September 13, 2005

Ready For Some Football

So the NFL season has kicked off this weekend. The Niners looked rather strong coming out of the gate which would buck their recent trend of sucking to no end. I would take this opportunity to plug Tuesday Morning Quarterback. If you only read one thing about the weekend's NFL's games (And I do) make it TMQ. It talks about the game mainly from a stratagy and tactics point of view. The whole thing is done very funny. Easterbrook seems to have watched every game and has such recurring features as Tis Better to Have Rushed and Lost Than Never to Have Rushed At All, Cheerleader of the Week, Stop Me Before I Blitz Again and Obscure College Score of the Week. A sample:

Having reached the Dallas 7, San Diego had four downs, 47 seconds and one time out with which to attempt the winning touchdown. The Bolts threw three consecutive incompletions before Drew Brees forced one in there and got picked off. Why no rush? Considering the time out, they could have run at least once, maybe twice in a four-play span, crossing the Cowboys up. Dallas had a "dime" look on the field -- meaning lots of skinny guys who should be vulnerable to the rush. More, as TMQ endlessly points out, the closer you get to the goal line the less space there is to throw. Regular passes rarely work at the goal line, simply because the defense has so little territory to defend:. Power running, play action and rollouts are what work at the goal line. Yet San Diego coaches called four consecutive regular drop-back passes; they never even used the time out, which, presumably, now can be donated to charity. Ye gods.

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