Really good stuff -- thanks, Bill

People who played football past highschool would already know that. People who understand football know that.

People who just look at fantasy football numbers don't even care what the article says. They just want to know which colt or bronco runningback will get the "start".

I want to write an article that shows people the impact Peyton and Eli Manning have on their run games. It's not just a handoff, it's what goes on BEFORE the handoff that adds value.

Good stuff. Thanks for linking to it.

Someone give 2 a medal- he "understands" football!

I'm just a mere peon, but I found the article helpful and informative.

Chris, are you under the impression that you are impressing anyone? Or that this is a site for current football players? It's called "outsiders" for a reason.

Chris' posts always right on. Article not worth anything to anyone. Chris posts more, posts more right, is the best poster on FO. Chris will post the most in 2008!

I really wish this was a less obscure xtra point, just so more people would experience the awesomeness of post #6.

Well I liked it, and I learned something. It's a shame there are no diagrams, but good stuff nonetheless. Clearly, I am an inferior being in my football understanding.

Now I see why O-line is reputed to be a thinking-man's position. This is flippin' Chess-Boxing (link on name)!

Great find, Bill.

Congratulations on playing high school football Chris. Did you ever score 4 touchdowns in one game?

#2: Chris

Not having the high school football experience, I found the article informative. That said, write your damn article.

at QB for Polk High, its.... Chris!

6:
Nice raiderjoe imitation.

Re #11- agreed... I'd like to read that article as well.

2

I'm not sure what your rant contributed at all.

You essentially said "What's this that you linked me to? I already know it! This article is about zone blocking, so lets talk about the Mannings and how they open up the running game."

Because "people who understand football" don't know how a good passing threat opens up the running game. /eyeroll

In any case, I enjoyed this article a great deal, especially since "zone blocking' has kind of become an ESPN Buzzword the last couple years with not a lot of explanation about it.

Re: #15

I don't think he is talking about the passing game opening up the running game. I think he is talking about the keys that QB's use to figure out when to call a running play and when to call a pass play, and what parts of the defense to attack with those calls. Especially for the QB's who operate mostly in the no-huddle, this would be interesting, but a very difficult article to write.

re2 Chris is not as smart as he thinks. anybody who say Jamarcus Russell is garbage is oviously moron.
Russell next great Qb in NFl. Will bring Raiders back to the promise land. 5 straihgt years of double digit losing season is over now. Get ready for the winning to start again.

re13
Maybe nice impression real Raiderjoe here now (only can be one original)

#17

Now that's what I'm talking 'bout!

As the author of the linked article, I'm glad most of you enjoyed it. And if Chris wants to write his article, I'll gladly post it for him.

17:
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

chrisjoe is my new favorite poster.

Re: 19

Really great work, Matt. As a meer pathetic fan of the game, these kind of indepth X's and O's discussions, as opposed to the typical pregame show dreck, are exhilerating.

Just one question, in the second blockquote shouldn't that read "...the running back is supposed to go right against a 3-4 defensive front. At the snap of the ball, the left tackle and left guard block the nose tackle..."?

Re: 21. No, it's a 4-3. I have just differentiated between the nose tackle and the under tackle instead of calling them both DTs. The former is your two-gap guy (think Sam Adams) and the latter is your one-gap (think Amobi Okoye).

Oh, ok. The "under tackle" part kinda threw me, too. I'd never heard that nomenclature used before to differentiate the DTs. So what make one the NT and one the UT?

A prototypical under tackle. is a fast (for his size), penetrating, one-gap player. Such players almost always best suited to line up away from the center, usually a half-step past the guard (toward the respective O-tackle). This is the 3-technique and makes him a one gap player. The 3-technique tackle’s job is to shoot that gap, create penetration, and either disrupt the running play or sack the QB.
*****
The NT, on the other hand, has a completely different skill set as a defensive tackle. He is a traditional 0- or 1-technique DT, meaning he will line up over the center, one half-step toward the left- or right-guard. In this position, a tackle will see frequent double-teams from the center and left guard, with the left guard engaging first and the center picking up. Which is good, because is trying to draw two blockers to free space for the MLB to work.

Re: 23

A under tackle is someone like Warren Sapp when he was young- small, fast, generally a pass rusher.

A nose tackle (in a 4-3 set) is more like Tony Siragusa- big, fat, and his job is to let a middle linebacker make the tackle in the running game.

For a good look at the difference, see the Vikings D-line right now: Pat Williams is a nose tackle (or 1-technique) and Kevin Williams is a 3-technique or Under tackle.

I think what Chris is refering to is the complete understanding of how an offense is supposed to run and how the defense is trying to defend it that a QB like Brady or both Mannings bring to the table that many other QBs do not. That many of today's starting QBs aren't at the same level as the top guys may be to do with starting QBs too young because they have great athletic gifts or the decline of offensive coaching or both, but it happens.

Think of Joseph Addai in the Superbowl against the Bears, he is a good back but most of his yards that day were gained before the ball was snapped because Peyton audibled to a play that the Bears were not lined up in a postion to stop. Addai spent most of the day (and has spent most of his career) with DBs as the first tackler he encountered. It helps even more when the threat of a passing game keeps safeties out of the box, but Manning kept the Colts offense ticking and defenses off guard this year with less effective targets in the passing game.

Also most people (myself included) expected the Giants offense to suffer without Barber, yet it has stayed productive despite losing Barber and Petigout, Burress being limited and Shockey going down. A lot of the credit for this has to go to Eli, unlike the other young QBs in the league he has a superb grasp of the offense, not just in the passing game, but in how the running game works and the defensive gap alignment is supposed to stop it. Most young QBs get a reducd playbook and concentrate on executing the plays they have, Eli opens up the whole thing and for the most part runs it pretty well. Now if he can just eliminate those wild throws off his back foot (you know the ones I mean, the passes that go all floaty) he will be a perennial Pro Bowler, and maybe nearly as good as his brother.