motife
11-01-2006, 05:21 PM
Week 8 Scouts Report
Simple approach
Zone-blocking schemes allow for instant success, other Week 8 info
By Nolan Nawrocki
Oct. 30, 2006
Texans RB Wali Lundy
Houston rookie RB Wali Lundy was a fifth-round pick. Denver rookie RB Mike Bell was not even drafted. Packers second-year RB Vernand Morency, a third-round pick for Houston last year, was traded for undrafted free agent Samkon Gado after struggling with the Texans.
What do they all have in common? All three young runners, either overlooked or undervalued by NFL evaluators, topped the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time this week. And it’s not because they are superbly talented. It’s because of the style of blocking their offenses employ.
With good offensive linemen becoming more difficult to find in the college ranks, zone blocking is catching on in the NFL similar to Monte Kiffin’s attacking, gap-control defense in Tampa Bay. After Kiffin disciples Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith finished behind only Kiffin in total defense a year ago and took their teams deep into the playoffs, new NFL head coaches began seeking out their assistants to run their defenses.
Mike Tomlin was hired from the Bucs to run it in Minnesota, Perry Fewell was hired away from the Bears to call the shots in Buffalo, and even GMs got caught up in the craze, with Detroit GM Matt Millen seeking Bucs D-line coach Rod Marinelli to take over the organization.
In a copycat league seeking immediate results, zone blocking will likely continue mushrooming in the NFL. Typically reserved for lower levels of competition because the system requires not only less talent but less to teach, the system is predicated on athletic linemen being assigned to block anyone in their zone rather than a particular man.
Most NFL teams use zone blocking, but Denver, Houston, Green Bay and Atlanta (with the NFL’s top rushing attack) all base their offense around it. With the variety of blitzes and shifting fronts offensive lines see and defensive coordinators becoming increasingly more creative, assignments are simplified for blockers when all they need to worry about is the man in front of them. If a man is not aligned in their area, they zone left or right, depending on the call, providing help if needed and then moving upfield to the second level to cut off linebackers and defensive backs.
The system also benefits running backs who are not taught to hit a specific hole but rather to use their vision to find an opening, placing a heavy emphasis on decisively making one cut and moving north. To be effective, runners do not necessarily have to break a lot of tackles or make defenders miss  the two ways all backs must make a living. They just need to have vision to find holes, run hard and be able to make sharp cuts.
In the NFL, as in any competitive endeavor, the winner is not always the most talented, but rather which team gets the most out of its talent.
When Bill Parcells decided to make a QB change mid-game last Monday night, replacing a battered Drew Bledsoe with former undrafted free agent Tony Romo, evaluators around the league thought he was throwing in the chips, questioning his decision to make Bledsoe his "swan song." However, Romo showed some flashes of brilliance in the Cowboys’ loss to New York, and in his first career start vs. Carolina on Sunday night, he outplayed Panthers QB Jake Delhomme. Romo got rid of the ball quickly, showed good poise, felt pressure coming and was able to escape from it. More impressive was the rhythm he quickly found with Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, the team’s most valuable pass catchers. Don’t write off the Cowboys just yet.
Carolina was uncharacteristically sloppy in the fourth quarter, giving the game away with two fumbles and an interception that translated into 22 of a Cowboys-record 25 fourth-quarter points. Nothing can change the outcome of a game like turnovers. Not to be underestimated in this contest was Parcells’ familiarity with his longtime friend and former QB coach with the Jets, Dan Henning, who believes in a similar smash-mouth, power offense that Parcells’ defense is accustomed to facing.
It was not the firing of Browns offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon that surprised many league insiders. It was the timing, with a number saying the change was long overdue and should have been carried out in the offseason. The problems that the Browns' stagnant offense encountered this year were every bit as apparent late in 2005. Insiders say Romeo Crennel should have followed Lovie Smith’s lead when he fired Terry Shea following his first year in Chicago and made much-needed changes following a season's-end re-evaluation.
Instead, an offense that finished the 2005 season ranked 26th in total yards was sitting dead last in the league entering this week’s contest. Although no one man is responsible for an offense’s problems and insiders say the roots run deeper, the offense did look much more in sync with Jeff Davidson now calling the shots. Davidson intended to simplify the offense, and the Browns did, riding the legs of Reuben Droughns against one of the league’s worst run defenses. However, next week’s matchup vs. the Chargers’ second-ranked defense will provide a stiffer test.
Peyton Manning was like a surgeon in the fourth quarter vs. Denver, carving up the Broncos' defense with precision. Given as much leeway to execute and audibilize the offense as any quarterback in the league, Manning knew where to go with the ball, continually attacking Broncos CB Darrent Williams, who at 5-foot-8, was at a four-inch disadvantage trying to match up with what looked like an unstoppable Reggie Wayne, who continually got open and caught three TD passes in the second half.
The Bears’ offense looked night and day from the stagnant unit that took the field vs. the Cardinals in their last outing on Monday night before the bye. Being at home in front of a friendly crowd is a big advantage. In the two games the offense has been slow to get started  at Minnesota and Arizona  the Bears were playing indoors amidst heavy crowd noise that drowns out communication. The Bears get one more opportunity to fine-tune the offense in friendly confines before facing a tough three-game road swing vs. the Giants, Jets and Patriots that will show how much Rex Grossman and the offense have matured.
Until Niners QB Alex Smith learns to take better care of the football, San Francisco will not win many games. He also lost two fumbles in the Niners' shutout loss to Kansas City and swung the momentum of the game. Ball security is an undervalued component of quarterbacking that needs to be drilled heavily. Smith holds the ball too loosely and drops it low when he sets instead of keeping it on the top shelf, ready to fire.
Benching David Carr was a bold move by head coach Gary Kubiak and sent a strong message to Texans’ players that no one’s job is safe. Carr was seated early in the third quarter after giving up his third turnover. The first, an interception on a pass intended for Andre Johnson and forced in between four defenders, was unmistakingly a bad decision, even if Johnson would have come down with the ball. The two fumbles Carr lost both came as a result of pressure on seven-step drops. Carr barely had time to set his feet before getting blindsided. He needs to be able to feel pressure better, take better care of the football and be ready to get rid of the ball after hitting his seventh step, but not all of the blame belongs on his shoulders. OLT Ephraim Salaam and ORT Zach Wiegert made two better-than-average pass-rushers (Kyle Vanden Bosch and Travis LaBoy) look like world beaters.
Texans backup QB Sage Rosenfels threw a pick on his first drive, but he showed he could move the offense vs. an average Tennessee defense and led the Texans on three impressive scoring drives. Kubiak, who once benched Steve Young for not taking care of the football, does not have a controversy on his hands by any stretch. In the NFL today, where 8-of-26 opening-day starters did not open their respective games on Sunday, the importance of the backup QB position is becoming magnified. Teaching Carr a lesson and developing a backup could help the football team in the long term, so long as it does not damage Carr’s confidence. Having been babied by the coaching staff throughout his first four years in the league, however, it could be just the motivation Carr needs.
The Ravens came into their matchup with the Saints intent on shutting down Reggie Bush. Their goal was to play physical and eliminate him from making a difference. And they took him out of the game, literally and figuratively, holding him to 20 yards of total offense and sending him out of the game midway through the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. He also lost a fumble trying to spin very early in the game, an occurrence seen at USC when he would flag the ball, and then foolishly tried squeezing a halfback pass to Marques Colston in between Ray Lewis and Ed Reed that was intercepted by Reed.
Critics came down hard on the Texans for passing on Bush, but Baltimore’s stingy defense showed why the Texans’ decision made sense. Bush is proving to be more of a space player not built to withstand the punishment that comes from being little in a big man’s game. Meanwhile, Mario Williams registered the only sack of the game for the Texans on the third overall pick Vince Young. Young, after the Titans’ slow 0-5 start, has led the club to consecutive victories in a simplified offense, the first time Tennessee has put together back-to-back wins since 2003.
Good offensive coordinators will continue trying to anticipate when Chiefs CB Ty Law will be manned up on receivers, the same way Mike Holmgren did, and try to create situations that alter the coverage to isolate Law. He is best in zone coverage where he can get his hands on receivers at the line, but as he showed in trying to match up vs. Darrell Jackson on a touchdown that put the Seahawks ahead 28-27, he bites easily on pump fakes and struggles to recover when he gets beat, in this case losing his balance when he tried redirecting and helplessly jumping at Jackson's feet.
Colts PK Adam Vinatieri proved to be the difference in the Colts-Broncos contest, and he very well could be next week when the Colts travel to Foxborough. The Patriots' biggest offseason loss was the Colts' gain. Patriots rookie PK Stephen Gostkowski has converted only 5-of-8 FG attempts with a long of 35, while Vinateri has hit all 12 of his attempts, including Sunday's 37-yard game-winner. It's a sharp contrast from a year ago, especially for the Colts, who no longer have to worry about pressure-crumbling Mike Vanderjagt losing football games.
Simple approach
Zone-blocking schemes allow for instant success, other Week 8 info
By Nolan Nawrocki
Oct. 30, 2006
Texans RB Wali Lundy
Houston rookie RB Wali Lundy was a fifth-round pick. Denver rookie RB Mike Bell was not even drafted. Packers second-year RB Vernand Morency, a third-round pick for Houston last year, was traded for undrafted free agent Samkon Gado after struggling with the Texans.
What do they all have in common? All three young runners, either overlooked or undervalued by NFL evaluators, topped the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time this week. And it’s not because they are superbly talented. It’s because of the style of blocking their offenses employ.
With good offensive linemen becoming more difficult to find in the college ranks, zone blocking is catching on in the NFL similar to Monte Kiffin’s attacking, gap-control defense in Tampa Bay. After Kiffin disciples Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith finished behind only Kiffin in total defense a year ago and took their teams deep into the playoffs, new NFL head coaches began seeking out their assistants to run their defenses.
Mike Tomlin was hired from the Bucs to run it in Minnesota, Perry Fewell was hired away from the Bears to call the shots in Buffalo, and even GMs got caught up in the craze, with Detroit GM Matt Millen seeking Bucs D-line coach Rod Marinelli to take over the organization.
In a copycat league seeking immediate results, zone blocking will likely continue mushrooming in the NFL. Typically reserved for lower levels of competition because the system requires not only less talent but less to teach, the system is predicated on athletic linemen being assigned to block anyone in their zone rather than a particular man.
Most NFL teams use zone blocking, but Denver, Houston, Green Bay and Atlanta (with the NFL’s top rushing attack) all base their offense around it. With the variety of blitzes and shifting fronts offensive lines see and defensive coordinators becoming increasingly more creative, assignments are simplified for blockers when all they need to worry about is the man in front of them. If a man is not aligned in their area, they zone left or right, depending on the call, providing help if needed and then moving upfield to the second level to cut off linebackers and defensive backs.
The system also benefits running backs who are not taught to hit a specific hole but rather to use their vision to find an opening, placing a heavy emphasis on decisively making one cut and moving north. To be effective, runners do not necessarily have to break a lot of tackles or make defenders miss  the two ways all backs must make a living. They just need to have vision to find holes, run hard and be able to make sharp cuts.
In the NFL, as in any competitive endeavor, the winner is not always the most talented, but rather which team gets the most out of its talent.
When Bill Parcells decided to make a QB change mid-game last Monday night, replacing a battered Drew Bledsoe with former undrafted free agent Tony Romo, evaluators around the league thought he was throwing in the chips, questioning his decision to make Bledsoe his "swan song." However, Romo showed some flashes of brilliance in the Cowboys’ loss to New York, and in his first career start vs. Carolina on Sunday night, he outplayed Panthers QB Jake Delhomme. Romo got rid of the ball quickly, showed good poise, felt pressure coming and was able to escape from it. More impressive was the rhythm he quickly found with Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, the team’s most valuable pass catchers. Don’t write off the Cowboys just yet.
Carolina was uncharacteristically sloppy in the fourth quarter, giving the game away with two fumbles and an interception that translated into 22 of a Cowboys-record 25 fourth-quarter points. Nothing can change the outcome of a game like turnovers. Not to be underestimated in this contest was Parcells’ familiarity with his longtime friend and former QB coach with the Jets, Dan Henning, who believes in a similar smash-mouth, power offense that Parcells’ defense is accustomed to facing.
It was not the firing of Browns offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon that surprised many league insiders. It was the timing, with a number saying the change was long overdue and should have been carried out in the offseason. The problems that the Browns' stagnant offense encountered this year were every bit as apparent late in 2005. Insiders say Romeo Crennel should have followed Lovie Smith’s lead when he fired Terry Shea following his first year in Chicago and made much-needed changes following a season's-end re-evaluation.
Instead, an offense that finished the 2005 season ranked 26th in total yards was sitting dead last in the league entering this week’s contest. Although no one man is responsible for an offense’s problems and insiders say the roots run deeper, the offense did look much more in sync with Jeff Davidson now calling the shots. Davidson intended to simplify the offense, and the Browns did, riding the legs of Reuben Droughns against one of the league’s worst run defenses. However, next week’s matchup vs. the Chargers’ second-ranked defense will provide a stiffer test.
Peyton Manning was like a surgeon in the fourth quarter vs. Denver, carving up the Broncos' defense with precision. Given as much leeway to execute and audibilize the offense as any quarterback in the league, Manning knew where to go with the ball, continually attacking Broncos CB Darrent Williams, who at 5-foot-8, was at a four-inch disadvantage trying to match up with what looked like an unstoppable Reggie Wayne, who continually got open and caught three TD passes in the second half.
The Bears’ offense looked night and day from the stagnant unit that took the field vs. the Cardinals in their last outing on Monday night before the bye. Being at home in front of a friendly crowd is a big advantage. In the two games the offense has been slow to get started  at Minnesota and Arizona  the Bears were playing indoors amidst heavy crowd noise that drowns out communication. The Bears get one more opportunity to fine-tune the offense in friendly confines before facing a tough three-game road swing vs. the Giants, Jets and Patriots that will show how much Rex Grossman and the offense have matured.
Until Niners QB Alex Smith learns to take better care of the football, San Francisco will not win many games. He also lost two fumbles in the Niners' shutout loss to Kansas City and swung the momentum of the game. Ball security is an undervalued component of quarterbacking that needs to be drilled heavily. Smith holds the ball too loosely and drops it low when he sets instead of keeping it on the top shelf, ready to fire.
Benching David Carr was a bold move by head coach Gary Kubiak and sent a strong message to Texans’ players that no one’s job is safe. Carr was seated early in the third quarter after giving up his third turnover. The first, an interception on a pass intended for Andre Johnson and forced in between four defenders, was unmistakingly a bad decision, even if Johnson would have come down with the ball. The two fumbles Carr lost both came as a result of pressure on seven-step drops. Carr barely had time to set his feet before getting blindsided. He needs to be able to feel pressure better, take better care of the football and be ready to get rid of the ball after hitting his seventh step, but not all of the blame belongs on his shoulders. OLT Ephraim Salaam and ORT Zach Wiegert made two better-than-average pass-rushers (Kyle Vanden Bosch and Travis LaBoy) look like world beaters.
Texans backup QB Sage Rosenfels threw a pick on his first drive, but he showed he could move the offense vs. an average Tennessee defense and led the Texans on three impressive scoring drives. Kubiak, who once benched Steve Young for not taking care of the football, does not have a controversy on his hands by any stretch. In the NFL today, where 8-of-26 opening-day starters did not open their respective games on Sunday, the importance of the backup QB position is becoming magnified. Teaching Carr a lesson and developing a backup could help the football team in the long term, so long as it does not damage Carr’s confidence. Having been babied by the coaching staff throughout his first four years in the league, however, it could be just the motivation Carr needs.
The Ravens came into their matchup with the Saints intent on shutting down Reggie Bush. Their goal was to play physical and eliminate him from making a difference. And they took him out of the game, literally and figuratively, holding him to 20 yards of total offense and sending him out of the game midway through the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. He also lost a fumble trying to spin very early in the game, an occurrence seen at USC when he would flag the ball, and then foolishly tried squeezing a halfback pass to Marques Colston in between Ray Lewis and Ed Reed that was intercepted by Reed.
Critics came down hard on the Texans for passing on Bush, but Baltimore’s stingy defense showed why the Texans’ decision made sense. Bush is proving to be more of a space player not built to withstand the punishment that comes from being little in a big man’s game. Meanwhile, Mario Williams registered the only sack of the game for the Texans on the third overall pick Vince Young. Young, after the Titans’ slow 0-5 start, has led the club to consecutive victories in a simplified offense, the first time Tennessee has put together back-to-back wins since 2003.
Good offensive coordinators will continue trying to anticipate when Chiefs CB Ty Law will be manned up on receivers, the same way Mike Holmgren did, and try to create situations that alter the coverage to isolate Law. He is best in zone coverage where he can get his hands on receivers at the line, but as he showed in trying to match up vs. Darrell Jackson on a touchdown that put the Seahawks ahead 28-27, he bites easily on pump fakes and struggles to recover when he gets beat, in this case losing his balance when he tried redirecting and helplessly jumping at Jackson's feet.
Colts PK Adam Vinatieri proved to be the difference in the Colts-Broncos contest, and he very well could be next week when the Colts travel to Foxborough. The Patriots' biggest offseason loss was the Colts' gain. Patriots rookie PK Stephen Gostkowski has converted only 5-of-8 FG attempts with a long of 35, while Vinateri has hit all 12 of his attempts, including Sunday's 37-yard game-winner. It's a sharp contrast from a year ago, especially for the Colts, who no longer have to worry about pressure-crumbling Mike Vanderjagt losing football games.