning has plenty of experience with and Curtis Painter doesn't!

At this point going to the drawing board could prove useful I think. The first diagram we'll look at it is a very basic pass protection set, known as "BOB" or "Big On Big", just to get a feel for the kind of protection a team might start with;


As you can see we have our offensive guards and offensive tackles matched up against the four defensive linemen, hence the "big on big" name. In this case the center takes the Mike linebacker, the running back takes the Will backer, and if needs be the tight end could block the Sam linebacker. Now while this seems on the surface like a very sound protection, very rarely are teams actually gifted with such a perfectly even and tidy defensive front.

This is something the Dolphins found out in their game against the Giants the other week as demonstrated here. One blitz in particular that I diagrammed could come in useful for this discussion, as it has all the features that we need in order to take a good look at changing protections. So here's the blitz as it happened in the game;


What we have here is a blitz that is designed to occupy the middle of the offensive line, setting up the blitzing linebacker to go one on one with the running back. The Mike linebacker actually steps up to show blitz initially before dropping out, and the two defensive tackles attack the inside shoulders of the guards, making sure that all three of the interior offensive linemen get bunched up in the middle, with the B backer hitting the gap that's created between the left guard and left tackle. The right tackle is the only guy without someone to block, but has no realistic chance of getting across to pick up the B backer, meaning the running back has to take him.

Now obviously this is a mismatch in favour of the defense, but what other choice did the offense really have? We've already seen that the interior linemen couldn't ignore the danger posed by the defensive tackles and the Mike linebacker. We know that as athletic as the right tackle might be, he isn't going to cut across the back of the line in time to stop the blitz. So the only possible solution is for the backer to take him... right?

Wrong.

There is one thing that the offense can do in this situation, albeit an option that requires some good coordination between the offensive linemen. When presented with a front like the one above the quarterback - having got a good look at the defense (one of the reasons the shotgun is so popular with pass heavy teams) - can check the protection to a slide or "turnback" protection.

Basically what's going to happen is that the quarterback is going to take advantage of that right tackle who has nothing to do by asking the offensive line not to take the man immediately over them, but instead to take the next defender to the left. This is where the terms "slide" and "turnback" protection come from, because the offensive line is "sliding" across one man, usually executed by taking a step straight backwards off the line and then "turning back" to the left (in this case) with their next step. Let's take a look at the new assignments with another diagram;


As you can now see the right tackle now turns inside and takes the defensive tackle. Knowing that the defensive tackle is now accounted for, the right guard is free to turn inside and take the Mike linebacker if he blitzes. Knowing that the Mike linebacker is now accounted for, the Center is free to turn his attention left to the next defensive tackle. Finally, knowing that the defensive tackle over him is now accounted for, the left guard can turn to the left and take on the blitzing B backer.

With the left side of the defense covered all that remains now is for the running back to go right and fill the gap between the right tackle and tight end. In this case we'd like to keep the tight end in to block the defensive end, but if needs be you could release the tight end and simply have the running back cut down the defensive end, though that's not ideal.

Mainly the running back serves to fill that gap that will open up on the right side, keeping his eyes out for potential delayed blitzes from the safety, or the possibility of the Mike linebacker hooking around over the top. If the defensive end to the right is a major threat and you're not sure how the tight end will cope, you can have the back chip him with his shoulder on the way out into his pass pattern. You can even have the tight end shoot out immediately and strike the defensive end to delay him, before the tight end releases and the back picks up the pieces.

The uses of slide protections are numerous, as you can see. You don't even have to go to the extreme shown above with four players all turning back to the left. If needs be an offense can just slide two players across, for example when the team comes up against a 3-4 defense that puts a defensive end over the offensive tackle and then has an outside backer (especially one known for his pass rushing abilities) outside of him. In this case the offense can slide the tackle and guard on that side, so the guard now takes the defensive end and the tackle takes the outside backer, as demonstrated below;


On the left you can see the back is responsible for the outside backer. If that Will backer is DeMarcus Ware and the running back is Chris Johnson then suffice to say we have a mismatch. A better option is to slide the protection so that your left tackle (who should be your best pass blocker) ends up on Ware, the left guard handles that end and then the back is responsible for picking up the Mike linebacker if he blitzes (an even better option is just not to waste/trust Chris Johnson in pass protection).

Before we wrap this up I just quickly want to give you a flavour for the footwork, just so I don't leave people thinking that the offensive linemen are pulling flat across the line of scrimmage to get to their man;


The key is trying to balance the need to get across and block the man, while also understanding that you need to get some depth, otherwise you end up delivering a glancing blow to the mans side as he flies right past you on his way into the backfield.

Lastly the quarterback needs needs to be aware of two things when his offensive line is sliding; 1) that if only part of the line is sliding then it often results in a gaping hole developing between the sliding men and the rest of the line - don't unquestioningly rely on the running back to protect this hole! 2) The offensive linemen don't always get great initial blocks and so he must be prepared for the risk of rapid of penetration coming from the sliding side and needs to be ready to step laterally and/or up in the pocket away from that pressure;


As you can see the pass rush gets pushed to the left so the quarterback must slide to the right and step up, helping to keep his blockers between him and the pass rush.

Using slide protection is just one of the many great ways for quarterbacks to adjust to what the defense is doing. It allows the quarterback to account for potential overload blitz's to one side or for a defense that's trying to manipulate the numbers game in order to get a favourable match up on the running back. One of the things that separates the best from the rest at the quarterback position is the ability to read the defense, identify the main thrust of the pass rush and then adjust the line to neutralise that threat. It's one of the reasons that Peyton Manning is so valuable to the Colts, and helps us to partially explain why the Colts O-line has struggled so much this season without Manning's experienced eyes and his in-depth, almost automatic knowledge of the playbook.

So keep an eye out next time you see a quarterback calling an audible in the face of an unbalanced looking defense. He might just be switching to a slide protection.

I hope you enjoyed the article and found it useful. If so, don't be greedy with your new knowledge and share a link somewhere or click that facebook button.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

week 10 results and writing schedule

So I'm just going to over the results for this week, probably in a little less detail than days of old. My work schedule is already starting to catch up me! Writing schedule is at the end.

So we'll start with the Harbaugh brothers and their contrasting fortunes. Honestly, if John (Baltimore) ends up bald by the end of the season then I won't be surprised because that guy must be pulling his own hair out in private watching the film. Two fumbles from David Reed made a huge difference but the play calling has to be the most annoying thing for John right now. You have Ray Rice, one of the truly elite backs in the NFL right now, coming away from that game with 5 measly carries. Five. Meanwhile Flacco throws the ball 52 times, completes just over half.... for 255 yards? How can you throw 52 times and only pick up 255 yards? I hate the Ravens. And you know what? I think Harbaugh does to.

The other brother, Jim, had a much better day. Christ even I'm starting to believe in the 49ers now, and this after years of bitter cynicism built from watching my team struggle in the NFC West (incidentally, every team in the NFC West won this weekend). Well... I'm starting to believe a little more at least. I'm still trying to decide who is my favourite defensive player from the game. Is it Carlos Rogers who had another two picks? Maybe Justin Smith who batted down a last gasp fourth down pass by Eli Manning? Or perhaps Patrick Willis, who on that same fourth down play committed the most blatant case of defensive holding I think I've ever seen. How he didn't get flagged for that is beyond a mystery. In a way it's a shame because it's a sour way to ruin what was otherwise a great last drive from Manning. Then again, the 49ers won, so I can't complain too much!

Staying in the NFC West, the Cardinals visited the Eagles and my God how the mighty have fallen. Vick busted his ribs on a running play (I believe the latest reports say they're broken), giving people a visible answer as to why coaches in the NFL aren't big fans of having their $10 million per year quarterbacks trying to run the ball too much. John Skelton of the Cardinals certainly isn't a $10 million a year guy, but he overcame four sacks and two interceptions to hit three touchdowns and seal the win. Credit especially has to be given to the Cardinals offensive line and to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, both of whom came up good when it mattered the most. Maybe we'll give the Cardinals a bit of love this week and look at some of those plays? The "Dream Team" meanwhile really is as bad as advertised. The Philly press, as expected, wants blood.

On to St. Louis and the Rams squeezed a win over Cleveland, which doesn't say a whole lot about either team. Colt McCoy found himself suffering from Cam Newton Syndrome, where one plays their best football as part of a losing effort. He actually did really well but the Browns inability to convert yards into touchdowns killed them once again (0/4 in the red zone). The Rams got the one score and this time it was enough. Still I'm surprised they couldn't do more. With Steven Jackson at running back and basically all day to throw for Sam Bradford due to the absence of a Browns pass rush, the Rams still only managed one touchdown in their four trips to the red zone. Both sides have a mountain to climb to get back to relevancy.

Which brings us neatly to the Jaguars and Colts. Ah the Colts. Now this is a once mighty team that has fallen. Part of the problem is that the Colts O-line seems to have become dependent over the years on Peyton Manning to get the protection set up right for them. With Painter in, defenses can mess about with their blitz packages and the Colts don't seem to have an answer for it. Maybe if I get time I'll have a look at this as well this week. The end result for Indy was to give up no less than 5 sacks, including 2.5 to Jeremy Mincey alone. Blaine Gabbert hardly stunned once more as the Jaguars quarterback, but then I've been harping on about that for ages now.

And from one rookie quarterback to another as Cam Newton was brought back down to Earth. Sitting in the pocket he held the ball for too long, giving up 5 sacks in the process. The interception was unlucky and you can't really pin it on him, but some errant throws in there didn't help either. Nor did the lack of a Panthers running game. Still, Newton has all kinds of freaky athletic ability. It's actually a ton of fun to watch someone that tall effortlessly cutting behind defenders like he was some 5 foot 9 inch running back. And it was a short running back that made a big difference in this one as Chris Johnson put up 130 yards and finally seemed to be getting back to his old self. The Titans O-line getting its act together played a big part in that, while Matt Hasselbecks quick decision making got the passing game right back where it needed to be. Kind of.

One passing game that was back to full strength and full effect was the Cowboys. Tony Romo absolutely nailed it on Sunday, hitting 23/26 for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns, including two for Laurent Robinson who is having a great year in Dallas. On the ground DeMarco Murrary continued his rise to fame with another 135 yards. The story of the day though was the Cowboys defense that harried Ryan Fitzpatrick and bagged 3 interceptions. It was a torrid day for the Buffalo quarterback and even running back Fred Jackson couldn't save the sinking ship on this occasion, despite going over 100 yards yet again.

Hmm, I need a segue from 'sinking ship'? Ah Washington, you never disappoint! Or should that be 'they always disappoint', at least their fans (and taxpayers)? Rookie Ryan Kerrigan had another hot day on defense, forcing two fumbles with his two sacks, but the Redskins just don't have an offense right now. Rex Grossman threw two interceptions and no touchdowns, while the Redskins running game continues to be non existent without Tim Hightower, largely because the Redskins don't really give it a chance to get going. Miami's defense was also pretty solid, coming up with those two interceptions, including one for Karlos Dansby, who also had a sack and nine tackles. But it was Matt Moore that stole the show for me with some impressive throws to push the ball downfield and set up Reggie Bush for two touchdowns.

On to Bush's old team the Saints who just about snuck past the Falcons, in no small part thanks to what has been a hot talking point all day long. With the game tied at 23 it went to overtime and the Falcons found themselves facing 4th and inches from their own 29 when Head Coach Mike Smith decides to go for it. Instead of a quarterback sneak the Falcons elected to try a run up the gut and Michael Turner was stuffed, turning the ball over. Now a lot of people who dabble in statistics related to football have since come out and said that Smith was right to go for it, but I don't see how. It seems at times like these people just agree with these fourth down decisions for the sake of being contrary and proving how smart they are. Except in this case, as so often in these situations, it proved to be a costly mistake. As for the wider game, Drew Brees went about showing people why he's the class of the NFC South at the quarterback position. Just some unbelievable throws that he made.

The question of who's the class in the AFC North still remains unanswered though. Yeah, the Steelers won this one. But the Bengals were driving near the end until Dalton was picked off and they stuck around all game long, delivering some serious punishment to Ben Roethlisberger who was sacked five times and hit plenty more. Even in defeat I think there's a lot of positives for the Bengals to take out of this game. They look like they're one good free agency/draft away from putting together a highly competitive (re; playoff game winning) team. Dalton (I refuse to call him 'The Red Rifle') still needs some work, but the foundation is definitely there.

Which coincidentally is what we all thought had happened with the Lions, with the drafting of Nick Fairely just being the final piece of icing on the cake that would set the Lions up for a great 2011 season. As the season got going however it became increasingly obvious that all is not what it seems in Detroit. Well, at least to me it was. For a while now I've been using the tag 'over rated' for the Lions and hopefully after their 13-37 butt whuppin' at the hands of the Bears that tag will spread around the interwebs. Because it was a butt whuppin'. 63 passes for Matt Stafford, of which just 33 were completed and 4 were picked off, including two pick sixes. Jay Cutler and Matt Forte had relatively insignificant games, but that didn't matter with the defense dominating the way that it did, adding two sacks and two forced fumbles to their interception tally. A Devin Hester punt return for a touchdown meant that 21 of the Bears 37 points came on returns.

No interceptions this week for Tim Tebow though, thanks in no small part to the fact that his coaches only trusted him to throw 8 passes. I mean that's brilliant. 8 passes? Give the Broncos credit, they're trying to make their tools work the best way that they can and so far it's paying off. A big chunk of that was down to playing the Chiefs, who simply didn't have firepower to take advantage of the Broncos. Matt Cassel barely threw for 25 more yards than Tebow, despite completing 13 passes to Tebows 2. The Broncos D came up with 4 sacks, with 1.5 credited to Von Miller who had another great game. So a win for the Broncos, but ulimately though they're going to need to come up with something for Tebow other than just running the zone read. Might I suggest a) teaching your receivers how to catch the ball and b) try doing something other than just constantly asking Tebow to throw the ball 60 yards downfield. The game footage is there from last season. Try using it.

Speaking of struggling quarterbacks, it's Mark Sanchez! Who actually didn't play all that bad, except for the two interceptions, one of them returned for a touchdown. Oh, and calling a time out near the end of the first half because you didn't have the right play or personnel or whatever, even though there were 20 seconds left on the shot clock which, had he used, would have probably prevented Tom Brady from scoring on the final Patriots drive. Having Andre Carter snapping at his heels for most of the game didn't help either, as Carter went on to rack up 4.5 sacks! On the offensive side the Patriots started out a little shaky but recovered well, helped by the disorganisation of the Jets secondary that routinely didn't have the Patriots receivers covered properly. Brady went over 300 yards with 3 touchdowns, Ron Gronkowski went over 100 yards receiving and caught two touchdowns and hell, even Chad Ochocino had 65 yards on 2 receptions. That's how bad the Jets were.

Not quite as bad as the Buccaneers however, who slotted former Patriot Albert Haynesworth immediately into their starting defensive line up. It didn't help. Actually I lie. He blocked an extra point. It wasn't enough though. The Texans defense shut down Josh Freeman, who completed just 15/33 passes and threw three interceptions, giving up four sacks along the way. Offensively the Texans just stuck to the game plan, reverted to the heavy, two tight end sets, and leant on Arian Foster for 84 yards, another 63 from Ben Tate and even Derrick Ward got a shot against his old team, picking up 36 yards and a touchdown. Matt Schaub was 11/15 for 242 yards and 2 early touchdowns, but that could be the last time the Texans see him in a uniform this season, as he's now out with a fractured foot. Matt Leinart, your spotlight awaits. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com has suggested the Texans call Brett Favre. The worst thing is he wasn't actually joking. It annoys me no end that an idiot like that gets paid for his blog.

And lastly the Monday Night Football clash between the Packers and the Vikings. And you guessed it, the Packers won. Four touchdowns for Aaron Rodgers, which has basically become a standard day at the office for him. It amuses me that people still think that if they give the Packers receivers a free release off the line of scrimmage and don't blitz that they'll be able to cover them down field long enough for the three or four guys up front to get at Rodgers. Every week the Packers make this approach look somewhat foolish. It's almost as bad as the Vikings putting Percy Harvin in the backfield. I guess it makes sense to them, I mean, it's not like Minnesota has a top tier running back or anything...

So that concludes Week 10 of the season. I only had picks for 15 games this week, of which I came up trumps twelve times for a 12-3 week, my second best showing of the season. That takes my season tally to 90-60, which is precisely 60%, so some nice round numbers there.

This week coming I'll remember to include Thursday Night Football as well. Article wise this week, I'm thinking a bit about quarterbacks changing protections at the line of scrimmage and a look at the Cardinals offense from this week against the Eagles.

If you have any suggestions, questions, or just want to vent some anger at somebody dial; keepingthechainsmoving@live.co.uk

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Week 10 picks

Better late than never as they say. Unless it's a reprieve for a death sentence based on new DNA evidence that proves the person didn't do it. In which case it can almost make it worse. But I digress.

Saints @ Falcons
Nice, easy pick to start with...

My problem is, I'm not sure about the Saints. One week Drew Brees will come out and rip someone apart. The next week they'll start feeding the ball to their three headed rushing attack. Then all of a sudden Brees is throwing incomplete passes and interceptions and the defense is giving up chunks of yards and points like there was no tomorrow.

Conversely I think the Falcons are getting better by the week. They look more stable offensively. They know what they want to do. They're getting the ball to Michael Turner, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez who are making the big plays. If there was one question mark over the Falcons it's the defense. They're not generating the kind of pressure that a defense with those kind of players should.

Ultimately I cant shake the feeling that Atlanta does well against some of the weaker teams in the league, but struggles when they come up against the better sides. On that note, I'm edging towards New Orleans. Saints win.

Titans @ Panthers
Looking around, there's a surprising lack of love for the Titans in this game. Alright, they've had some bad losses to the Steelers and the Texans, but they've won some games along the way, more than the Panthers have at least. Carolina's two wins to date have been against the Jaguars and the Redskins. It's tough. The Panthers run defense has been pretty shoddy, but then the big talking point about the Titans has been the lack of production out of Chris Johnson, though he did seem to pick up a little last week. I think I just prefer the Titans because of the potential match up between Cortland Finnegan and Steve Smith. Smith is good, but I think if anyone can shut him down then Finnegan can. I'm saying Titans win.

Steelers @ Bengals
The Bengals have done well so far. Really well... against the Browns, Bills, Jaguars, Colts, Seahawks and Titans. That's not exactly a laundry list of the best teams in the NFL right now. Conversely the Steelers schedule has included three losses, twice to the Ravens and once to the Texans, and six wins... against the Seahawks, Colts, Titans, Jaguars, Cardinals and Patriots. Not much to choose between them then really.

Andy Dalton has been playing great and the Bengals defense is having a great year. The Steelers have been a bit more spotty. Sometimes they play really well, sometimes they just stink it out. Their pass coverage in particular has struggled this year. Against rookie Bengals receiver A.J. Green that could be problematic. However, I'm still going with Pittsburgh on account of their pass rush and the play of Ben Roethlisberger. Steelers win.

Rams @ Browns
God, some of those poor fans. Rams fans in particular are feeling the pain, just a week after playing the Cardinals. In fairness to the Rams, they've played some really tough teams so far this season, they just struggle like crazy to score points. This week they get Sam Bradford back and combined with Steven Jackson, that instantly gives them more weapons than the Browns. I have to say Rams win.

Bills @ Cowboys
The Bills got undone last week by the Jets while the Cowboys put one over the Seahawks. It's a tale of two teams with contrasting fortunes; the Bills are doing pretty good with a less than all-star cast, while the Cowboys have a number of big names to their credit and yet are really struggling at times. It's an odd match up and not one I fancy picking much. But when push comes to shove I think the Cowboys have a diamond in DeMarco Murray and their defense is probably a bit stronger. So, Cowboys win.

Jaguars @ Colts
Two bad teams collide in a game that is probably unwatchable. Blaine Gabbert vs. Curtis Painter for Gods sake. No thanks. As for who wins, I'm tempted to say the Colts. I think if they can just kick start their defense then they have a chance. But honestly even the players are starting to look like they've bought the whole "suck for Luck" crap. They just don't have an drive about them. I'd have to take the Jaguars win.

Broncos @ Chiefs
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna back Tebow for at least one more week. In for a penny, in for a pound as they so on these shores. Broncos win.

Redskins @ Dolphins
What is it this week with horrible teams playing each other. Frankly I think the Dolphins are the lesser of two evils. Dolphins win.

Cardinals @ Eagles
The Dream Team has been bad, but not that bad. Surely not. Eagles win.

Texans @ Buccaneers
The Texans are on quite the roll this season. With the loss of Andre Johnson they've just got better, not worse. They run more and they pile on the yardage, putting two 100-yard rushers on the field last week. The defense has markedly improved under Wade Phillips and with Buccaneers Quarterback Josh Freeman misfiring, I think it's safe to say that I fancy a Texans win.

Ravens @ Seahawks
I've been against the Seahawks pretty much all the way. I'm not stopping this week, that's for certain. Ravens win.

Lions @ Bears
This is one of the weekends big match ups, one in which the Lions are heavily touted for victory. But I still think the Lions are grossly over rated and I think the Bears have a really good chance in this one. They have Julius Peppers back and healthy. They have a run game now that is more than equal to most defenses and I honestly think the Bears should be given more attention. That's why I'm picking them for the win. Bears win.

Giants @ 49ers
This for me is a no brainer and I'm going Giants all the way. People have to get over this obsession with San Francisco and Jim Harbaugh. Let's not forget Harbaugh is an offensive coach and if anything the 49ers offense has got worse this year, not better. The defense has improved markedly, thanks in large part to Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio, who used to be a coach with the Ravens under Harbaugh's brother. That guy should be the one getting all the credit. But anyway, as good as the 49ers defense has been the offense has been rubbish and I can't see that getting any better against the Giants. I think Eli Manning has enough weapons left despite some injuries to push his side to victory. Giants win.

Patriots @ Jets
This is probably one of the biggest clashes of the week and there's plenty of speculation surrounding it. The Patriots have been stumbling a little lately while the Jets have been building some momentum, playing much better compared to the first part of the season. Mark Sanchez still isn't quite living up to the "Sanchise" tag, but he at least is getting better at managing the game. The Jets are starting to get some running going to and even the defense has stepped up its game. The key question is really what happens with Wes Welker and how much pressure the Jets can generate on Brady. It worked for the Giants as they forced Brady into a number of mistakes, but then the Jets don't have the pass rushers that the Giants do. I dunno, my heart says that the Jets just can't get after the quarterback as well as they'll need to. I'm going with a Patriots win.

Vikings @ Packers
As much as I like Christian Ponder and as much as I think the Packers are getting a little cocky for their own good, the Vikings secondary is probably going to be outmatched. I'd say Packers win.

So fingers crossed for another 10 win week, or maybe more what with it being a 16 game week, even though I only have picks for 15 of them.

This also might be the last week I do the picks in this manner. I just find it a little time consuming often to sit here and type out what I'm thinking for each game and a lot of the time I just end up repeating comments about teams from the week before, because their situation hasn't changed much. I think I'd prefer to use this time as time off, while making up for it during the week with more of my badly drawn diagrams and cack handed explanations. I'm also considering cutting the recap section for similar reasons, assuming that most of you have seen the games anyway or at the very least know all the results and have seen the numbers. Maybe I'll just focus more on my general thoughts for those games, giving me more time to recharge my batteries and focus on the meat and bones of the blog which is the technical stuff.

We'll see.

Friday, November 11, 2011

The New York Giants 2011 defense

When I wrapped up my post last night and went to bed, I couldn't help but think that I'd forgotten something...

Thursday Night Football.

Classic. I completely forgot the Raiders are playing the Chargers, so no pick for that game. Ah well. Nobody likes Thursday Night Football anyway and even less people like the NFL Networks coverage, which is partly related to the fact that the NFL Network covers sporting events just about as badly as a multi-million dollar television network could. If you don't believe me, try watching the NFL combine next year. If you can stomach more than 15 minutes of it once the drills start then good luck to you my friend.

As of right now the Raiders are up 24-17 and frankly I probably would have picked the Chargers so maybe it's a good thing that I forgot it.

Moving on and just a quick hat tip and thank you to LongHornScott, one of the many posters over at Barking Carnival Football. Scott linked to this blog in the comments section of one of his articles, so it's only fair to return the favour, with a link to the article in question. In it, Scott breaks down the offensive drives of the Texas Longhorns from their game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, reviewing each play and going into great detail about them, which I imagine readers of this blog would be interested in even if not College football fans per se, thanks to the depth of the commentary and the obvious knowledge on display, including a good verbal breakdown of some of the zone plays. Article here.

Next on the agenda is this article from ProFootballTalk.com, which covers comments made by Jets corner Antonio Cromartie ahead of the game against the Patriots this weekend. Specifically this comment;
“Every team is starting to notice that if you bang him around, their timing is knocked off,” Cromartie said via ESPNewYork.com
Gregg Rosenthal then mockingly snorts at Cromarties suggestion, saying that this is hardly a state secret and has been the preferred approach to stopping Welker for years. Which of course leaves the nagging question; if this approach to stopping Welker is such widespread knowledge then why a) has every team since week one not been using it, and b) why hasn't Rosenthal been hammering this point home since week one, laughing at peoples feeble attempts to cover Welker?

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he's only just learnt about the approach. Still at least one hard working, poorly paid, delightfully charming, astute and incredibly modest member of the amateur football blogging community has been harping on about this since the start of the year basically (what do you mean "who?"), specifically laying it out in detail here and here.

Right now that's out of the way; the Giants defense.

Or more to the point, what the Giants defense have been doing this season to evolve, building on the success of their usual four man line from last year and now experimenting with three man fronts, blitzing while in a four man front and even five man defensive lines.

We start with a blitz the Giants ran last week against the Patriots. The Giants went to their three man line and ended up bringing a six man pressure on the Patriots, which resulted in Michael Boley looping around the weak side and stripping the ball from Tom Brady. Technically it was called a sack even though Boley doesn't bring Brady to the ground, but then this is something we're seeing more and more of now, likely as a result of the rules regarding hitting quarterbacks (with teams being extra careful when that quarterback is Brady).

Instead Boley - like many contemporary pass rushers - puts one hand out to push the quarterback in the back (to make sure you don't end up hitting him with your helmet) while using his free hand to swat at the ball when the quarterback cocks his arm. Yes, this is what the NFL has come to now. I've done a diagram below and the link to the original video is here. Just be warned that it's getting close to Christmas now and Kay's Jewellers are on a mission with their 35 second adverts (the clip is only 50 seconds long). I actually find the advert amusing for two reasons; 1) it's obviously aimed at Men yet it's the most cheesy, vomit inducing, overly lovey dovey advert that you could possibly imagine and 2) in this economic climate how many football fans does Kay's think have at least $2,500 to spend on an engagement ring?
For the sake of brevity I've focused solely on the front seven guys. Now at the snap, only six of them blitz - everyone except the safety. But I'm guessing that the safety was supposed to be matched up man to man on one of the tight ends, so when he sees that both have stayed in to pass protect he decides to make himself useful with a delayed blitz. Boley's pass rush is that badly drawn dotted line on the left. On a side note, the video also demonstrates clearly what I've been saying about Brady for a while now - that he has a surprising tendency to lock in on receivers right from the snap. Just watch the video again and watch his head.

Next up is a play the Giants ran against Miami. It was first and ten when the Giants decided to do something that's a relative rarity outside of goal line and short yardage situations; they put 5 men down on the line of scrimmage. Video here and diagram below.
This is actually very reminiscent of the old "46 Bear" front made famous by Buddy Ryan with Chicago many years ago and occasionally used by his two sons Rex and Rob, with the Jets and Cowboys respectively. The only real difference is that the players from the left E to the right T would be shifted across one offensive linemen to the right, and the E on the far right would in fact be a linebacker. In the video you'll see that N (Linval Joseph) manages to beat the center one on one and get into the backfield for the sack.

There's actually another play from the same game that really illustrates the point. It was getting late in the game admittedly so the Giants were able to focus in a little more on the passing game, but still, it shows how far the Giants have come in terms of developing their scheme. The video is here and diagram below.
To try and make sense of the morass of lines I've highlighted the two critical ones in red. Basically the blitz of C and B to the right occupies the running back and the right tackle. Meanwhile N steps forward and pushes the center before dropping off into coverage, as the E on the right scrapes across. This causes the offensive line to do something that all defensive coordinators dream about when they blitz; the Dolphins end up with three men blocking one pass rusher. Both the guards and the center all focus in on the E from the right, allowing the other B (highlighted in red) to cut around the blob of protectors and get into the backfield. He gets a hand on the quarterback (Matt Moore) but Moore escapes... only to be hit by the E looping around, who goes from being triple teamed to being zero teamed as all three Dolphins linemen turn to look right. And people wonder why the Dolphins suck this year?

Now they say three's a charm, so we'll stick with the same game, in fact just a minute or so after the play above, and show a third sack. This time there's going to be a much more conventional four man line, but the Giants are going to show pressure up the middle with six guys and then actually bring five. Video is here with a diagram below.
The key to this play is the Giants threatening the blitz with M who comes right down practically between the two defensive tackles. As the nearest man he becomes a high priority threat, along with the two tackles. As a result, the offensive guards and center will slide across to deal with these three potential rushers. The situation is exacerbated when T on the left drives hard inside. This leaves the blitzing linebacker B one on one with the running back and E to the left (Osi Umenyiora) one on one with the left tackle.

In the end Umenyiora simply trucks his man out of the way, leaving him in a heap and cutting inside to make the sack. But this is a great example of how the Giants are building on the very real threat of their front four linemen, using blitzing linebackers - and the threat of blitzing linebackers - to help them create favourable one on one match ups. The fact that they're occasionally lining up guys like Mathias Kiwanuka as linebackers just makes this approach all the more potent.

So there you go. A look at the 2011 New York Giants defense that you might not have seen yet. Just keep an eye on those linebackers next time you're watching the Giants. And of course, as always, if you like what you see please take a moment to hit the facebook/twitter/google like button, whichever one applies best to you, or just let your friends know via e-mail or something.

Oh! Nearly forgot again. The Raiders/Chargers game has finished now with the score staying the same since I last saw it. It appears Kamerion Wimbley had one of those games that he does now and again where he rips off four sacks in one game. Though an injury to the Chargers left tackle kind of helps explain that one away. Rivers looks like he had another bad game. Even Carson Palmer doesn't appear to have done that great. He was only 14/20, and just watching the highlights it looks like some of those deep passes were a bit errant. He seems to have picked up most of his 299 yards on just a few plays. Denarius Moore's done well, 5 catches for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. And Michael Bush, 30 carries for 157 yards and a TD, plus another 85 yards through the air.

Tomorrow I'll do my picks then it's a night off for me before Week 10's games. See you soon.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Sod it

So I got half way (and two hours) through writing a post, then read it back to myself and realised "this is pointless".

I was going to write an article about a post I'd seen on a coaching forum, where people basically ran down the NFL and said some of the stupidest and inane things you could possibly imagine about offenses in the NFL, while concurrently trying to profess that College football is somehow a superior art, but breaking down the forum posts in minute detail was serving to be a pain and not quite putting across what I want to say on the matter.

On that note I'm going to take a different tack and try to make the point that;

1) College football is predisposed to a greater degree of offensive variety,
2) That the variety in College football is somewhat over stated,
3) That NFL offense's are actually a lot more diverse than some people seem to realise,

Number one is answered simply; the Football Bowl Subdivision alone is host to 120 teams. That's nearly four times as many teams as the NFL, leaving open the likely hood that at least some of those teams will hire coaches with offensive or defensive systems that vary widely from those used elsewhere. That variation on one side of the ball often prompts an adjustment by a regular opponent, who in turn creates a "new" offense or defense to counter their oddball opponent while also finding a way to match up against more "regular" teams. The fact that college teams also have widely different personnel levels (quality wise) across the broad spectrum of their teams only makes it more likely that somewhere in there someone will run a contrary scheme to the "norm" to cover up weaknesses/expose strengths.

Number two is also relatively self explanatory. College football is often seen as the font of all things creative and diverse in football, whereas the NFL is seen as a "copy cat" or "grab bag" league. I have a hard time then understanding why so many teams in college have switched to "spread" offenses (for the purpose of this article, defined as being in the shotgun with three or more wide receivers) since the success of teams like Florida and others.

Why do we see so many Pistol offenses lately, which is the latest craze sweeping college football? How many of these unique and diverse teams run zone style runs? How many run the option, itself a play that is as old as the hills and can hardly be described as being particularly innovative? For a while the hype was all about the Zone read (a play the Broncos hammered last Sunday), but even that is just another type of option football.

I don't know everything about football (I'll die before that's ever possible) but I know enough to know that a lot of offenses (and defenses) in college football are running schemes that are very, very similar to one another and that the diversity and originality of schemes is being somewhat over stated by some.

Thirdly, the NFL.

It's a fairly common assumption - it would appear - among high school coaches to believe that every NFL team runs basically the same core group of plays and little else. Now certainly the proliferation of teams that run a lot of inside and outside zone runs might give you that impression, but NFL offenses are actually a lot more diverse than people believe.

I read one comment on the forum post mentioned at the start about how nobody in the NFL runs trap plays anymore. You know what I mean, like the trap plays that the Eagles and Patriots often run. Or the Wham play used by the 49ers that is effectively a form of trap.

The truth is there is only so many ways to run the football. With five down linemen and a tight end, that gives you seven "gaps" (nine if you must insist on calling very wide runs extra gaps) that you can run through and only so many players available to block through them, and only so many ways that you can get said players to the hole. Logically speaking of course.

Thus the amount of runs that a team could theoretically run is already capped. Add to that the fact that some runs have proven over the years to be more effective than others and you have your answer. I think sometimes people expect NFL coaches to be outlandish and try new things just for the sake of being different, or that somehow the pressure of losing your job is not sufficient reason for a coach to be a little more conservative and stick to what he knows best instead of implementing the latest Super High Speed Spread 'Em Out To Run Turbo No Huddle Ultra Screen Offense. TM.

Even then, there is actually a degree of individuality about NFL offense's, you just have to look for it. Take the Steelers for example.

The Steelers offense is based around the skills of Ben Roethlisberger. They run a lot of empty sets and sets with just one back for whom you can normally see Ben highlighting a man to check. They're counting on his ability to evade pressure, stay on his feet and run to make plays. The offense seldom runs short routes because it makes more sense to let the players get down field, even though that takes more time, due to Roethlisberger's movement skills.

Mike Martz runs a similar system in Chicago, though not due to any inherent evasion skills possessed by Jay Cutler, but more to do with this being how Martz has always run his schemes. Until this season, when it appears Lovie Smith has had a quiet word in his ear, Martz had been famous for trying to get the maximum number or receivers out into routes, with very little concern for pass protection. The fact that these routes are often deep plays and take a long time to develop helps explain why Jay Cutler got killed in the pocket so often.

But now the Bears offense is almost unrecognisable as being a Martz offense. They run the ball a lot more, using predominantly power style running plays with one or more pulling offensive linemen. They use the backs much more for pass protection, often using play action as well, while sending just two or three receivers down field in the hope that if they can keep Cutler upright long enough, he'll be able to hit one of those open guys.

Then we have teams like the Saints and Packers, who admittedly do run fairly similar offenses, that involve a combination of wide formations for passing and more compacted "I" formations for running and play action. Both offenses have plenty of decent receivers to get the ball to and run a lot of short and medium depth passing plays, preferring to pick people apart rather than just gash them with lots of long bombs, although the yards after catch of their receivers often turn 10 yard hooks into much bigger plays.

Then we have the Texans, who as I've pointed out before are running a lot of two back, two tight end, formations, or single tight end formations but with one of the receivers brought in close to the formation. It's almost like they're spending half their time in goal line type setups and having a lot of success as a result, running plenty of zone rushing plays and the subsequent play action that builds off of that.

Then you have the Dolphins, who under previous offensive coordinator Dan Henning ran a lot of two back, split back formations, were quite run heavy with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, but have now reverted to a somewhat more open and "spread" style of play, emphasising the pass more than the run and largely dumping the wildcat look that had served them usefully before.

Then we have the Patriots who, to the best of my knowledge, still run a similar scheme to the one they did around the time of their last Super Bowl appearance. If this is indeed the case then it's common for them to split their pass plays up into separate combinations, with two receivers on one side running one route combo, while the two on the other side will run a different combo, allowing the Patriots to build in a degree of risk mitigation by having a combo to beat cover 2 and a combo to beat cover 3 (for example) built into the same play.

The Colts, from what I've seen, do the same. With Manning at least! Well, almost the same. I've seen an old Colts playbook/game plan from the early 2000's where it appeared that the field was split in half, with two receivers and a single back running a combo play to one side, while the flanker on the opposite side had his route "tagged", that is to say that he was told to run a specific route, with the man inside of him running a pre-set route designed to compliment whatever the outside receiver was doing. The system sounds similar to the one described for the Patriots, but from what I've seen the Colts system is slightly more flexible (and thus complicated). The Colts also use a lot of screens in lieu of a strong running game.

And if the Bears are becoming famous for running outside the tackles then the Falcons must be famous for running inside them. The Falcons offense often features Michael Turner attacking the linebackers up the middle, not least because on Play-action this makes the linebackers hesitate before dropping back, creating extra breathing room over the middle for tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Meawhile in Baltimore the Ravens are making much more use of two tight end sets now to facilitate the use of their two young tight ends Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson. In addition they same more keen now to throw the ball deep, trying to use the speed of Torrey Smith (when he actually catches the ball).

The Cardinals? Well they have no offense... ba doom tish! Back in the Kurt Warner days the Cardinals used to play things quite sneaky, sending multiple receivers down field, but often having Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin to run a 5 yard drag route underneath to exploit the space created. They also heavily leaned on screen passes to Boldin, especially down in the red zone.

Talking of screen passes, this used to be a speciality of Andy Reid when he had Brian Westbrook, but now not so much. He's also started to drift away somewhat from his heavy use of trap runs up the middle, but still finds time to sneak a few in. The introduction of Michael Vick has made the most influential change on Reid's offense, with a switch away from heavier protections that supported down field passes to the likes of DeSean Jackson, and now leans a little more towards multi receiver, "spread" type sets, permitting Vick more opportunities to run up the vacated space in the middle.

The Panthers have also done the same with Cam Newton, shifting away from an offense that used to sit often in the "I" formation and run a lot with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, to operating more out of the gun which is more familiar to Newton, and again using more of a "spread" look to give him more room for running up the middle.

We'll stop there, but this tour could continue around basically the entire NFL. As generic as the teams might sometimes look, as they steal ideas and plays from one another, just keep in mind that all is not what it seems. Lots of teams have different approaches, even if the subtleties of those approaches is not easy to discern at first.

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

2011 Week 9 round up

That's week 9 in the books then and I don't know about you but two things struck me this weekend more than anything else;

1) The amount of drops,
2) The amount of bad pass interference penalties,

It just seemed like a lot of receivers were getting hit in the hands and yet not making the catch, while at the same time it often didn't matter because of some of the highly dubious pass interference calls going about. Now don't get me wrong, I want both players to have a legitimate opportunity to catch the ball. But I also think that when you get two athletic and competitive individuals running downfield while looking back over their shoulders for the ball, naturally there is going to be a degree of contact. The league really needs to let that contact slide, providing there's no serious pulling of jerseys or pinning down of arms.

On a side note, there also seemed to be a few too many flags for helmet to helmet contact that was largely unavoidable. It seems even when defenders go to the effort of leading with the hands or the shoulders whilst trying to keep their helmets out of the way to avoid contact, they're still getting flagged just because of minor scrapes. It's getting really boring seeing flags for that.

Boring could also be a word used to describe many of this weeks games, providing your not a fan of good defensive football. Personally I thought it was quite refreshing to see defenses taking center stage in many of the week 9 games. There's nothing like a good stuffed run or a great sack/pressure to set the tone for a tough, competitive game of football.

The Jets/Bills game probably wasn't as competitive as many (including me) had thought it would be though. Ryan Fitzpatrick was uncharacteristically off form and threw some bad interceptions. The Bills D also struggled somewhat after a ten sack showing the previous week. Praise though for Mark Sanchez, who hit 20/28 and shook off an early interception. Shonne Greene also did well, finally breaking out some big runs.

Now a question; have the Seahawks ever been competitive this season? If they were, then that's long since turned into a distant memory. 2/10 on third down, 3 interceptions from Tavaris Jackson and an offensive line that looks at times like they're just being manhandled. The Cowboys on the other hand finally seem to be pulling it all together. They're using creative blitzes and movement to get DeMarcus Ware some great one on one matchups, while at the same Tony Romo is finding the going a little easier on offense, not least because DeMarco Murray is gouging people in the running game.

Don't worry though Seahawks fans, Browns fans are going through the same thing. One touchdown on offense, which came in the fourth quarter. 4/12 on third down. Four sacks given up. 261 yards rushing given up on defense. It's just a horror show in Cleveland at times. Colt McCoy looks sick and tired of the NFL already and it's only his second season; 14/22 for 146 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Surprisingly that was actually better than Matt Schaub, a quarterback we'd normally associate with being one of the better in the NFL. Luckily for Houston their defense was solid and their rushing attack produced two 100 yard rushers in Foster and Tate, which does kind of rekindle an old question of mine about running games; which is more important, the O-line or the running back?

And if Seahawks and Browns fans thought they had it bad, just spare a thought for Colts fans this season (it definitely sounds weird saying that). After Delone Carter's fumble the Colts basically pulled him in favour of Donald Brown and the rest is history. Matt Ryan barely completed a little over half his passes, but against the Colts secondary that was enough. Julio Jones even managed to make a catch in triple coverage, without a Colts player even so much as touching the ball. I'm still trying to figure out how. As are the Colts coaches no doubt.

Now the other day I picked the Chiefs over the Dolphins, citing that the Dolphins had no pass rush, no pass offense, no running game and couldn't tackle. So what do they do? They throw for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns, rush for 107 net yards (Reggie Bush; 13 carries, 92 yards, 1 touchdown) rack up five sacks on defense and have two players with over 10 tackles as they hold the Chiefs to a single field goal. The two 10+ tackle defenders were linebackers Karlos Dansby (11 tackles and a forced fumble) and the inspired Kevin Burnett (11 tackles, 2 assists and 1.5 sacks). They were still 3/10 on third down, but this was a massive leap forward for their season. Really excellent result for Miami.

Not such a good result for Tampa, who managed to score 16 and hold the Saints to 27. They love them scores. What they don't love is falling apart at the seams, which it appears they started to here, with guys chucking each other around, throwing punches, bitching and generally doing the exact opposite of showing a unified front to adversity. LeGarrette Blount was back for the Buc's, but he was no match alone for the Saints, who found plenty of running room with Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory all ripping off yards on the ground. Throw in another 250+ yard game for Drew Brees and you have a Saints team firing on all cylinders beating a Buccaneers team that is still trying to slot all the young pieces into the right place and make them work as a single, purring machine.

The 49ers meanwhile are anything but a purring machine, yet still somehow find a way to win games (*cough* soft schedule). 3/12 on third down, 0/2 in the red zone, but four field goals and a 30 yard TD pass to Bruce Miller were enough to get it done. Frank Gore had another 107 yards rushing and Alex Smith actually threw for 200 yards on the money. Still, they look less than inspirational and while the NFC West is basically wrapped up now, the seemingly inevitable fall from grace in the play offs is going to hurt.

Staying in the west, this time the AFC West, a division that is very much up for grabs not least because three of the four teams lost this week and the sole victors, the Broncos, did it against a division rival in the Raiders. For a while it looked like Oakland might squeak the win, with Carson Palmer looking a lot better now he's had some time with his receivers (he still threw three interceptions). A late collapse however sealed the Raiders fate. Tebow's passing looked a lot better and his receivers actually graced him with a few catches, but it was on the ground where Denver did most of its damage. Willis McGahee had 163 yards and 2 touchdowns, with Tebow contributing another 118 yards. The Broncos pass rush also came alive somewhat with Elvis Dumervil producing 1.5 sacks alone.

One young quarterback who is doing really well is Andy Dalton. 3 touchdowns for him and some good drives put together as the Bengals win their fifth in a row. Perhaps the story of the day might be the Titans rushing attack, as Chris Johnson finally started to find his feet, picking up 64 yards on 14 carries, which isn't great but could just be him getting warmed up? Hasselbeck made some nice throws at times but his inconsistency overall let him down.

Rams/Cardinals next. Now normally when two bad teams with ok offenses play each other, it turns into a shootout. This didn't. The Rams needed two safeties just to keep it competitive, despite 130 yards on the ground for Steven Jackson and 255 yards through the air for Sam Bradford. In the end it came down to a 99 yard punt return for a touchdown by Patrick Peterson who is rapidly becoming the new Devin Hester e.g. not a very good corner, great at special teams returns, does a stupid dance going into the end zone and is loved by Deion Sanders for no apparent reason.

Now if you thought the Rams were going to get an earful for letting Peterson return that punt, I'd love to know what the Patriots got from Coach Belichick after giving up the ball four times, including 3 turnovers from Tom Brady. I'm just loving the Giants defense right now, as they step out of the normal mold for 4-3 teams and get a bit more creative, and hopefully I'll take a closer look at that later this week. Even with that pressure Brady still managed to pass for 342 yards, but it was Eli Manning who made the biggest impression from the quarterback spot, cooling leading a last minute drive to win the game. This was a huge win for the Giants.

Now I have another question for you; who needs Aaron Rodgers when the opposing quarterback throws two pick sixes? The answer is the Green Bay Packers and they really did need him, because after scoring 14 defensive points they still left the door open until a last ditch interception iced the game. Rivers ended the game with 4 touchdowns and was driving well for a fifth when he threw that third and last interception. Aaron Rodgers was blazing once again though, hitting 21/26 for 247 yards and 4 touchdowns.

What? The Steelers and Ravens having a physical game of football. Would never have seen that coming! Of course the league doesn't like games like this because they might actually be fun for people to watch, so the refs made sure to stick a few flags in there just to dampen the affair down a bit. Notice also that if you had to pick one game that most neutral fans would love to watch and are excited about, it's nearly always going to be a Steelers/Ravens game. There is a reason for that and it's called physical football. This one didn't disappoint and even managed to likely please Goodell because both quarterbacks threw for over 300 yards with not a lot of running going on, at least not after Ray Rice's huge opening play TD run was called back for a hold. James Harrison had a big night on defense with 3 sacks and plenty more pressure, but ultimately Joe Flacco held it together for the winning drive. His receivers should also take the brunt of the blame for why they didn't score more.

And last but not least, Monday Night football saw the Bears beating the Eagles. You have to watch Eagles games. You just have to right now. More out of morbid curiosity than anything. You just want to see what they'll mess up next and this time it was a fake punt on fourth down that saw Eagles punter Chas Henry throw possibly the worst pass I've ever seen in my life. Couple that with a hit and miss performance from Mike Vick, average pass protection by the Eagles O-line and some poor defense from the Eagles linebackers and secondary, mixed with a dash of suspect penalties and you have the recipe for a Bears win. Cutler didn't look great, but was just good enough to support the running of Matt Forte. The Eagles are in a tough spot again.

So pick wise that leaves me 10-4 for week 9, not bad at all, and that bumps me to 78-57 for the season. A few more weeks like this and I'll be back on track in no time. As for the rest of the week, I want to take a look at some of the things the Giants did defensively against the Patriots but other than that I'm a bit sparse for material, so I might take a look at how last years rookie watch list (and missing watch listers) are getting on.