Football 101...Training Camp for the Fan.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by beer bacon

I have a couple questions. One might be unanswerable at this point in time, but the other should be fine. The first relates to our defense and specifically to a question I posted earlier this week.

The first is how exactly is the whole Right LB and Left LB going to/already does work for us? How does Gun really manage his LBs? For example, if Bell and DJ are the two starting OLBs, will they usually be staying on their respective sides or will they move around a lot? Would DJ usually move over and to the strong side over the TE and Bell over to the weakside where he can come off the edge easier? Or will they usually keep the LB on his respective side. This may be impossible to answer since they haven't actually lined up at all yet, but I am also wondering in more general terms about Gun's tendencies. I think Keg told me in the other thread that Gun will usually move them to where ever they can best take advantage of matchups, but I never really requested for him to flesh that anymore.

The other question is about the 46 defense the Ravens going to be employing. The way I understand is that you only have two LBs with five guys on the line with another safety playing up close to the LoS similar to an LB? Are the CBs just basically on an island? What are the linemen's responsibilities? I have quite a few articles about the Ravens making the switch, but they never really fully explain how the 46 defense works out. They are always talking about how it will effect/what a specific player's, usually Ray Lewis, role will be.

I'll take a stab at this, but someone smart may correct me. Traditionally the SSLB would line up on the TE side of the ball, with the thinking that the TE will be run-blocking. Offenses these days use so many different formations, that it's hard to determine anything solely from the way the offense lines up. With pass catching TEs, motion, and other factors, it's just not as easy to get your SLB in the right place. Instead of trying to guess, and having your LBs switching around following the motion, KC has decided that leaving the LBs where they are will lead to them getting the favorable matchup 50% of the time anyway.

As far as the 46, a lot of pressure will be put on the CBs, and while BAL has good corners, I don't expect the 46 to work like it did in the past. The passing game is too prolific, and will expose the weaknesses of the 46. IMO.

[ct]

Originally Posted by jspchief

I'll take a stab at this, but someone smart may correct me. Traditionally the SSLB would line up on the TE side of the ball, with the thinking that the TE will be run-blocking. Offenses these days use so many different formations, that it's hard to determine anything solely from the way the offense lines up. With pass catching TEs, motion, and other factors, it's just not as easy to get your SLB in the right place. Instead of trying to guess, and having your LBs switching around following the motion, KC has decided that leaving the LBs where they are will lead to them getting the favorable matchup 50% of the time anyway.

As far as the 46, a lot of pressure will be put on the CBs, and while BAL has good corners, I don't expect the 46 to work like it did in the past. The passing game is too prolific, and will expose the weaknesses of the 46. IMO.

I think even in Marty's days we didn't play SLB/WLB, but have always played the LB on a side of the field regardless of formation or motions. How often was DT on the left? Only a very rare stunting blitz play would DT be rushing around Neil Smith.

[Iowanian]

http://football.about.com/od/football101/

I didn't think this was a far fetched idea...and there are multiple sites with information available.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

http://football.about.com/od/football101/

I didn't think this was a far fetched idea...and there are multiple sites with information available.

Some of you more freaky types could probably dress up in drag and take the class that Tony Gonzalez teaches the ladies during the season.

[Gaz]

As I understand it, CBs in the 46 Defense cover outside zones, and the FS covers the inside zone. The SS lines on the same side as the TE and has TE coverage responsibility.

The advantage here is that the LBs or SS can drop back into zone coverage at any time. The desire is to sew confusion among The Enemy with multiple options from a “standard” formation.

I have a question on this same topic: does anyone play a 46 with man coverage?

xoxo~
Gaz
Playing with the x’s & o’s.

[Chiefnj]

Originally Posted by Gaz

As I understand it, CBs in the 46 Defense cover outside zones, and the FS covers the inside zone. The SS lines on the same side as the TE and has TE coverage responsibility.

The advantage here is that the LBs or SS can drop back into zone coverage at any time. The desire is to sew confusion among The Enemy with multiple options from a “standard” formation.

I have a question on this same topic: does anyone play a 46 with man coverage?

xoxo~
Gaz
Playing with the x’s & o’s.

I thought that the corners in a 46 almost always played man to man coverage.

The SS lines up on the line with the 4 down linemen and the SLB.
You then have each corner paired with a receiver, and the FS back towards the middle.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Gaz

As I understand it, CBs in the 46 Defense cover outside zones, and the FS covers the inside zone. The SS lines on the same side as the TE and has TE coverage responsibility.

The advantage here is that the LBs or SS can drop back into zone coverage at any time. The desire is to sew confusion among The Enemy with multiple options from a “standard” formation.

I have a question on this same topic: does anyone play a 46 with man coverage?

xoxo~
Gaz
Playing with the x’s & o’s.

Nice work there. Many teams had had trouble with Buddy Ryan's 46 (Or called Double Eagle Defense). It's also difficult to double-read when 3 rushers are working together. So any plays that have both backs (FB's and RB's) going to the same side usually encounter an unblocked backside LB. So scoop blocks (Think of like scooping an ice cream) are required to get full-flow plays started. It's also possible when defenders are playing into the gaps.

One several ways to beat the 46 on the ground is the naked-bootleg, it might be possible to pull the outside split end side defender upfield with the naked fake and get a cutback play outside the backside tackle and guard. Also the sprint-draw play works well when the FB can block to the side of the initial fake, and the RB can run all the way back to the other side on a backwards scoop block. The standard counter plays (i.e. counter sweeps, counter option, etc) Finally, a simple FB trap can do some damage as well.

One of the ways to pass-protect a dropback passer would to assign one tackle to a LB and tell him to help to the inside if the LB does not come. Double-reading must be employed if possible. The problem is to do it with two pass blockers aganist 3 defenders. So if the TE splits, so that it forces that one defender to go with him, then the double-read can be executed.

[Iowanian]

I kind of understand, but not fully enough to Explain it.

Could someone explain the difference in the DT techniques. What are a 1,2 and 3 technique DT, and what makes 1 player more suited for 1 and a failure at another?

[keg in kc]

From the Bucs website

What is the one-technique and three-technique used by defensive tackles?

Answer Man: “How much time have you got?”

That’s not what I’m saying to you, John. That’s what Marinelli said to me when I posed your question. Having just seen Marinelli spend an extra 30 minutes on a blazing-hot practice field hashing over the most minute details of the defense with Monte Kiffin, the Answer Man was a little worried about what that meant.

Fortunately, we talked Marinelli, a certified D-Line genius, into the short version…and we’d like to add in here that Marinelli’s relaxed patience with a neophyte is yet another reason to admire the man.

Anyway, the first thing you need to know, given the wording of your question, is that the terms ‘one-technique’ and ‘three-technique’ are usually used in regards to the type of player a guy is, not a specific technique he uses. In other words, a coach isn’t going to say, “I want you to use a three-technique on the guard,” but he might say, “Anthony McFarland is going to be very productive in the three-technique this year.”

Here’s Marinelli on those two types of players:

“A three-technique is more of a high-energy, high-motor, explosive player who is going to get one-on-one pass-rush a lot more. He’s a penetrator. He’s got to be the disruptor; he’s got to create some havoc. The one-technique is usually to the bubble and he’s going to get the heavy run game, the heavy double-team, all those doubles coming off with the power running game.”

Or, to put it another way, a one-technique is a nose tackle and a three-technique is an under tackle.

Okay, I kind of knew that. Maybe you did too, John. What Answer Man didn’t know was from where the terms came. Why would an under-tackle also be referred to as a three-technique? Turns out it’s all part of a code, and Marinelli cracked it for us.

Imagine you’re facing the center and the guard to his right. The center’s right shoulder is referred to as ‘one.’ The guard’s right, or outside, shoulder is referred to as ‘three,” and so on down the line. The under tackle will often be trying to penetrate off that guard’s ‘three’ shoulder, or through the B gap. Thus, three-technique.

By the way, straight up on that guard would be ‘two’ and his inside shoulder would be ‘two-I.’ And you thought it was all just see quarterback, chase quarterback!

Hope that helps.

[Iowanian]

Thats pretty close to how I would explain it JSP. Traditional SAM and Wil determine which side of the formation they'll be on, based on where the TE lines up(left or right) and often switch if the TE goes in Motion. In the Chiefs base defense under Gunther the LBs will play either the Right or Left Side, and normally will make adjustments to assignments based on the Offensive formation. It lets the Defense somewhat dictate to the Offense, instead of the Defense reacting to everything the Offense does.

What does that mean? If Kendrell Bell is on the rlb position, and crowds the line behind the DE, the Offense has to make adjustments to the blocking calls to pick up what they would assume would be him Blitzing...Where as, with a Bell Blitz called, and a TE motioning to His side, the Defense can adjust coverage to the TE with another player(safety), or the LLB could Blitz instead, or pick up the Back responsibility(run or coverage in the flat).

This might be a good spot for a definition:
When comentators or posters talk about "the front 7" they are talking about the Defensive Linemen and Linebackers. 3 DL and 4lbs in a 3-4, and 4 DLine and 3lbs in a 4-3.

[Iowanian]

http://www.answers.com/topic/america...ensive-schemes

I was going to try to start a discussion on basic pass coverages....man, zone, press, cover 2, but this site explains it pretty well.

"Basic pass coverage
Even in obvious running situations, the defense must be able to account for the eligible receivers on offense. There are two general schemes for defending against the pass:

Man-to-man, where each eligible receiver is covered by a defensive back or a linebacker.
Zone, where each linebacker and defensive back is assigned an area on the field which they are to cover.
In most cases, man-to-man coverage is more effective against short passes, while zone coverage is effective against long passes.


Advanced pass coverage
To create a shorthand, most defensive schemes use the term "cover" (for pass coverage) and a number to describe a combination of schemes. As in American Football there are only five eligible pass receivers on a given play (technically the quarterback is also an eligible receiver, but passes to the quarterback, though known, are rare) while there are at least seven pass defenders in 3-4 alignment in man-to-man defence, some of the pass coverage personnel may either blitz (cross the line of scrimmage with the down linemen in an attempt to sack the quarterback), provide double coverage on a receiver, or help other defensive players with the pass coverage. In zone coverage, all defensive linebackers and backs have a pass coverage assignment.

Cover Zero - Strict man-to-man coverage with no help from free safeties (usually a blitz play with at least five men crossing the line of scrimmage)
Cover One - Man-to-man coverage with at least one safety not assigned a player to cover who can help out on deep pass routes.
Cover Two - Zone coverage with the safeties playing deep and covering half the field each.
Cover Three - Zone coverage as above, only with extra help from a cornerback, so that each player covers one-third of a deep zone.
Cover Four - As above, with the corners and safeties dropping into deep coverage, with each taking one-fourth of the width of the field.
Generally speaking, the effectiveness of a defense against short passes and the run drops as it goes from Cover Zero to Cover Four, but their effectiveness against deep passes increases."

[Mr. Laz]

Salary Cap 101
By Ron Del Duca

HOW TO COMPUTE A SALARY CAP NUMBER

The football fan is constantly bombarded with the phrases such as 'salary cap' and 'cap number.' Unlike most people, you, the reader of these columns, know that these phrases have nothing to do with hats. Incident to my ongoing objective to help you better understand the business side of the NFL, the following is a summary of the nuances of how a player's Salary cap number is computed.

SIGNING BONUSES

Signing bonuses and any amounts treated as signing bonuses are prorated equally over the length of the player's contract for purposes of calculating the player's salary cap number. For example, if a $5 million signing bonus is paid on a five-year contract, the signing bonus will count $1 million annually against the team salary for each of the five years even though the player receives the full $5 million in the first year. The amount of the signing bonus is simply divided by the number of contract years. Note, however, if a player is released or retires before the end of the contract period, the general rule is that the remaining portion of the salary cap is accelerated so that the entire remaining portion of the bonus amount is recognized against the team's salary in the year the player's employment terminates.

RENEGOTIATION / SIGNING BONUSES

If a signing bonus is given in conjunction with a renegotiation and/or extension of a previously existing contract, the new signing bonus is
prorated over the length of the new contract years, including the year that the renegotiation takes place. For example, if a player was signed to a two-year contract for 1998 and 1999 and then receives a new signing bonus in 1999 in exchange for adding two additional years (2000-2001) to the contract, then the new signing bonus is prorated (one-third in each year) equally over 1999, 2000 and 2001, not just in 2000 and 2001.

PARAGRAPH SALARY

A player's paragraph 5 salary ('base salary') is always counted against team salary in full in the year that it is earned. If a player is scheduled to make a base salary of $500,000 in 2000, then all of the $500,000 counts against his team's salary cap that year.

LIKELY TO BE EARNED (LTBE)

Other amounts players earn count against the salary cap only if they are likely to be earned ('LTBE'). These other amounts include, but are not limited to, performance and honors incentives, roster bonuses, reporting bonuses and off-season workout bonuses.

As noted in my previous column of July 14, 1999, to determine whether a performance or honor incentive is LTBE for veteran players, you need to examine the player's and/or team's prior year on-field performance. If a running back will earn a $100,000 incentive if he has 1,000 rushing yards in 2000, his 1999 performance must be analyzed to determine if the incentive is LTBE for 2000 and counts against his team's 2000 salary cap. If the player rushed for 1,000 or more yards in 1999 then the incentive is LTBE in 2000 (counts against the 2000 salary cap). If the player rushed for less than 1,000 yards in 1999 then the incentive is not likely to be earned (NLTBE) and does not count against the salary cap in 2000. The same rule applies for any team incentives that are negotiated. Note there are some exceptions to these basic rules.

Per the CBA, there are different sets of incentives for rookies in the NFL (see my previous article dated July 21, 1999). For example, an incentive for a third round wide receiver that entitles the player to $10,000 if he has 6 Receiving Touchdowns would count $6,666 against the team's Entering Player Pool and overall team salary cap via the rookie incentive chart contained in the CBA.

ROSTER BONUSES

Roster bonuses are treated in a manner very similar to performance bonuses. For veterans, the player's prior year is examined to determine to what extent a roster bonus is LTBE for the current league year. For example, if a player was a member of the 53 man roster for 14 games in 1999 and has a roster bonus for $50,000 if he is a member of the 53 man roster for the same or fewer amount of games in 2000, then the full $50,000 is LTBE in 2000 and counts against the salary cap. If the bonus is written for being on the roster for a greater number of games then the bonus is NLTBE in 2000. However, unlike performance incentives, NLTBE roster bonuses will count against a team's salary cap immediately once it is actually earned by the player.

For rookies, the chart noted in the CBA is utilized; generally a regular season roster bonus that a drafted player receives if he makes the team will count 100% against the team salary cap in the contract year in which it is earned while undrafted players' roster bonuses count only 30% (of the total bonus amount) against the salary cap.

Regardless if the player is a veteran or rookie, any roster bonus that is guaranteed is treated as a signing bonus and thus prorated equally over the length of the contract for salary cap purposes.

REPORTING BONUSES

All non-guaranteed reporting bonuses are LTBE and count in full against team salary in the year they are earned. This is true for both veterans and rookies. If a reporting bonus is guaranteed, then it is treated as a signing bonus and prorated equally over the length of the contract for salary cap purposes.

WORKOUT BONUSES

Workout bonuses are automatically LTBE and count in full against team salary in the year they are earned. If the workout bonus is guaranteed, then it is treated as a signing bonus and prorated equally over the length of the contract for salary cap purposes.

EXAMPLES

Compute the salary cap number for the following three players.

Example 1:

Rookie Player A

2000 Base: $400,000
Signing Bonus: $2,000,000 (5 year deal)
2000 Reporting Bonus: $500,000
2000 Workout Bonus: $50,000
Answer: Cap Number = $1,350,000
($400k base + $400k sign bonus proration (2 million - 5 yrs) + $500k rpt bonus + $50k w/o bonus = $1.35m)


Example 2:

Veteran Player B
2000 Base: $600,000
Signing bonus: $1,800,000 (3-year deal signed in 1999)
2000 Roster bonus: $200,000 (Note: was on team's roster for all of 1999)
2000 LTBE's: $150,000
Answer: Cap Number = $1,550,000

($600k base + $600k signing bonus proration (1.8 million — 3 yrs) + $200k roster bonus + $150k LTBE's = $1.55M)

Note: If the roster or reporting bonuses were guaranteed they would be treated as signing bonus and the results would be different (i.e., they would be prorated over the term of the contracts).

Example 3

Assume player B renegotiates his contract prior to the start of the 2000 season and
(a) receives a new $1,000,000 sign bonus,
(b) extends the original contract for two additional years, and
(c) lowers his 2000 base salary to $200,000.

What is his new 2000 cap number?
Answer: $1,400,000
($200k new base + $600k old sign bonus proration + $250k new sign bonus proration ($1,000,000 — 4 yrs. (2000-2004)) + $200k rost + $150k LTBE's = $1.4m)


Note: In a renegotiation the old signing bonus proration does not change.

As the reader now realizes, the astute Contract Advisor, in order to better represent his clients, has to be able to not only understand the salary cap rules but also be able to perform the actual calculations to determine the salary cap ramifications of any contract terms he proposes.

[Iowanian]

Since we're grading Cory's SAT's now, I thought I'd Point out that 1 Mile= 5280'.

Now.......Who can get this back on track with some information about Offense issues? what are some of the questions people have about Offense? Routes? Blocking schemes? Check down and what that means?

[ct]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

Since we're grading Cory's SAT's now, I thought I'd Point out that 1 Mile= 5280'.

Well damn, that just clears it all up, thanks Iowa!

I gotta little time crunch with my next batch of meth, can somebody help me out? What's that conversion thing again, how many ounces in a liter?

[Iowanian]

You're welcome little buddy. I'm always happy to help, even though I failed math a time or two in mah schule kareer.