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It is a relatively simple question without, it seems, an equally simple answer: how will the ban on wedge formations impact special teams play?
The NFL voted during the March owners' meetings to ban the wedge, three or four hand-holding offensive or defensive linemen who formed a wall to help to clear a path for kick returners. The wedge made for violent collisions, as wedge busters – those players crazy enough to launch themselves into a mass of exceedingly large men moving at top speed – can tell tales of being knocked out too many times to remember.
The thinking was, eliminating the wedge might help cut down on serious injuries.
Further in the article, Scott O'Brien, Le Kevin Smith, and Bill Belichick discuss the possible impact of the rule change. Apparently NFL referees will be in training camp Wednesday through Friday and though it is possible they may have some more information, we'll probably have to wait for some preseason games to see how much of a change there will be. Smith and O'Brien think there will be less offensive linemen on the field on kickoffs and punts, and they will be replaced by faster players such as tight ends. If that is the case then that increases the likelihood of the Pats going with four tight ends on the roster this year.
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Further in the article, Scott O'Brien, Le Kevin Smith, and Bill Belichick discuss the possible impact of the rule change. Apparently NFL referees will be in training camp Wednesday through Friday and though it is possible they may have some more information, we'll probably have to wait for some preseason games to see how much of a change there will be. Smith and O'Brien think there will be less offensive linemen on the field on kickoffs and punts, and they will be replaced by faster players such as tight ends. If that is the case then that increases the likelihood of the Pats going with four tight ends on the roster this year.
One of the great mysteries of the 2009 season and hardly anybody bothers to read the thread - Good catch jmt and well done SMY!
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THe LB's are more of a factor also along with the TE's.
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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."
One of the great mysteries of the 2009 season and hardly anybody bothers to read the thread - Good catch jmt and well done SMY!
Yes, excellent article, Shalize. Teams definitely need to know when a wedge is not a "wedge". Has Bill Polian explained how it will work yet?
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My prized possessions: Our family pictures; my dad and me getting doused by Bruschi in Super Bowl XXXIX [Shalize Manza Young Up Close with ... Bill Belichick]
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They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]
Great article, SMY! Poses an interesting and cogent football question and proceeds to address it in detail without fluff.
What concerns me is this.."I think there's some interpretation there that's not totally clear to me," Belichick said. "I'm not sure if it's totally clear to anybody." Situations where subjective imprecise full speed interpretations need to be made to enforce a rule are ripe for disaster. That's why I hate offensive holding and PI. Big opportunities for game changers that shouldn't be so.
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Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck." RAH
There will be much more emphasis on cross-blocks and the wall on kickoffs without the wedge, and I would all expect to see a ****ton more reverses, reverse-fakes and "bursts" (three players receive the ball then split in multiple directions) to keep the faster coverage units from running the returner down and corralling him.
In Gasper's profile this morning, O'Brien makes it sound like they'll be systematically testing the boundaries of the new rule in the preseason to see how it's going to be called. An interesting function of preseason I'd never really thought about.
In Gasper's profile this morning, O'Brien makes it sound like they'll be systematically testing the boundaries of the new rule in the preseason to see how it's going to be called. An interesting function of preseason I'd never really thought about.
And we all know how well that worked out when BB tested the boundaries of Commisar Clouseau's new photography rule
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Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck." RAH
And we all know how well that worked out when BB tested the boundaries of Commisar Clouseau's new photography rule
Wedgegate: coming soon
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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
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Special teams and the ban on wedge formations
Linear Mode
