49ers vs Lions; Gore's big runs

Today I promised to take a look at Frank Gore's two big runs of 47 and 55 yards from Sunday's game against the Lions, mainly because both runs came using roughly the same play call. Now I've since discovered this play was actually covered by Chris Smart on his site, smartfootball.com. Or more specifically, he covered it for Grantland.com and obviously left a link on his own site.

On this note I was about to abandon my plans on the principle of redundancy, until I noticed something about the write up that caught my eye, that being that the blocking scheme was actually drawn up wrong from the right guard leftwards. I should point out that this is very much unlike Mr. Smart, whose blog is normally one of the true gems of football blogging. But I wont complain, mainly because it gives me something to do by drawing it up.

We'll look at the 47 yard run to start with. The video clip of the play is here on NFL.com. First things first, lets look at the starting positions, pre-snap;

Before we get down to the detail, we need to point out some issues. The first thing an astute observer will notice is that the wide receiver on the left side is missing, as is the corner covering him. That's basically because they're not of great importance to this play. The other thing we have to be wary of is that there were no decent camera angles (all the more reason to switch to Skycam during games) so the position of the linebackers and and safeties may not be perfect. I did the best I could using the hash marks as a guide.

You'll also notice that the defensive end on the right hand side (from our perspective) is quite wide. This is because the tight end was split out a little and the end lined up on his outside shoulder. This is a good example of the fabled "wide nine" that the Eagles have been using and ironically enough - given the reason that I'm doing this - was covered by Chris Smart in his most recent post.

So now we've laid the ground work, just what is all the fuss about this run? Well as Mr. Smart pointed out, there are two tight ends on the field. One is Vernon Davis, who is split out to the right and has the defensive end lined up on his shoulder.The second is Delanie Walker, who is probably the most under rated asset on the 49ers offense. He's lined up behind Davis and is going to go in motion slightly towards the formation and then do something incredible. Kind of.

The 6 foot tall, 242 pound Walker is going to be asked to block the 6 foot 4 inch, 307 pound Ndamukong Suh.... Believe it.

So how does a tight end, known more for his receiving, manage to block a defensive tackle with a reputation for tough, physical play, and who out weighs him by 65 pounds? The answer is to use a bit of finesse and a bit of trickery; by giving Suh a sniff of an easy tackle for loss, and by putting the tight end in a position where he can block down on Suh from an angle, giving him an advantage in leverage while not asking him to knock Suh clean off the ball, just pin him inside for a moment.

(I should clarify at this point that the "N" in the diagram above means "Nose" not "Ndamukong". Suh is actually the "T" defensive tackle. I only just realised that this might cause confusion and, well, frankly it's easier to type this explanation than it is to go back and change the diagram!)

This is known as trap. You're giving the defensive linemen the impression that he has a free shot into the backfield, only to blindside him with another blocker. Not only is this an effective block on the play being run, but it also serves up a minor side effect of interest. In the future if that defensive linemen finds himself running free into the backfield (perhaps due to an assignment error by the offensive line) there's a chance he will hesitate for a moment and take a quick peek to the side, worried about getting trapped again. We sometimes see this same effect in defensive linemen when they play against a team that runs a lot of screen passes to backs.

Now, up to this point Chris Smart had the scheme down pat. But what he missed was what was happening from the right guard onwards. He wrote that the interior linemen went up to get the linebackers but that's actually not what happens. In fact both the right guard and the left guard are going to perform trap blocks themselves. The left guard, first rounder Mike Iupati (rookie watchlist from last year) is going to pull off the line and go left to get the wide defensive end on his side. The right guard, Adam Snyder, is going to pull off the line and go left to trap the other defensive tackle.

This does three things, all of which are important. Number one, it frees up the center and left tackle to go and get two of the linebackers. Number two, it draws the linebackers to move left (from our perspective), because they think they're seeing a power run to that side. This makes them easier to block for the offensive line. Number three, it draws the weak safety down and to the left for the same reason as the linebackers (he thinks he sees "power"), and this draws him away from the true path of the running back. Remember reasons two and three, we'll touch on them again later.

At this point I think it would be helpful to put up a visualisation to ease our understanding of what is taking place;

There we go. Now you can see all the blocking assignments for the offense, with the exception of the wide receiver off to the left, who would ignore the corner on his side in favour of coming inside and cracking down on the weak safety. The dotted line coming from Delanie Walker indicates his pre-snap motion, triggered by a small foot movement by quarterback Alex Smith. Walker shuffles across to get behind the right tackle, then after the snap he turns inward and slams into the side of Suh, trying to pin him inwards.

The only person left unblocked (and who has a realistic chance of actually making the play) is the strong safety Amari Spievey, who you can see lurking in the top right corner of the diagram. The play is run pretty much right at him and he comes flying downhill to fill the resulting gap and attempt the tackle. The trouble is he's counting on everyone else to fill the other gaps and unfortunately the "Sam" linebacker Bobby Carpenter (whose being blocked by 49ers right tackle Anthony Davis) ends up out of position. The ironic thing about that is that Carpenter actually does a great job of beating the block by Davis, chucking him to the side, but goes the wrong way. He goes into the gap already being filled by Spievey, leaving Gore with the opportunity to cut back to the inside and use Anthony Davis as a barrier.

Here I've drawn the play out with the approximate positions that everyone ends up in, also showing the path that Gore takes;

As you can see, Gore knifes right through the heart of the Lions D and will eventually be brought down near the Lions goal line for a 47 yard gain. Chris Houston, the corner on the right side (from our perspective) is the one who chases Gore down and makes the tackle, after 49ers receiver Ted Ginn jr. fails to make any contact with him at all, merely herding him away from the main effort of the play.

The second time the 49ers ran it, they got an even bigger gain of 55 yards. Video here for the interested. The blocking scheme works out slightly differently this time around, mainly due to the reaction of the defense. In this second run, the defensive end to the playside identifies the play and comes inside the tight end. The wide receiver to the playside cracks down on the "Sam" linebacker (who has in fact been replaced by Lions Nickel corner Eric Wright). The right tackle goes up and finds himself blocking the same man as the center. Luckily the tackle realises his mistake and comes off in time to block the strong safety.

In the end Gore cuts outside around the rushing end, then back inside of the wide receivers block on Wright, then back to the outside to get past the safety. Corner Chris Houston is on the field again, but he comes down far too wide and Gore is able to get inside of him and up the field. Houston ends up chasing the play down from behind and again making the tackle, which probably highlights the main flaw that Frank Gore has; his lack of speed in the open field.

Now before we wrap this up, do you remember earlier that I mentioned the pulling action of the guards drawing the linebackers and the weak safety across to the backside of the play? No? Well go back and read it again, because I did.

The reason why this happens is because the pulling action of the guards in that manner looks a lot like the action that happens when both guards pull for a "Power" play. The difference is that on the Power play the Guards would be lead blocking for the running back, whereas here the guards are going away from the running back. That adds another dimension to this play for the offense, as not only is it a good play in isolation, but it also serves as a compliment to the Power play, showing the defense one action but giving them two very different plays.

Which leads us nicely back to where we began, with Chris Smart, and an article he wrote in 2008 about the constraint theory of offense.

So that's your lot for today. Thanks for stopping bye and hopefully you'll spread the word about the blog. Tomorrow I'll follow up my post from last week about the "Outside Zone" running play by going over its sibling; the Inside Zone.

Till then, enjoy your day.

2011 week 6 recap

Time then for a more complete round up of the action from Week 6;

Panthers @ Falcons
No passing touchdowns for Cam Newton this time round. Three interceptions though. I'll give him a complete free pass for the final one, being that it was garbage time, and maybe a half gimmie for the tipped ball. But the fact still remains that 21/35 produced no scoring passes, although they did rush it in twice. It's just not enough though.

No, I'm not a Cam Newton fan, but I can perhaps grudgingly admit that it's early days and that he could develop properly in time. That's fine, but if people want to make that argument then the hype machine around Cam has to be shut down, and it has to be shut down now.

I - a lowly, no nothing blogger - was informed by any number of expert opinions on TV and around the web that Cam was going to be a physical beast that would light up the NFL like nothing you've ever seen before. Just like Blaine Gabbert... yeah, that one's turning out super special too. Maybe if there wasn't so much hype around Cam I'd be a little more lenient in my criticism.

But this is turning into the anti-Cam Newton blog at the minute and that's not fair to the rest of the guys on the field. Particularly the Falcons defense, who came up with two sacks, three interceptions and two forced fumbles in a much better display than we've seen of late. They were getting a decent amount of pressure up front and generally looked a little more organised.

Credit as well to Falcons back Michael Turner. On a day when Matt Ryan was much below par, Turner went over 130 yards and had two touchdowns in a strong, consistent showing. Good things tend to happen to Atlanta when they trust their running game, as this game showed.

Colts @ Bengals
Let us not forget, the Colts had the opportunity to kick the game tying field goal, only for it to get blocked. And let us not forget that the Colts then got the ball back with a little over two minutes left in the game and the chance to drive for the game tying field goal again... till Curtis Painter got picked off. But then let us not forget that the Colts got the ball back again, again with the chance to drive for the game tying field goal... and then Pierre Garcon fumbled the ball away.

Or in other words, let us not forget just how bad the Colts and Bengals offense's are right now. Neither team could hold onto the ball when it really counted, and in the end it was the Bengals who profited most when Garcon's terrible ball security lead to the scoring fumble recovery and the icing of the game.

To be fair to the Bengals, they did look a little better this week. Andy Dalton's footwork improves with each game, as he seems to be getting a little more comfortable with his O-line and with standing in the pocket while under pressure. It's a start if nothing else. The running game will still have to carry this team though if they're going to make the playoffs, which isn't such a wild shout as it might seem given the way results are going elsewhere in the AFC.

49ers @ Lions
I'm still laughing about Jim Schwartz. The more I see a replay of that handshake, the more it makes me laugh. Alright, Harbaugh was a bit abrupt. Normally, you would stop for a second or two to exchange congratulations but c'mon, he just won a massive game against an undefeated side. Or make that now, once defeated side.

Because the Lions buckled as they've done all season in the first half. The difference is that they didn't get the opportunities for a comeback thrown their way in the second. In fact, Alex Smith may have had another slightly below average game as the 49ers quarterback, but the critical difference between now and last season its that he's not taking as many sacks and he's not turning the ball over anywhere near as much. Let's be real though my fellow 49er fans; he still sucks right now.

The big difference for me with regards to the 49ers of 2011 vs the 49ers of 2010 has been a) the play of the secondary, who have been revived with Carlos Rogers and Chris Culliver in there, and b) the play of the D-line/pass rushing linebackers. Specifically Aldon Smith joining Justin Smith, and to a lesser extent Ray McDonald and Ahmad Brooks. Together these four, Aldon Smith especially, are simply blowing people away right now. Ask the Lions O-line, they'll tell you what it's like.

In the meantime the 49ers are trying to generate big plays from wherever they can get them. Frank Gore picked up most of his yardage on two runs (running the same play, which I want to take a look at later in the week) and a Ted Ginn Jr. punt return. That's the worrying thing for the 49ers, that they're relying on generating three or four huge plays to put up most of their yardage.

More worried should be Lions fans. Their team was up 10-0 going into the second quarter and at half time trailed by just two. Despite this though, Stafford was asked to throw 50 times, completing less than 30. Calvin Johnson had a number of catches and went over 100 yards again, but the 49ers D did a good job of making his life difficult especially in the red zone.

However it was the numbers for the game that made me laugh the most. The Lions had 21 first downs to the 49ers 14, but still lost, in no small part thanks to the 5 sacks the 49ers generated. The 3rd down numbers for both teams are freakin' hideous. 49ers; 2/14. Lions; 2/15. Both teams were 2/4 in the red zone. And yeah, I accept that both teams have good defenses, but seriously, both teams are grossly over rated right now. This was not some NFC Championship game preview. This was the wild card preview at best. These two teams are not as good as their current records say they are, Bill Parcells be damned.

Rams @ Packers
This game was just bizarre and I still can't get my head around it. I'm not even talking about the Packers God forsaken throwback uniforms, which should be burnt at the earliest opportunity (I think putting your child in one technically counts as child abuse). I'm more baffled by the fact that the Packers looked like they were cruising at half time, up 24-3, and then the game effectively ended there. No more points. Not even close.

Rodgers was 17/28. The Packers were 4/13 on third down. They only made it to the red zone twice, and only scored once from there. They got three sacks on defense, but really that's a worrying second half of football if I'm a Packers fan. I dunno, you just get that sense right now about the Packers that they're kind of just easing their way through the season and not really taking it all that seriously. Of course the fact they can do that and be 6-0 says a lot about that team, but I just get the feeling I'm going to be using the phrase "pride comes before the fall" at some point in the not to distant future.

The Rams though, man they have some tough sleding to come. People have been criticising their receivers and there's an element of truth to that, but they still caught 28/44. That's ok. The Rams just seem to be in a kind of bizarro, limbo land, where they're good on offense and show flashes on defense, but can't produce any end product from their work. They were 3/13 on third downs, 1/4 on fourth downs and 0/3 in the red zone. If they can convert those 3 red zone trips into scores then we have a tie ball game. Calling Steven Jackson, calling Steven Jackson....

Bills @ Giants
They say defense wins championships. I'm not sure how much I buy into that statement, on the principle that no team has ever won the Super Bowl by scoring no points. And yeah, defenses can score points off turnovers, but it's not exactly a reliable, ready supply of points. What defense can do is to stuff the oppositions offense at critical moments and that's precisely what the Giants D did.

They got three big sacks from a D-line that is on fire lately. Perhaps more importantly they got what were basically two touchdown saving interceptions out of Corey Webster, who I hope ate and drank for free that night courtesy of his team mates.

It was really the Bills worst nightmare. Having spent the season living off turnovers, it was them that comitted the big mistakes. Not a sack in sight for the Bills, nor a pick. For once Eli Manning was clean as a whistle, lacking a touchdown pass himself but still piling on the yards as he drove his team down field where Ahmad Bradshaw finished the job on the ground with three short touchdown runs.

It must have frustrated the Bills who generated some huge plays on offense, with Fred Jackson burning off an 80 yard touchdown run and Ryan Fitzpatrick hitting Naaman Roosevelt for a 60 yard touchdown pass (they were gutted when Steve Johnson caught a 9 yard TD pass later; the Bills only like scoring on round numbers).

What this game really did was to highlight starkly the differences between the Bills and the Giants. The Giants are a defensive team with a better than average offense that can give anybody in the league nightmares... when they're not turning it over 4 or 5 times per game. The Bills are like the '08 Saints, and the '09 and '10 Texans; all offense, no defense. They're reliant on serious mishaps to generate turnovers or any kind of defensive impact. It's not a model that can sustain a season. We'll find out in due time if the Giants boom and bust model can (tip; no).

Jaguars @ Steelers
The Steelers should be wiping their foreheads right about now. Why? Because a Jaguars team that shouldn't be able to touch them in fact took them right down to the wire in many regards. The Steelers had five sacks (Brett Keisel, LaMarr Woodley; 2. James Farrior; 1) against a Jaguars O-line that simply looks horrible right about now, and yet still they managed to let Jacksonville hang around until the dying moments. The nervous sweat is probably only just abating.

Roethlisberger looked like he was in a lot of pain and was throwing really awkwardly at times. Rashard Mendenhall looked better this time around and nearly hit 150 yards on the ground which was a plus, but this was not the Steelers team that reached the Super Bowl last year. In fact this looks like one of the worst teams that they've fielded in years and the offensive line is not the sole problem.

Jacksonville just weren't able to take advantage though. Their O-line is ridiculously bad. Still, Blaine Gabbert just exasperates the situation. Almost every time he comes under a heavy rush his response is to take his eyes down to the rusher instead of keeping them upfield, he loses his pocket awareness immediately, and then he bales out and often gets sacked. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion (12/26 for 109 yards and a touchdown).

The sole bright spot for the Jaguars was their D-line, who actually managed to pull three sacks out of the bag. One was for Tyson Alualu, who is really my biggest issue on that D-line. I put him on my rookie watch list from last year because I thought he was a good player. However much of what I'd seen of Alualu in college was playing defensive end. Now he's playing defensive tackle and he just doesnt seem to have the body type for it. He's not really big enough and his speed (for a D-lineman) is wasted taking on double teams.

The Jaguars are in a desperate hole right now. I don't think Gabbert is the answer, their defense needs a hell of a lot of work, and Jack Del Rio could well be out of a job before long.

Eagles @ Redskins
Dream Team huh? They looked pretty good for a while there, holding Rex Grossman to 9/22 with four interceptions. But don't get your hopes up if you're a Philly fan. As soon as John Beck hit the field, and this just sounds weird typing this, the game changed. Beck a game changer? Well in this one he nearly did, driving his team down the field to pull it within one touchdown.

It was the same old Eagles, same old problems. Red zone; 2/5. Two of five? Again? You have Mike Vick and DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy and all you can manage is 2/5? It's just pretty astounding how the Eagles can tear people into little chunks in the open field, then completely freeze up when they hit the red zone. The Eagles had close to 200 yards rushing against the Redskins, topped with over 230 yards of passing, yet still struggled to score.

Credit to safety Kurt Coleman of the Eagles who had three interceptions alone. In general the Eagles D played much better, at least until Beck entered the game, where he put up almost as many yards as Grossman had off just 15 plays. There was some actual hitting going on and they contained the Redskins on the ground, though there were only really twelve carries (if you exclude scrambles) so they don't get a free pass just yet.

There was one thing though that was a little disturbing for me. At one point Vick went down hard having been hit in the head and had to be taken off the field. The Eagles claim he had a little bit of dirt in his eye. Anyone with half a brain could see he was clearly displaying symptoms of at least a mild concussion and for some reason the Eagles not only got away with it during the game, but have got away basically free in the media as well.

Personally I think that's ridiculous. I don't always agree with what the league is doing to try and mess with the game, but I do at least grudingly agree that a player displaying concussion like symptoms should be pulled from the game. Trying to get around that by claiming a player had "dirt in his eye" is fucking stupid. Vick should have been pulled and the Eagles should be getting called out more vocally for that in the press.

Texans @ Ravens
I love it when a team scores 29 points in a game and only has two touchdowns. It's a field goal frenzy for the Ravens! What I hated seeing was Wade Smith of the Texans recovering a forward fumble for a touchdown. By rule you can recover it on offense, but you can't advance it. Me personally I'd like to change the rule so that a forward fumble can be receovered by the offense but has to be taken back to the spot of the fumble. But there you go.

Not that it made a huge difference for the Texans who failed to get their run game going, completed just a little over 50% of their passes and gave up four sacks. Looking on the bright side for Houston, having spent Saturday bigging up their pass rushers like Brooks Reed and J.J. Watt, it was actually the unknown, unheralded Tim Jamison who came up with two sacks, including a forced fumble which he recovered himself.

That's kind of where the good stuff ends for the Texans. They got burnt deep a couple of times, including a 51 yard sling to my top receiver from the 2011 draft class; Torrey Smith. Really it was weird watching Flacco, who was basically doing his best Cam Newton impression and just slinging that thing up for grabs, though in a slightly more controlled fashion.

Some hard running by Ray Rice on the ground (101 yards) helped to put away a Texans team that just can't seem to find a way over the hump. After a bright start they're slowly fading back to the old Texans who just can't get it done.

Browns @ Raiders
Uh oh, the bad officiating bug strikes back! Jason Campbell scrambled away from a pass rush, slid to the ground and coughed up the ball. My immediate thought on seeing it was "why is everyone getting so excited? He clearly gave himself up, his knee was down, no fumble." That's before I saw any replays. After seeing the replay I was even more convinced. Apparently me and the refs disagree on what constitutes 'giving yourself up'.

To me that suggests a runner going to the ground intentionally with the express purpose of avoiding being hit in exchange for being ruled down. To my eyes, that is exactly what Jason Campbell did. He slid to the ground to avoid getting hit. He had both knees down. There is no way in hell that was a fumble. I know refs get a lot of stick for stuff and having reffed a sunday league soccer game myself once, I know that sometimes you just don't catch everything and sometimes things happen so quickly you can't be sure about what you just saw.

But sometimes refs do themselves no favours. That was obviously a slide.

Anyway, back to the game. Can I just say (yes I can, it's my blog) how awesome it was to see Jacoby Ford run back a 101 yard kickoff. I know the NFL wants to remove plays like this in case someone gets hurt and because they might actually cause some fans to experience something called "fun" while watching football, but I personally hope we see more of these run backs. I'm amazed Ford managed to stay in bounds.

The biggest moment for me though was what happened at the end of the play, when Ford and his team mates celebrated with the fans. In a weird way, the death of Al Davis has helped the fans and players of the Raiders to come together in a way that no other team can boast. And no, the Lambeau leap doesn't count, because it's tantamount to a forced tradition which players these days seem only to use as a chance to pose for the cameras, as opposed to the genuine moment that Ford and his guys had with their fans.

It was lucky the Raiders got that score because Jason Campbells injury spelt the entrance of Kyle Boller. Let's put it his way; the Raiders are, as we speak (or at least I write), desperately shopping around for a new free agent quarterback, instead of going with Boller who has been with them since the start of the season. Still, the running of Darren McFadden, the boot of "Seabass" (no, I'm not attempting to spell his name) and a sneaky touchdown pass by punter Shane Lechler off a fake field goal proved enough.

If I was the Raiders though. I'd be worried. Where is your offense going to come from next week? Another trick play? Expecting Jacoby Ford to run back another kick? And if I was the Browns I'd be even more worried.

See about a year ago there was this guy. I can't remember his name. Peyton something? Was it Hillis something? And I vaguely remember him being good. I think they even put him on the cover of something, some video game.

Against the Raiders Hillis had 6 carries. Montario Hardesty was the carry leader with eleven. They asked Colt McCoy to air it out 45 times again, of which he only completed 21. I mean give the kid a chance. Give him some other offense, some other play calls. He made over 200 yards and 2 touchdowns with no picks, but the Browns have to find a way to work in their other assets on offense and try to diversify a little.

Cowboys @ Patriots
Most interesting stat in this one? Both quarterbacks threw 41 passes and completed 27. One of those quarterbacks threw for more yardage... which was actually Romo. And for once Tony Romo played in a game where he didn't throw the most picks. He also didn't throw the most touchdowns and that was really the key.

The Cowboys red zone efficiency was 1/3 (the Pats were 2/4). The 'Boys (of fall?... It's a song that I hate) had their opportunities and they blew them. The Pats actually turned the ball over four times, including a great pick by linebacker Sean Lee who is having what could prove to be a pro bowl season. But the Cowboys just could not get it done.

Rob Ryan did everything he could on defense. His side rustled up 3 sacks, including two for DeMarcus Ware, along with the two interceptions. They held Wes Welker to 6 catches for 45 yards and even a big chunk of that came on the last drive. All they needed was for the offense to come up with some magic in order to snatch a priceless, morale boosting victory. What they got from Jason Garrett were three runs and a kick.

You know what though, having thought about it overnight I'm actually going to give Jason Garrett some credit. He'd seen how well his defense had done and he was probably looking at the scoreline thinking, "if we can just hold on here, kick it away and then do what we've been doing all game and hold on, we can win this thing". The alternative was to let Tony Romo, the harbinger of doom himself, throw it a few times and risk getting picked off. And let's be honest here, it's not like Tony Romo doesn't have form when it comes to throwing pick sixes under pressure.

So Brady drove the field and scored. The Cowboys just played their coverage a little too loose, perhaps hoping the clock would run out. It didn't. Unless you mean for them on their final possession. On the plus side, I got some great examples out of the game of what I've been talking about with Brady and him staring down receivers. More on this later.

Saints @ Buccaneers
It's not every week that Drew Brees throws 3 interceptions. Usually he seems to wait until I pick the Saints to win easily, describing how they'll take the other team apart etc, then he throws them. To give Brees a fair hearing, one of those interceptions was an unlucky bounce off a player, one was pretty blatant defensive pass interference, and the third was a case of "score now or go home" at the end of the game.

Still, the Saints were 1/4 in the red zone. One of four? The Saints? Their running game stunk, which again is classic for the Saints after I bigged up their running game on Saturday. Darren Sproles had just one carry. At least Tight end Jimmy Graham and receiver Marques Colston showed up, both going over 100 yards.

This is why I hate the Saints though. In '08 when I was semi-cheerleading them they stunk. In '09 when I moaned because people kept giving them games, they won the Super Bowl. Now that I'm giving them credit again they're stinking it up once more. I hate the Saints.

Of course the big news out of this game was Head Coach Sean Payton taking a big hit on the sideline and mashing up his knee. It's rumoured he might have to coach from the press box but I can't see a fiery guy like Payton giving up that easily.

The news I'd rather talk about was the Buccaneers offense. Earnest Graham went over 100 yards off just 17 carries and Josh Freeman threw an interception free performance, with over 300 yards and 2 touchdowns. He didn't even take a sack (there were no sacks at all in the game). 4/14 on third down isn't great, but the interceptions plus some big plays made do for Tampa. It was a good comeback after their mauling by the 49ers, but they still have a long way to go offensively.

The Saints need to take a long, hard look at their defense. It's back to the '08 standards. And that was hideous.

Vikings @ Bears
The minute Hester caught that pass and ran it in for the 48 yard score, that was the ball game. It was the first score of the game early in the first quarter, but it did two things; first, it established that the Bears were willing to use extra men to protect Cutler and only send two guys down field. Second, it took the wind completely out of the Vikings sails. They were expecting to come in and rock the house with their pass rush. They never came close.

Alright, so Jared Allen eventually got a sack, but the Vikings didn't look like the Vikings and the Bears didn't look like the Bears. McNabb spent most of his time running for his life. The safety was particularly embarrassing as he probably could have extended the ball out of the end zone. The Bears finished with five sacks, including two for Julius Peppers. I got the distinct feeling watching the game that they could have had more if the Vikings hadn't swapped the younger and quicker Christian Ponder in to replace old man McNabb.

Ponder was my top quarterback in the 2011 class and did well with his time. He was basically thrown into the pit of impossible escape, from which he threw 17 passes and completed nine for 99 yards and had an 8 yard run for a first down. He looked crisp and mobile, but it was never going to be anything more than a quick venture out into garbage time.

The real story of the game for me were the running backs. Specifically, Matt Forte had 17 carries for 87 yards, Adrian Peterson had 12 for 39 yards and a touchdown. What drew my ire was how long it took to get Peterson involved in the game. It was the third quarter before Minnesota really started to lean on what is undoubtedly their best player. By that time they were down 26-3 and it was mostly over as a contest. Any doubt was removed when Devin Hester took back the ensuing kick off 98 yards for a touchdown.

I just don't get the Vikings sometimes. They are absolutely in a priveliged position with Peterson. He is without question one of the best backs in the game and yet they hardly use him. He has one or two runs stuffed here and there, so immediately they just assume that the defense has his number and abandon the running game as if it's never worked out for them before.

The Bears meanwhile gave Forte his healthy dose early on and he fought, scratched and clawed for his yards. That's one thing I like about him as a back this year; consistency. He picks up good yardage on each carry, as the title of the blog says, keeping the chains moving. It's also fun to watch him planting his shoulder into a defensive backs head, like watching Michael Turner of the Falcons, or Adrian Peterson (when he's allowed to carry).

From here the Bears go to London where they have a great chance to beat the Buccaneers in front of a half empty stadium. Well the Buc's are the designated home team; we just wanted to make them feel at home. In all seriousness, Cutler proved on Sunday night that he can lead a team from the quarterback position, providing he gets the protection he needs and that the offense is a little more varied. There is a blueprint here for the Bears and Mike Martz. They certainly have the defense to support it, if Martz can just be convinced to keep roughly to the scheme used to beat the Vikings.

The Vikings meanwhile are into the dreaded quarterback controversy territory. McNabb or Ponder? The thing you have to remember is that even though McNabb was pulled, he was 19/24 for 177 yards, and could have had more if it wasn't for some bad drops (everyone look at Bernard Berrian). The whole "mixing in Joe Webb for a wildcat type thing" was also a disaster that only served to disrupt McNabb's rhythm and shit on his confidence. If you're going to run the ball, why the fuck would you use Joe Webb? That's Adrian Peterson back there! I hate the Vikings right now.

I think Ponder will get the job. To be honest he might as well. He's young and he looked pretty handy, so give him a season to show you what he can do. Then next year you can ship out Berrian and design your offense around the strengths of your new QB. And your future hall of fame running back.

Dolphins @ Jets
Ages and ages ago I wrote a post about Darrelle Revis, "Revis Island" and all that. In it I offered up my observation of how to beat Revis given the way he was playing. The Dolphins did just that to get the ball to Brandon Marshall a few times... with a few drops just to annoy me. I was excited because I was thinking "here we go, vindication". According to Google that post generates the most number of unique page views that I get, so I was excited that people would see the correlation between what I'd been saying and the evidence on the field.

Then Revis picks off Matt Moore for a 100 yard interception return touchdown. Fuck.

On closer examination of the replay though, we learn a little more about the play. What we saw was the same thing that Torrey Smith encountered for the Ravens on Sunday Night Football a while back; Revis tugging the shirt. And it wasn't a little tug, it was a full on, 'over you go' type tug that gave Revis the chance for the pick.

And that really bugs me.

If it were anyone else then that play would have had flags all over it. If it was any other defender then you know that would have been a spot foul and everyone would be looking at the corner like "dude, what the f**k are you doing?". I don't know why I felt the need to censor that, but there you go. That's before we get onto the fact that supposedly there is a ref watching every single receiver to check for interference and dangerous hits. So where was the guy watching that one?

Now I'm in favour of receivers and defenders being allowed to jostle with their arms a little. Not pushing each other, but a bit of incidental contact should be allowed as they move down field and then jump for the ball. But when people start pulling shirts to hold back the receiver or drag him to the ground, that should get the flag for me. That's not a situation where two men are being allowed to contest a jump ball. That's one guy playing by one set of rules and the other guy playing by a different set, which inevitably leads to a mismatch.

Even Jon Gruden agreed on the commentary, which either means that it was so blatant that even Gruden couldn't miss it (he still got in his trademark "this guy is the best blah, blah") or it means I'm wrong by default because Gruden agrees with me.

Regardless, other stuff happened that was interesting. Matt Moore took over at quarterback due to the injury to Chad Henne and was seriously let down by his receivers. There were bad drops all over the place which would have made a huge difference had the receivers been able to hold on. And even when the Dolphins did get the ball, five fumbles? What are they, the Giants now?

The Dolphins heavy pass rush once again failed to materialise, marking probably the most intruiging turn around this season. What has happened to Cameron Wake? He was on fire last year. This year he's been nothing but a damp squib. Two sacks as a unit is nothing compared to the standard they set in 2010.

But perhaps the funniest thing to come out of the game has been while milling around the interwebs since the game ended, as seemingly everyone is talking about how the Jets got their offense fixed and how they were much improved. Simply put, what the fuck are those people talking about?

Sanchez was 14/25 for 201 yards and a touchdown. Shonne Greene struggled to get going at times and the Jets receivers didn't look they were about to bust the game open at any moment. The Jets were 6/15 on third down and put together just 13 first downs. Luckily the Dolphins seem to be playing "suck for Luck", whether intentionally or not, going 2/13 on third down and 0/3 in the red zone. That is just magnificently bad.

Credit where it's due though to the Jets defense. Including the dodgy pick, Revis had two. Calvin Pace had two sacks and a forced fumble, Bart Scott had a sack and a forced fumble, Aaron Maybin had a sack and two forced fumbles, plus another forced fumble from Jim Leonhard.

It was a scrappy, dirty, ugly game of football. I hope ESPN enjoyed it, because this is what they're paying a little over $1 billion per year for.

So with that game done I rolled in at 9-4 for my picks this week. My thanks to Rex Grossman, Drew Brees, Leslie Frazier, and the Cowboys for the four defeats. That leaves me 54-36 after 6 weeks of football or expressed another way, exactly 60%. Must do better. I've got a good feeling about week 7. Now some things to end with.

- Hello to reader Teoita, who has the unfortunate disposition of being a Patriots fan ;). As Teoita commented yesterday, the highlights posted of this weeks games to NFL.com were remarkably short and shit. I found it oddly amusing that one of the worst games (Steelers vs Jaguars) got the longest highlights (four minute reel) and even that was a minute of just Jamie Dukes talking, which isn't all that bad because Dukes is a pretty good analyst at times.

It does contrast starkly with previous seasons, where for example back in '08 you used to get;
1) "Gameday" highlights (short, with the studio crew blabbing over the top, as now),
2) the highlights with radio calls, which had about 5-6 minutes worth of game highlights with the teams affiliated (and passionate) radio announcers providing the (then) live game cast (presumably they stopped doing these because the comments sections were constantly filled with people saying how much they preferred these to the "Gameday" tripe that was otherwise offered up),
3) You used to get a highlight package of each quarterback, including basically every pass that went more than about ten yards, every sack, every interception,
4) You used to get highlights of the running backs, presuming they'd run for a decent enough yardage. Only the more explosive plays over five yards were usually featured, but it was a nice touch.

All of this was easily accesible from the front page of the website and the number of adverts was significantly less than it is now. Since then the whole thing has gone down the pisser. All the highlights are broken up individually, in order to allow the greater interspersing of adverts every other video. Luckily for the NFL the advertisers themselves don't use the service, because if they did they'd figure out in minutes what every fan who uses the service already has; the mute button on your computer or the off button on your speakers is your best friend.

Back in ye olde days of NFL.com I could sit throught the odd advert every now and again. There were even some that amused me. Now I can't stand them. Adverts are a sign for me to mute the sound and go have a quick look at my e-mails or something. I simply refuse to sit and endure the torture of yet another 30 second advert (the same advert that's already been run 20+ times today) just so I can watch a 40 second clip. And that's providing the actual clip loads some time this year, then doesn't freeze the picture half way, jump the sound backwards and just generally glitch out as NFL.com videos have a want of doing. I could rant about this for hours, but I must move on, if only for my own sanity.

- So far this season all the talk his been about passing games exploding and the big numbers being put up. Lost in all this has been the fact that rushing attacks have also been exploding. The number of 100+ yard games seems to be on the up and total rushing yardage also appears to be on the rise. Among running backs with more than 90 carries there are five backs (Darren McFadden, Frank Gore, Fred Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte) who are averaging over 5 yards per carry. Maybe if some of them can keep up the pace one of them might even hit 2,000 by the end of the year? (McFadden and Jackson are currently both on pace for 1,800+ yard seasons).

- For the coming week I have my plan of posts already laid out. I want to take a look at Frank Gore's two big runs from the game with the Lions, which both came on the same play call. I want to follow up my post from last week about the outside zone run that every team seems to be running these days by looking at it's sibling; the inside zone. And I want to follow up my various comments about Brady staring down his receivers by digging up as much film evidence as I can and sticking it into one post. That's if you can all stomach watching videos on NFL.com. And I may just have another stab at the whole "Revis Island" thing, mainly just for the benefit of clearing the rant from my brain.

Well that's your lot for today and there was a lot looking back. If you exclude the time it took to watch (endure?) this weeks Monday Night game, this post has taken me eight hours to put together, check, edit etc. On that note, do me a favour, tell someone about it. Don't let all that work go unrewarded!

You can also comment in the thing below or you can e-mail me at; keepingthechainsmoving@live.co.uk

Thanks for stopping by.

Picked off

I can't believe it. At one point it was all looking so good for my picks this week, then disaster struck near the end. I'm not doing a proper recap just now, I'll do it tomorrow on either side of Monday Night Football (but posted as one article). For now just some thoughts about each game;

- Cam Newton huh? The second coming of *insert famous quarterbacks name here that the pundits thought he would be like*. Maybe the second coming JaMarcus Russell right now; very physically gifted, but struggling with turnovers.

- For a minute Indy looked like they might come back into the game against the Bengals. Only for a minute though. Nobody is talking about the Bengals but they're slowly putting together a good season in an AFC that has been turned on its head in 2011. Keep your eyes on them to sneak into the playoffs maybe.

- I find it hilarious that everyone is describing the 49ers/Lions game as some kind of hard fought battle between two of the top teams right now. No. Seriously no. It was a battle between two average teams who struggled to put together offensive drives. And I had to laugh at Jim Schwartz running after Harbaugh at the end, nudging him in the back while mouthing off, waiting for a hoard of players to come over and get in the way before he finally "flipped out", then trying to play the innocent card later in his press conference.

- St. Louis, this is Green Bay and their ugly uniforms. Green Bay, this is your unofficial bye week. Enjoy.

- My God, Eli Manning actually managed to hold on for the win. Of course the "law of Eli" says that next week he will have to have at least fumbles to make up for it.

- Blaine Gabbert; NFL quarterback. Not. Only five sacks though for Pittsburgh, I'm disappointed. More stunning was that the Jaguars actually managed to generate some pressure on their defensive front. It could just be the Steelers O-line to blame, but I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

- The Eagles get their second win, courtesy of Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman who is now being investigated by the FBI for the suspicious nature of just how badly he threw the game away to the Eagles.... if only. Thanks Rex, you cost me what should have been a safe pick.

- Then I get picked off again by Drew Brees! Who coincidentally got picked off multiple times by the Buccaneers defense. What happened Drew? This should have been a fairly routine win for the Saints, with the talent they have against a Blount-less Buccaneers. I guess the old phrase about "any given Sunday" comes to mind.

- The Texans minus Andre Johnson are going to have problems. It's the grand irony for the Texans; having spent years leaning on their offense for survival, they finally fix the defense... and now the offense goes out of the window. You couldn't make it up.

- A tough win for Oakland, who coped without the injured Jason Campbell. That's a collar bone injury some I'm not expecting to see Campbell back any time soon. It's a shame, just as the Raiders were heating up.

- Cowboys, you're killing me! Rob Ryan did it. He put down the game plan and he shut Welker down to just 3-4 passes prior to that final drive. It was all there for the taking, then the Cowboys offense just couldn't put it beyond reach. That was going to be the most satisfying pick of the week for me, and then it all came crashing down. Of course it helps when you can stop Brady driving down the field like that.

- The biggest upset for me though was the Vikings/Bears game. I predicted a possible massacre, I just called it the wrong way. McNabb looks slower than Brett Favre right now, but at least rookie Christian Ponder looked pretty handy. I called him my top quarterback in this years draft class and from first impressions I think I might have nailed that one. Time (and a lot more snaps) will tell.

Thanks to those upsets I'm 8-4 for my picks this week. And there was me thinking I was so clever taking the 49ers and the Giants over the Lions and the Bills respectively, only to get undone by Rex Grossman, Drew Brees, and Donovan McNabb. And Jason Garrett. I hate Jason Garrett.

See you tomorrow.

2011 week 6 picks and more "bump and run" coverage

So it's Saturday night (actually it's Sunday Morning here), which means 'pick now for week 6 or forever hold my peace'. And since I can't envision shutting up, it means I'll have to pick. But before we do that I want to play picture time again, first of all to demonstrate a point I've been making for a while now and secondly to justify one of my picks this week.

So on that note I'm going to introduce some screen captures from a video on NFL.com. And yes, if you must know, it's been glitching out something special today, which added that extra touch of misery to the normal levels encountered while using that video service.

The captures are taken from the 'Playbook' show, specifically the video covering the Cowboys/Patriots game. It's the only non-highlight related content that is actually worth a damn from that site. And the reason this video in particular caught my eye is because it featured two concepts that I'm always hammering away at ad nauseum; bump & run coverage, and double teaming Wes Welker. I even dedicated a spot in a post the other day to the subject of bump & run (here for those that haven't read it).

In the 'Playbook' video Greg Cossell (who really should be back on TV more, despite his slightly awkward presenting style) takes a look back to last season, when the Browns played the Patriots with Rob Ryan as their defensive coordinator (Ryan is now the coordinator in Dallas). Cosell showed a play where Welker gets bumped off the line of scrimmage and then double teamed by the safety. That's what we're going to look at here.

The first order of the day then, like any good director would know, is to provide an establishing shot. Here it is;

They even marked Welker for convenience. How nice of them! As we see Welker is already lined up and in a moment the defender standing just under the 4 of the 40 at the top is going to line up over Welker. He stands on the 35, giving Welker about a half yard cushion (on the defenses side of the ball obviously) and then as soon as Welker comes across the line he just slaps his hands on him and jams the crap out of him.

Like this (I've put my own orange circle on the picture, just so we can keep track of where Welker is);

Welker has barely crossed the line of scrimmage at this point and already he has a face full of defender, obstructing his movement and preventing him from running free at the defense. Or in other words, the complete opposite of what every team this season has done to Welker, allowing him complete free access to the line of scrimmage and letting him sprint unhindered through their secondary.

Then comes the double team;

I should point out that the graphic circle around Welker in the above picture was put in by the 'Playbook' crew, as broadcast, not by me.

Notice how Welker has two defenders hawking all over him now. The corner who provided the bump is aligned outside Welker, taking away a throw to that side and also in a position to make a play on any under thrown ball. The safety is inside the hash and can make a play on any ball thrown to that side, as well as making a play on any over thrown ball. And while Tom Brady may be good, but he's simply not that good. He's not going to risk trying to make that throw.

Now also remember how I was talking the other day about bump and run coverage disrupting the timing of receivers routes? About how it forces receivers out of rhythm with the quarterback, shortening their routes and disrupting that mental count of their footsteps that lets them know when it's the correct time to make their breaks? Well look again at the picture above.

In particular, look at the wide receivers at the top and bottom of the screen. Neither of those guys got bumped off the line and thus look how far down field they are. They have about a 5 yard advantage over Welker. It's not like Welker can't run quick. And he only went inside a yard or two, and only because he was bumped, so don't give me any of that "he had to run further" malarky.

The Browns took Welker away using clever coverage. But it gets worse, at least for the Patriots. See I noticed something interesting during the Patriots/Dolphins Monday night game a while back, something I've brought up here before; from the moment the ball is snapped, 9/10 Brady stares his intended receiver down all the way. Like a high school quarterback.

I'm serious.

I'm sure there will be people reading this who don't believe me. They'll be Brady fans who think he's flawless, in the same kind of vein that people talk about Peyton Manning, as if Manning has never made a mistake in his life. In which case I invite you to go back and watch that game again. Until you've sat down and actually watched it yourself, please keep your mouth shut. And trust me.

The problem this creates is that he often finds himself staring right at Wes Welker, who in the case above was being tightly covered. Naturally a quarterback will give the play a moment or two to develop, to see if his receiver can get free. But when he sees that safety come down to create the double team, all of a sudden you have to go looking for your number two, just as the pass rush is starting to close in.

In this case Brady did, looking to the tight end. Except the tight end was cleverly chipped by a blitzing linebacker, delaying his release and allowing another linebacker manned up on the tight end to stay with him across the field. When Brady realised that Welker wasn't going to be coming open any time soon, he went straight to the tight end and had the ball batted down.

Overall in that game Brady was 19/36. Wes Welker had 4 catches for 36 yards. The Patriots were 3/11 (27%) on third down. And ultimately the Browns went on to win the game 34-14. The result was not the most important thing about that game though. It was the defensive game plan used by Rob Ryan that laid out the blueprint for how to go about trying to shut down Tom Brady, Wes Welker and the New England Patriots offense.

And it's for that reason that I'm standing seemingly alone (outside of the true die hard Dallas fans) and taking the Cowboys over the Patriots this week.

Cowboys @ Patriots
Here's why; you're telling me that you don't think in the intervening two weeks that the Cowboys have been on their bye, that Rob Ryan hasn't dug out the film of the Browns/Patriots game from last year and had a real long, hard look at it. That he hasn't seen what his guys did to Welker? And that he wont have now seen week upon week of Patriots footage from this season, with Welker burning teams for huge yardage? That his brother Rex hasn't called him up and said "whatever you do, make sure you get Welker!"?

I think all that has happened and more. I think Rob knows he has better talent on this Cowboys defense than he ever had in Cleveland. And I think he has rammed home to his players how important it is for them to keep the Patriots O under control this week to give his team a chance to win the game. I think they'll be ready.

The only thing that could ruin this pick is the Cowboys offense. Actually, let me rephrase that. The only thing that could ruin this pick is Tony Romo. If he produces another turnover filled game then it's all for nothing. I'm sure Brady and co will find the end zone a couple of times anyway, but if the Cowboys start giving them extra possessions then they're in trouble.

The Cowboys don't need a magical, timeless performance from Romo. All they need is for him to have the kind of first half performance he's been having all year long, but without the second half. Get the lead, run the ball, let Ryan's defense limit the Patriots offense to dink and dunk plays, with no big scores. That's the challenge for the Cowboys. And for at least one more week I'm going to believe in them. God help me. Cowboys win.

Panthers @ Falcons
It's been 5 weeks now and no, I'm still not buying the Cam Newton hyperbole. He can keep slinging that thing up for grabs all he wants. He can keep raking in the garbage yardage all he likes. I refuse to buy that the Panthers offense has undergone some sudden amazing turn around. Yes, they do have some really good players. Newton can run. Steve Smith can jump. DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are great backs. But they're over achieving as a unit right now, not recovering to their normal form.

Coupled with the Panthers defense being the way it is, I have to take the Falcons. They themselves are still living off the hype they generated last year (they're not a 13-3 team), but at least we know they have a baseline of a certain quality on offense. They'll be missing Julio Jones it seems, but that just means that Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Harry Douglas will have to take center stage. Oh the agony!

If the Falcons can get that pass rush to get a fuc...freakin' move on, coupled with some better play out of their linebackers and a healthy dose of Michael Turner on offense, then I think the Falcons have the advantage. It's close, perhaps closer than it's been in years, but I think Atlanta will edge it. Falcons win.

Colts @ Bengals
I gave the Colts a chance last week against the Chiefs and was only defeated by the fuc... freakin' miraculous turn around that occurred in the performance of Matt Cassel. This week I can't bring myself to give the Colts another shot. Not with Andy Dalton getting better by the week and the Bengals defense still a very capable unit. Their pass rush in particular could cause some nightmares for the inexperienced Painter. Bengals win.

49ers @ Lions
I'm glad this game is taking place, because these are two teams that are riding high on a wave of unwarranted publicity. The 49ers are not as good as their record suggests. The Lions are nowhere near as good as their record suggests. They've been getting whipped soundly in the first half of most of their games, only finding a way back into it when the opposition collapses in spectacular fashion (Vikings and Cowboys, I'm looking at you guys mainly).

The net result is that we have two teams who are a little over rated coming into this game. That can only lead to one thing; one team will get a nasty dose of reality, the other will leave the game even more over rated than it was before. Luckily for me as a 49ers fan, I think we'll be the over hyped team still.

I just look at the Lions and everything about their offense smacks of a mismatch with the 49ers defense. The 49ers D is about the only thing worth talking about right now. They have a great pass rush going and additionally the secondary is playing great. Carlos Rogers and Chris Culliver are fixing between them the one position that has plagued the 49ers defense for about three or four years now; corner back.

Both guys are getting picks consistently and I can see that continuing against the Lions, providing Justin Smith and Aldon Smith can keep the pressure coming up front. The Lions defense on the other hand is just bad enough to allow the 49ers to run and pass the ball with equal success, keeping drives alive after the defense creates turnovers. So I'm going with San Francisco. 49ers win.

Rams @ Packers
Packers win.

Bills @ Giants
Tough. The Bills defense shares many traits with the sieve that I use to keep the limescale from the kettle out of my cup(s) of coffee. By that I naturally mean that it has a lot of holes in it. 450+ yards per game sized holes actually. Their sole saving grace has been turnovers, which has allowed the Bills D to compensate for it's leaks by occasionally giving the ball back to the offense.

Now as it happens, offensive turnovers are something of a specialty for the Giants. Just when you think they've figured it all out... nope, back they come with another 5 turnover game. So do I trust the Giants not to fumble the game away this week? Their defense does have a very good pass rush to get after Ryan Fitzpatrick with, but can the offense avoiding pouring all that hard work down the sink? Probably against my better judgement I'm going to say yes.

I think the Bills have been fortunate with some of their picks this season (deflected passes etc) and I think the Giants are a much better team than people give them credit for. They just have to find a way to overcome the mistakes (most of them mental, some of them just plain unlucky) and get it done. This Sunday it happens. Giants win.

Jaguars @ Steelers
I could go on at length about this but I'm not. I've made it clear several times that I think the rating of Blaine Gabbert by mainstream pundits as the best quarterback in this years draft (or at the very least a top two rating) is laughable. The Steelers defense is going to have fun with him. Six sacks wouldn't surprise me. On top of that, I think that while the Jaguars pass rush is improving, it's still not close to where it needs to be. Steelers win.

Eagles @ Redskins
The Eagles are flat out dysfunctional right now. It's gone from being a nightmare start to a complete joke. They are terrible and they don't look like getting any better any time soon. The Redskins on the other hand have been improving all season. Their pass rush is really starting to get hot and Rex Grossman is adequate if unspectacular at quarterback. The Redskins also have a running game with Tim Hightower and Ryan Torain that should give the Eagles more nightmares for the ensuing week. Redskins win.

Texans @ Ravens
This is a seriously tough call. We're talking about an Andre Johnson-less Texans against a Ravens D that didn't need any help in the first place. However, can the Ravens offense stand up to the Texans front seven? Brian Cushing has been playing well, J.J. Watt is a great rookie, probably one of the two or three best defensive linemen in this years draft, and Brooks Reed has a lot of potential. The weak point is perhaps the Texans back end, and with Torrey Smith lining up opposite them, that could become an issue.

Ultimately we've seen the best and the worst of the Ravens already this season. The Texans have shown dramatic improvements on defense, they've found their running game and they are very close to fitting together all the pieces to make a really good team for a change. Perhaps not this week though. I just trust Baltimore a little more to play up to their highest standards. Ravens win.

Browns @ Raiders
To me, the Browns are an enigma. You never know what you'll get. One week they just stink it up, the next Colt McCoy is whizzing touchdown passes around, Peyton Hillis is trucking over people for 100+ yards and Josh Cribbs is returning kicks for touchdowns. Occasionally the Browns defense will even contribute. But that's just the problem, one week they're good, the next week they're bad. That inconsistency would probably be the reason why I would say the Browns are the hardest team to predict games for in the NFL right now.

The Raiders don't exactly make it easy either. They have weapons on offense, but the delivery system (Jason Campbell) is unpredictable at best. Sometimes he finds a groove and starts slinging deep and intermediate passes which his receivers convert into even bigger gains. Sometimes he's throwing darts into the floor. Not that the defense is any easier to pin down. Sometimes Kamerion Wimbley and Richard Seymour will explode in a 5 sack frenzy. Sometimes you'll barely get a peep out of them.

Overall though, I like the Raiders better in this game. The Browns will be missing Joe Haden at corner and even with him I don't think they have enough speed across their defense to keep up with Darius Heyward-Bey, Jacoby Ford, Denarius Moore and Darren McFadden. And as much as I like Colt McCoy, I think he might struggle with the ferocity of the Raiders pass rush, especially with them coming off the back of such an emotional game last week. Raiders win.

Saints @ Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are at a critical point in their season. The tough loss to San Francisco last week coupled with the loss of running back LaGarrette Blount to injury this week could result in the Buccaneers falling into something of a slump.

The trouble is that Josh Freeman doesn't look ready to carry the team. He can play, but he's not the kind of quarterback right now that you can send out, call 40 pass plays, and know that he'll bring home the goods for you. He needs support offensively and he just doesn't have it right now. Blount going out injured just makes that a whole lot worse.

The Saints meanwhile? Well, they're the Saints. Jimmy Graham has become the cornerstone of their passing game, while for me the most impressive surge has been on the ground. Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram are proving to be a very effective 3-way combo punch in the Saints backfield. Sproles is generating big plays with his speed, Thomas is using his experience and strength to punish teams inside, and Ingram is proving to be an excellent short yardage back.

I know that the Buccaneers defense has improved, but it's not on a level to compete with the Saints offense. And the Buc's offense is not ready to compete with Gregg Williams. Saints win.

Vikings @ Bears
Sunday Night Football lands itself another treat. If any two teams in this league are dysfunctional enough to suffer a complete and simultaneous collapse on prime time TV, to the benefit of the viewing audience, then it has to be the Vikings and the Bears. This one has the potential to be the most hilarious game of football played all season as both teams take it in turns to almost blow their chances of winning.

Just as likely though, this could be a massacre. Which will be equally entertaining.

I say that because it's Adrian Peterson versus the Bears defense, and the Bears offensive line against Jared Allen and Brian Robison. Both have the potential to go horribly wrong for Chicago. Not that the Bears lack a running game themselves, or even a pass rush. Julius Peppers and Israel Idonijie were one of the most productive defensive end pairings from last season and Matt Forte has been pouring on the runs this year.

But Peppers and Idonijie simply aren't producing this year the way that Allen and Robison are. And Forte isn't approaching the touchdown and yardage machine that is Adrian Peterson c.2011. I think the Bears have a chance, but much hinges on the first quarter of the game. If the Vikings can get a two TD lead then they've shown now that they understand how to protect such a lead and the Bears have shown that they (Mike Martz) will panic in such circumstances and start going almost 100% pass. At which point Cutler starts getting beat up.

For those reasons I think the safer bet is Minnesota. Vikings win.

Dolphins @ Jets
Miami is back on Monday Night Football. Somehow. Look, they just don't have a clue right now. All the hard work they put in on defense last year? All that's gone. Brandon Marshall keeps telling everyone he's about to go into 'beast mode' then never does. And the Dolphins are always close to recapturing their running game from '09, but Reggie Bush just isn't the guy to help them do it.

The Jets aren't exactly strangers to unfulfilled potential either. Mark Sanchez is basically the poster child of that previous sentence; all potential and no production. We've seen it plenty of times before. We've seen him make great throws into tight windows. But he just can't seem to push himself over that hump and find a consistent, winning form. He just keeps making those same bad reads at critical points.

It would be easier if the Jets could find their running game, but that's gone up in smoke too. Shonne Greene can run, that O-line just can't block all that well right now. Missing center Nick Mangold has had a huge impact on this team. He's questionable for a return this Monday.

Even the Jets defense isn't what it was last year. Darrelle Revis is still tugging peoples shirts, but the heavy pass rush has thinned out some what. Antonio Cromartie continues to make mistakes in coverage while failing to tackle in the run game, and the safety play has been sub par this year. That's surprising because Rex Ryan has always been pretty good with safeties.

Soooo, who to choose?

My gut instinct is to back New York because I feel like they're more likely to come up with a few big plays, whether that's in the kicking game, passing game or defensively, and it will probably only take a few big gains or turnovers to decide this one. Jets win.

NFL.com video sucks; here's why

Having left it very late to do my picks, I'm going to wait until tomorrow night to do them so I can give you my full thoughts on how I came to pick the teams I did. It also gives me an excuse to double check some things, just to be absolutely sure about the picks I've made and possibly to rethink some of the more sketchy ones.

In place of those picks I come bearing news. Sort of.

As long term readers will know I hate, hate, with a passion NFL.com's video delivery service. It's a favourite rant of mine. The video quality is terrible, the insistence on autoplaying videos is beyond annoying, the videos persistently glitch and jump back and forth, and the commercials? God the commercials. I understand businesses need to make money. I get that. I myself have adverts around this site. But at least they're not intrusive.

More to the point, at least I don't shove a 30 second advert down peoples throats every few minutes. Even more to the point, neither does ESPN.com (in it's College highlight section at least). If ESPN, a company that big and that well known, can avoid having to run an advert before every damn video then why does NFL.com feel the need to? Well actually I think I might have the answer.

I stumbled across a thread on a "Reddit.com" forum that was basically full of people complaining about the same things as I have. One of the comments in that thread was from someone claiming to be a former NFL.com employee who laid to bare some of the details of why the service is such a pile of shit. On further investigation, significant chunks of his story checks out.

One of the big problems that the guy highlighted was that the service requires you to download an application in order to access the high quality video. Turns out this is as much to do with saving Akamai money as it does providing good quality video.

See, when you download the application it then uses your bandwidth and not Akamai's to load and play videos, thus reliving stress on their servers... and slowing your Internet connection down. Those people whose Internet provider limits bandwidth usage will be even more hard hit by this.

As far as the adverts are concerned, this is pretty much impossible to check and verify. But basically what the guy said is that they receive a pile of complaints on a daily basis about the excessive amount of commercials... and nobody there really gives a flying fuck.

Apparently the upper management levels predicted (correctly I should point out) that people would endure the ridiculous amounts of adverts in order to get at the content. The primary reason for this is simple - NFL.com has an absolute monopoly on highlights that last any more than about a minute. If you visit other sites you can often catch a few big plays in their highlight packages, but if you actually have any interest in seeing the proper highlights, such as all scoring plays, sacks and interceptions, your options are limited.

And by limited I mean; you have no options.

NFL.com is the only place you can get this content. If you don't like it, screw you. Personally I think the NFL could throw its fans a bone and out of the kindness of its heart (stop laughing) cut down or completely remove the "pre-roll" commercials. Of course there is another alternative; let other people have the same access to your highlights.

I can't see the NFL doing that though. To do so would basically result in the instant death of NFL.com. It's sole purpose, it's sole reason for existence is those highlights. The rest of the content is shit. The articles are usually shit. The stats page is a joke compared to the morass of websites out there now that track more stats than NFL.com does and give users more options for how they wish view those stats.

The sole redeeming quality of the website is it's video content and most of that is just garbage taken from the NFL Network. "Playbook" is about the only show worth checking out (and it is worth checking out (more on this perhaps tomorrow (must leave brackets now))).

Really though it's that highlight content that takes the biscuit, runs off with it, and hides it in a locker somewhere covered in adverts for Papa John's, McDonald's and GMC. Without those highlights, there literally would be no good reason for any sane human being to frequent that site. If ESPN could do with NFL highlights what it does with College highlights; all the important plays, offensive and defensive (though they could probably do with being a touch longer), no adverts in between, basically instant loading times and superb video delivery, then NFL.com dies practically over night.

I've just noticed foam forming in the corner of my mouth, so this is probably a good time to stop. Check tomorrow for picks.

Skycam, bump and run coverage, and Eli Manning fumbling (again)

Right then, picture time.

I should point out before we get onto the pictures themselves that they are screen captures taken from a playback of a Fox broadcast. No editing has been done, the pictures are as broadcast. I'm sure Fox won't mind, not least because of "small fish, big pond" type stuff.

So anyway, yes, pictures. The reason I want to show you picture number one from the Seahawks/Giants game is simple. It's a picture taken from their Skycam, that's the camera that runs on four wires and sits above the field of play tracking back and forth to follow the action. And to me personally, I think it's the best angle to watch a game of football from. Just take a look;

That - to me - is a great shot. Maybe it's just because I'm a football nerd, but in that picture I can see the splits of the offensive line, I can see the defensive front (the actual screen image is slightly larger than the capture, that's just how the picture came out when captured), I can see the safety on the right hand side who's sitting about 20 yards deep off the ball. When the ball is snapped, you get a great view of the pass rush, including any blitzes. You can also often see the receivers when the camera begins to back up and zoom out after the snap.

But most importantly, you get right into the game. The reason the 'Madden' franchise uses a game camera angle like this is because it offers you the best look at the game. And surely that's what a TV broadcast is all about? Getting the best possible angle for the viewer? Helping people to immerse themselves in the game? If I was the director I think I'd show a wide shot of the field, like the traditional camera angle used in broadcasts now, just to show the audience how the receivers are lined up. Then I'd cut to this shot to give fans the "quarterbacks eye" view during the action (assuming the quarterback has grown... significantly).

I just think the Skycam is such a great tool for TV and yet it barely gets any attention. God knows why. With the league now fining Centers and offensive guards for not wearing microphones because they want to immerse the audience in the game (hint; hearing the snap count doesn't really do a lot to enhance the viewing enjoyment) why would the league not encourage TV networks to make greater use of this awesome angle? It doesn't make sense to me. It can't be cheap or easy rigging up all the wires to the trucks outside etc, so why not make more use of easily the best camera angle in football?

Anyway, if you're wondering what happened on that particular play, here's the end result;




Eli Manning turning the ball over? Are you sure? That NEVER happens!



Yes, that is Eli Manning fumbling the football, which would be recovered by the Seahawks. Same shit, different season.

Moving on, let's talk about Manning's team mate, corner back Aaron Ross. Because not only did Ross play his part in what was actually a pretty good performance by the Giants defense by getting a pick, but he did it using a technique that I love and that seems to be a dying art in the NFL. Like tackling. Or Fullbacks.

It's the bump and run technique.

Basically the under lying assumption of the bump and run technique is this; you're lined up opposite a wide receiver. You're probably standing withing a yard or two of the line. You have safety help over the top. As soon as that receiver crosses the line of scrimmage, you're going to get your hands on him and delay his release upfield. If he knocks your hands aside and beats you then it doesn't matter because you have safety help over the top, just as long as you turn and run in order to get underneath the guy.

The purpose of all this is to disrupt the receivers route and the timing of that route. See, pretty much every pass offense in the NFL runs on a timing basis. What this means is that the routes being run by the receivers have been specifically chosen because they match the quarterbacks drop. for example an "out route" at 10 yards (12 once you take into account the slight bend upfield that occurs) is matched to a 5-step drop by the quarterback. By the time the quarterback has taken five (quick) steps and reached the top of his drop, the wide receiver running the out will just be making his break to the outside.

The stated goal of this timing is to avoid two problems encountered with older passing offenses; 1) If the quarterback is standing around waiting for the receiver to get open, defenders can follow the quarterbacks eyes and jump the route, 2) if a receiver is standing around waiting for the quarterback to finish his drop, nearby defenders can close in on him, potentially jumping the route.

So by timing the receivers break with the quarterbacks drop (which is the real crux of the matter), you can avoid the two problems above. The ball is often in the air before the receiver has even turned his head back to look for it. If the receiver doesn't see the ball coming till the last second, even though he knows when the ball will be thrown, then what chance do the coverage defenders have of making a play on the ball?

Which is where the bump and run comes in. By getting his hands on the receiver, the corner can mess up the receivers otherwise beautifully timed route. Almost all receivers time their breaks by counting their own footsteps as opposed to running a mental clock in their heads. This is why receivers always start with their inside foot forwards when they line up. They know that on a quick slant they need to take three steps and then break to the inside quickly on that third step.

By bumping the receiver, the corner throws off the timing. The receiver can't count his steps and make an efficient, clean break when he's having to take multiple steps as part of a pushing fight at the line of scrimmage. All that timing and all that practice against air on the practice field goes right out of the window.

It's for this reason that most teams, in the past at least, would tell their receivers to convert a significant number of their routes into fade routes when the corners played bump and run. It was basically an admission that against bump and run coverage, precisely timed routes were near useless.

The other thing that bump and run coverage does is to force the quarterback to hold onto the ball. He takes the snap, takes five steps back and then looks up only to see that his receivers aren't where they're supposed to be and in fact all of them are heavily covered. His only option now is to hold onto the ball, moving around in the pocket to buy time for one of them to get open. Either that or make a very risky throw.

This in turn buys time for the pass rush to get home. People always think of good offensive linemen as a strong, almost impenetrable wall. This is a grand misconception. Every O-line, no matter how good, is merely delaying the inevitable. The difference is that a good offensive line can often delay the inevitable for just long enough for their quarterback to get the ball out. Whereas the Bears O-line can often delay it long enough for Jay Cutler to breath in and not do a lot else.

Bump and run coverage is therefore an incredibly effective technique, one which was demonstrated aptly by Aaron Ross against the Seahawks. Here's the starting look, just as the ball is being snapped;

As you can see, Ross is lined up head to head with the receiver, just waiting to make contact and 'chuck' the receiver as he crosses the line. Notice that the receivers feet are by the big "50" marker and Ross is standing on the 45 yard line. Now look at this picture;

The receiver has travelled all of about 3 yards and still has Ross all over him, busting his route up. Ross also has his eyes still in the backfield, so if this was a run he'd be able to see it and come down to make the tackle. By this point the quarterback was just hitting the top of his drop. He looks right and this is what he sees; his receiver, with Ross hanging all over him.

The receiver made a break to the sideline and Ross undercut him, knowing he had safety help over the top in case this was a double move. Tavaris Jackson was still in at the time and made the throw, presumably without looking first. It was Ross who made the catch for the interception.

The receiver? He'd covered all of about 7 yards downfield in total when Ross caught the ball. Off a five step drop by the quarterback. That makes a big difference and it shows the strength of the bump and run technique.

Now there's probably a reason why teams don't use this coverage more often, I just can't figure out what it is. If I was facing Wes Welker of the Patriots for example, I'd much rather have my corner, especially if he's a less talented nickel corner, bump Welker off the line of scrimmage and significantly disrupt and shorten his route. Yeah sure, they'd complete some passes to him eventually. It's Brady to Welker we're talking about here. But at least I'd reduce the amount of easy passes. At least I'd make that throw as tough as possible for Brady. And at least I wouldn't be letting Welker run free right up the middle seams of my defense for 70 odd yard gains, which is something teams seem to be doing a lot lately.

Is the bump and run a silver bullet? No way. Big receivers are harder to bump and indeed there are techniques to defeat the bump and run coverage. But even the application of those techniques takes time, time that the receiver isn't blazing down field through the middle of your defense.

I just think that in the pass happy league that the NFL is today, there is plenty of life left in the good old fashioned bump and run coverage.

And the Skycam.

I'll be back tomorrow with my picks for week 6. See you then.

The Outside Zone

Yes, so, diagrams.

Yesterday I promised a little diagrammatic adventure and then got sidetracked, so today I'd better make up for it and break out my elite PowerPoint skills..... stop laughing, they're not that bad.

So for my 600th post (what a waste of life) I'm going to have a look at the Texans running game. Or more specifically, one play from the Texans running game. In fact, to be even more specific, one play, out of one formation, (because Blogger is stingy about the amount of pictures they'll let you upload) from the Texans running game; the outside zone.

The reason why I've chosen this play is because it is actually a very widely used play. Practically every team in the NFL right now runs it, though not all teams do it well, as you might expect. I could have chosen pretty much any team and stuck their name at the top, but I went with the Texans for two reasons; 1) they run it a lot, especially out of the two tight end formation and 2) they run it really well, probably better than most teams in the NFL.

Just understand that I've had to take some liberties with the defensive front and that the arrows are more representative of who blocks who, as opposed to precise pathways taken by the offensive line;

So there you have the basic jumble of men and arrows. But what does it all mean?

Well the key to the outside zone is movement. At the snap of the ball the entire offensive line is stepping to the playside (in this case the right). The goal is to get the defense on the move, get on your blocks, and then let the running back make simple reads on the reactions of the defense (more on this later).

The other big advantage of this play is that it is a multi-front beating run. That is to say that while many run plays undergo changes - sometimes significant changes - in the blocking scheme depending on what front the defense presents, the outside zone doesn't. The blocking rules remain the same pretty much regardless of what the defense does, making it much easier for the offensive line to cope with the variety of modern defenses. It also reduces the number of plays that have to be practised since this play, along with the inside zone and a few others, can cope with so many different defensive looks. And practice makes (closer to) perfect.

So what are the rules for the offensive linemen? It all comes down to whether the linemen is covered or uncovered. If he has a defensive linemen "over" him (any part of the defensive linemen aligned opposite any part of the offensive linemen) then you're covered. If you don't have a defensive linemen "over" you then you are uncovered.

The uncovered linemen, like the center in the diagram above, works towards the playside and helps the man next to him (the right guard in this case). A covered linemen, like the right guard in the diagram above, has to check the man to the backside of him (in this case the center). If that man is uncovered then he will help you with your block (as in the diagram). If he's covered, then you're on your own!

What you're trying to achieve is as many double teams at the line of scrimmage as possible, with the offensive linemen then working together so one of them can slip off the block of the D-linemen and work up to the linebacker. The decision about which offensive linemen goes up to the next level and grabs the linebacker depends heavily on what the D-linemen does in response to being blocked, which in turn is often heavily dependent on how he lines up in the first place.

In the diagram above (I'm starting to get Deja vu writing that), if the defensive tackle were to line up on the inside (left) shoulder of the right guard, then the chances are that the Center will end up taking over that block and the right guard will end up working to the next level and grabbing the "Mike" linebacker. If the D-tackle aligns head up over the right guard then it's probably an evens bet who will end up sustaining the block on him, and much will depend on whether he tries to drive inside and split the double team, or whether he goes outside and tries to cut off the running backs lateral movement. If the tackle lines up on the outside (right) shoulder of the right guard, the likely hood is the right guard will end up staying on him, with the center moving up directly to get the "Mike" linebacker.

This process is repeated up and down the line of scrimmage as the offensive linemen work as a unit to get all the D-linemen blocked first, before moving up to knock those linebackers out of the way. Before we move on to the running back and his reads, it's worth quickly examining the blocks of the wide receivers. The "X" receiver on the left side will simply run up, ignoring the corner to his side and go get the free safety. The "Z" receiver, who is lined up on the right (in the direction we're running the play) will have to make a decision as to who he blocks.

A variety of factors come into play, such as how deep the corner and the strong safety are, and how wide the receiver is split. Normally the receiver will come off the line at full speed, aiming at the inside shoulder of the corner and trying to get him to back pedal (due to the threat of play action). The receiver can then make the decision whether to turn out on the corner, or whether to cut inside and get the strong safety at an angle, with a good shot of knocking the blindsided safety clean off his feet (if your name is Andre Johnson for example. Not so much if your name is Randy Moss).

Sometimes the coach might dictate that the receiver always block a certain player, in which case it will almost always be the safety. There are two main reasons for this; 1) due to the way the play is run, and as we shall see when we get to the running backs read, the safety has a much better chance of influencing the play by making the tackle, and 2) let's be honest, corners are not renowned for their tackling, even when given the clear opportunity to. Someone like Antonio Cromartie of the Jets will often see a fake step to the outside by the running back as an opportunity to give up on the play.

So now that we've covered all the blocking assignments, we can get down to the nitty gritty detail of the backs reads. The outside zone is often described by TV pundits as a "one cut" system, which indeed it is. The back makes a series of simple "yes/no" "inside/outside" type reads, makes his cut and then bolts upfield to get as much yardage as he can before being brought down or reaching the endzone, whichever happens first.

Basically what the running back does is to read the actions of two players, starting with the second defensive linemen across from the center towards the playside (in this case the right). It's worth noting that a "nose" tackle who has aligned on the playside (right) shoulder of the center does not count and the back should ignore him. The back should also ignore any linebackers lined up well off the line of scrimmage. He is only interested in down linemen. If all this getting a bit confusing then fear not, another diagram is coming shortly.

In fact it's here;

Now the chances of an NFL back facing the above situation, with 3 defensive tackles lined up that close, is extremely rare outside of very short yardage (on third down), short yardage situations around the goaline, or the Jets playing Buddy Ryan's old "Bear" front. In the course of normal open field play the Nose tackle wouldn't be there (more likely he'd be on the other shoulder of the Center) but I've stuck him in there for the convenience of showing that the back will ignore a player aligned in such a way.

The people that the running back is interested in are "E" and "T" (keep the 'phone home' jokes to yourself please). "E" is the second down lineman to the playside of the center, so the back reads him first, hence why I've put a little number one over his head. What this defender does will dictate whether or not the back needs to bother reading number two ("T").

If the backs first read, "E", goes inside of the man blocking him (the right tackle) then the back will simply bounce the play to the outside. Normally the tight end, "Y", will help his tackle out, then go up to grab "S" which is the "Sam" linebacker. Typically the tight end will block that guy inside to out, pushing him towards the sideline and creating a running lane inside for the back. This would send the back towards the strong safety, which helps explain why it is preferable for the "Z" receiver to block the safety and not the corner (told you we'd get back to that eventually).

If the backs first read, "E", works hard to try and get outside of the right tackle (as shown in the diagram) then the back now switches to his second read, which is "T". He has two options now. If "T" goes to the outside as well (as he does in the diagram), then the running back will cut inside of him, looking for the center to get up and onto the "Mike" linebacker.

If "T" goes hard inside, trying to split the double team between the right guard and the center, then the center will take over that block and the right guard will go up to get the "Mike" backer. That will leave a large hole between "T" and "E", into which the running back cuts.

There is another option which I'm not going to diagram here and that's the possibility that if both "T" and "E" go outside and the running back then cuts back inside, that the left guard will have pushed his man all the way across as well, filling the gap vacated by the center which the running back was planning to cut into. In this case the running back just keeps working to the backside, cutting behind the block of the left guard. Ray Rice of the Ravens and Adrian Peterson of the Vikings are particularly adept at this (Rice is basically the master of the cut back run).

One thing that should be noted here is that when a back does cut back inside, often he is not actually making a huge cut. This is because when the play starts everyone is running to the right; O-line, D-line, quarterback, running back, everyone. The running backs aiming point when he starts running is actually the original starting point of the tight end. In most "huge cutback" runs that you see in games, the back is actually only making a small cut to the backside, due to the fact that everyone has shifted over so much. That's just an interesting little tidbit for you to keep an eye out for.

So there you are, the outside zone play described in full. It can of course be run from pretty much any formation you can think of, with favourites among the NFL teams being the I-formation, often with the fullback offset to the weak side or line up in the weakside slot. You can use motion to put a receiver in a better blocking position. And it can also be run to the weakside, providing you're using an unbalanced set. There are also many compliments to this play, such as the inside zone and the QB keeper. Maybe one day, possibly even next week (short of something else more interesting coming up over the weekend) I'll cover the inside zone as well, in full diagrammatic glory.

For now though, two things.

Firstly, I forgot to put up the results of my weekly picks, a reoccurring problem these days not at all related to the fact that they haven't exactly gone well. This week I was 8-5 in large part thanks to the miraculous (and bloody inconveniently timed) resurgence of Matt Cassel and Dwayne Bowe in Kansas, the complete ineptitude of the Bears, the inability of the Jets to shut down Wes Welker, the miraculous (and bloody inconveniently timed) resurgence of Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, and the inability of the Giants to go more than one game in a row without turning the ball over five times.

That means I'm now 45-32 for the season. I hate Eli Manning...

Which makes it all the more fun that tomorrow I'm going to use screen shots of him getting sacked and fumbling the ball to make a point about TV broadcasts, as well as looking at something about cornerback play that really bugs me and that I've been harping on about for a long while now, especially this season; bump and run. With emphasis on the bump. (Quick, go back and italicise 'bump' to show the emphasis. They'll never know that you didn't think of it until the editing stage, unless of course you end up writing down what you're thinking like a complete fool.... hello there).

Then on Friday Night (*cough, Saturday Morning), I'll be back again to do my picks for week 6, which at first glance is looking like it's going to be a tough one.

In the meantime spread the word, hit ye Facebook share button, leave a comment, or even just e-mail me at;

keepingthechainsmoving@live.co.uk

Or don't. See if I care.