Football Question
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Thanks for this, Jolly. I was starting to grok a vague idea of the awesome amount of knowledge the QB has to carry in his head. This just amplifies it. These guys are amazing.
ETA: Imagine, the fans watching the game don't even get to appreciate any of this! Even if they had the level of understanding in your post, they can't hear any of it from the stands. Not to mention that the QB's decisions must occur at lightening speed. All the fans can see is the result.
I have so much respect for these guys.
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I admit, I gave you the most complicated play calling system in the NFL.
As you go back down the ladder, the calls get a lot simpler. Shifts may be non-existent on the line of scrimmage, and different plays may be run out of the same formation.
An example.. QB calls in the huddle, "Veer, 52 Right, on two". That's a 5 back, hitting the number 2 hole (guard-tackle gap, right side) on the second Hut!
The huddle breaks, the team lines up in a T-formation (what the veer is run from) with a tight end to the right side. The team knows for this half, red is the live run color, green is the live pass color. all live colors are snapped on one. The QB sees the right corner edging up for a run blitz and decides to throw a deep fly to the split end on the right side.
The QB calls, Down! Green 40 long! Green 40 long! (The play has been changed from a run to a pass. The 4 is the split end on the right side. The TE knows to protect and the play call lets the weak side SE know to run a slant, trying to get the safety to bite.) Set! Hut! The ball is snapped and play starts.
That was an example of my high school system, without any line calls to muddy the water.
Most high schools will have a playbook of three or four formations, with twenty or twenty five plays, with corresponding plays and formations for the weak side. Say, four formations, fifty plays.
A pro system will have over two hundred plays, with multiple formations and simultaneous reads by the flankers, linemen and the QB on any given play...
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
They know, once they hear the play. The Saints line runs a zone blocking scheme, so priority gaps are inside gap, head up, outside shoulder. If running against a 34 defense, the center will take the NG, the right guard will probaby turn the NG before blocking the LB and the right tackle will likely wham the DT, before sliding off to catch the outside LB or safety.
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I like football.
And I don't know 1/3 as much as an awful lot of people know.It's the ultimate team sport. If eleven guys on offense do everything right, they score every play. If the eleven guys on defense do everything right, the other team never gains a yard.
The game is full of nuance and instantaneous adjustments.
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Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
Here's the reason I asked...In the Red Zone (20 yards and in) offenses change a little. As they get closer, things change a lot.
When a team makes a first down on the ten yard line or closer, to their opponent's goal line, they cannot make another first down. They have four downs to make a touchdown or kick a fieldgoal, or turn the ball over on downs. So, the situation becomes not First & 10, but First & Goal.
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
@jolly Okay . . . so "goal to go" means the offense's only option is goal or turn over the ball, yes?
So what does the drill consist of? Obviously to bull through to the end zone, but in a drill this means what? Setting up a scenario where your defense pretends to be the oppo's defense? So the drill is really to sharpen the offense at the ten? (Or closer.)
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First & Goal offense uses a lot of whams, power shifts and more straight ahead type running. Longer pass patterns are out, so short fades and slants are used a lot. You might see a running play go wide, but it's usually a quick pitch and not a reverse or flanker sweep.
Saints are famous for a play that uses a tackle reach to seal, a tight end on an isolation block and a short pitch to Kamara, who runs for the pylon. They also use a Jumbo Package when inside the five, where they bring in an extra offensive lineman, for power running. Inside the one, Brees was a master at the QB sneak, where he would take the snap, jump and reach the ball over the plane of the goal line. They seldom run any of these plays (with the exception of very short yardage situations) anywhere else on the field.
And while the offense is working on short yardage Goal to Go, the defense is too. Corners play tight. Lineman get lower. Gaps get narrower. Linebackers key on possible lead block and watch for slants and scrape routes. They know that the offense's options have narrowed and they key on the possible.
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
In related news, pity the poor Bucs. Their training camp must be a blast. As in, blast furnace.
Tampa Bay Times: "TAMPA — Monday was hot in Tampa Bay. So hot, that a thermometer at Tampa International Airport recorded a record-high temperature for any July 26 in the recorded history of the city.
The previous high for July 26 in Tampa happened in 1935, when it peaked at 95."
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And another thing! Watching Arians swanning around in his fancy cart with the sunshade because he's too fat to walk, kvetching at the players for not being enough conditioned, really chaps my you-know-what. It's a good thing they have Brady, who walks the walk, to look up to.
What is it with fat coaches, anyway? Him and Belichick. Should be Belly-chick. Hey, Belichick, check your belly! Har de har.
Grump.
Okay, I'll stop talking to myself now. Unless I think of some other deathless thing.
