Off The Grid
Veteran Starter w/Big Long Term Deal
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2010
- Messages
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- Reaction score
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I believe so.
*Editor's Note: As Always, the following Bits ~ or at least the intelligent parts!! ~ owe a Great Deal to the Author's extensive discussions with Brother MayoClinic, Fellow FootBall Fanatic!!
First ~ A bit of FootBall History, Ladies + Laddies:
It was in 1880 ~ 132 long and lustrous years ago ~ that the number of Players on the Field was reduced from 15...to 11.
And so the merciless + unrelenting Persecution of Defenses...began!!
1880's dramatic Rule Change effected a substantial impact on the Game ~ in favor of the Offense, of course, as all such reductions in Personnel do ~ and consequently demanded not only that the remaining 11 Defenders become far Quicker and Craftier than before...but also that their Alignments become more Flexible, Unpredictable...and Deceptive.
And it established a Trend that has persisted to this very day.
For 132 years, the vast majority of the Paying Public ~ as well as the Innovators who crafted the Games's Evolution before there was a Paying Public ~ have displayed a relentless, ever-increasing appetite for Offense ~ along with a shamefully minimal appreciation for Defense!! ~ as a result of which the Trend of Change in the Game's Rules and Regulations, almost since the Game's very inception, has carved out a 132 Year Offensive Bull Market.
And there's no end in sight.
Time for a gratuitously + unnecessarily confusing + complicated Chart:
The sad part is that I actually think I'm being funny.
So, yes: Virtually since The Dawn of FootBall, Defenses have adapted to this Relentless Persecution by becoming increasingly Quicker, Faster, Smaller, and Smarter...And Defensive Coordinators have indeed been compelled to forge Systems and Schemes that have become increasingly Flexible....and increasingly Unpredictable and Deceptive.
And as any Student of Warfare ~ or Football ~ will tell you: The more Flexible, Unpredictable, and Deceptive that you wish to be...the fewer Soldiers you should commit to The Front Line BEFORE the Inception of Battle.
In 1890, The GodFather of all FootBall Revolutionaries ~ Coach Amos Stagg of the SpringField Young Men's Christian Association Training Center, which eventually became SpringField College ~ tore up the Competitive LandScape ~ one of about 8 million times he would do so ~ by trumping the classic "92" Defensive Formation with the introduction of the "722" ~ And in his spare time he played in the very first BasketBall game in History!!
This Relentless Persecution of Defenses would compel numerous Evolutions in Strategy and Scheme in the decades to come, as described eloquently yet understandably by Jene Bremel of the New York Times:
* In the late 1940's, Coach Greasy Neale of the Philadelphia Eagles forged a Dynasty with a dominant "524".
* But on Opening Day 1950, the 2 Time Defending World Champion Eagles were shredded by the phenomenal Tactics of Coach Paul Brown's CleveLand Browns...and the rest of the NFL scrambled, in more or less sheer panic, to try to find some way to combat this new and Revolutionary CleveLand Offense. The result: The "43".
* In the 1970's, we saw the rise of the "34". It receded in the 1980's, but is now rapidly taking over the Game.
Time for another gratuitously complex + complicated Chart to illustrate the Point:
Yes, but at least I'm amusing myself.
So I've got that going for me.
Which is nice.
1880 ~ 11 Men on the Line of Scrimmage in Base Defense.
2011 ~ 3 or 4.
You, um...get the picture.
The Running Game hasn't been outlawed ~ yet ~ so it might be a bit premature, at this point, to field 11 CornerBacks.
But we're seeing the first signs, ere the last few years, of even Smaller, more Flexible, and less Decipherable Defenses gaining Market Share with some of the bolder, more creative Defensive Coordinators and Head Coaches:
* New EngLand Patriots ~ the 155!!
* PittsBurgh Steelers ~ the 245 + 155!!
* GreenBay Packers ~ Nickel + Psycho Packages!!
* Seattle SeaHawks ~ the Amoeba Defense!!
Mind you: all of these are instances of the "155" and the "245" being employed as Sub Packages.
Nobody's talking about installing the "155" or the "245" as a Base Package.
Well, except for me.
*Editor's Note: As Always, the following Bits ~ or at least the intelligent parts!! ~ owe a Great Deal to the Author's extensive discussions with Brother MayoClinic, Fellow FootBall Fanatic!!
Amorphous D ~ Birth of A Bull Market of Deception!!
First ~ A bit of FootBall History, Ladies + Laddies:
It was in 1880 ~ 132 long and lustrous years ago ~ that the number of Players on the Field was reduced from 15...to 11.
And so the merciless + unrelenting Persecution of Defenses...began!!
"It Starts."
1880's dramatic Rule Change effected a substantial impact on the Game ~ in favor of the Offense, of course, as all such reductions in Personnel do ~ and consequently demanded not only that the remaining 11 Defenders become far Quicker and Craftier than before...but also that their Alignments become more Flexible, Unpredictable...and Deceptive.
And it established a Trend that has persisted to this very day.
For 132 years, the vast majority of the Paying Public ~ as well as the Innovators who crafted the Games's Evolution before there was a Paying Public ~ have displayed a relentless, ever-increasing appetite for Offense ~ along with a shamefully minimal appreciation for Defense!! ~ as a result of which the Trend of Change in the Game's Rules and Regulations, almost since the Game's very inception, has carved out a 132 Year Offensive Bull Market.
And there's no end in sight.
Time for a gratuitously + unnecessarily confusing + complicated Chart:
Points Per Game Since 1880:
The sad part is that I actually think I'm being funny.
So, yes: Virtually since The Dawn of FootBall, Defenses have adapted to this Relentless Persecution by becoming increasingly Quicker, Faster, Smaller, and Smarter...And Defensive Coordinators have indeed been compelled to forge Systems and Schemes that have become increasingly Flexible....and increasingly Unpredictable and Deceptive.
And as any Student of Warfare ~ or Football ~ will tell you: The more Flexible, Unpredictable, and Deceptive that you wish to be...the fewer Soldiers you should commit to The Front Line BEFORE the Inception of Battle.
Coach Amos Stagg ~ Revolutionary FREAK!!
In 1890, The GodFather of all FootBall Revolutionaries ~ Coach Amos Stagg of the SpringField Young Men's Christian Association Training Center, which eventually became SpringField College ~ tore up the Competitive LandScape ~ one of about 8 million times he would do so ~ by trumping the classic "92" Defensive Formation with the introduction of the "722" ~ And in his spare time he played in the very first BasketBall game in History!!
This Relentless Persecution of Defenses would compel numerous Evolutions in Strategy and Scheme in the decades to come, as described eloquently yet understandably by Jene Bremel of the New York Times:
* In the late 1940's, Coach Greasy Neale of the Philadelphia Eagles forged a Dynasty with a dominant "524".
* But on Opening Day 1950, the 2 Time Defending World Champion Eagles were shredded by the phenomenal Tactics of Coach Paul Brown's CleveLand Browns...and the rest of the NFL scrambled, in more or less sheer panic, to try to find some way to combat this new and Revolutionary CleveLand Offense. The result: The "43".
* In the 1970's, we saw the rise of the "34". It receded in the 1980's, but is now rapidly taking over the Game.
Time for another gratuitously complex + complicated Chart to illustrate the Point:
Number of Base Defensive Down Linemen Since 1880:
Yes, but at least I'm amusing myself.
So I've got that going for me.
Which is nice.
1880 ~ 11 Men on the Line of Scrimmage in Base Defense.
2011 ~ 3 or 4.
You, um...get the picture.
What Does The Future Hold?
The Running Game hasn't been outlawed ~ yet ~ so it might be a bit premature, at this point, to field 11 CornerBacks.
But we're seeing the first signs, ere the last few years, of even Smaller, more Flexible, and less Decipherable Defenses gaining Market Share with some of the bolder, more creative Defensive Coordinators and Head Coaches:
* New EngLand Patriots ~ the 155!!
* PittsBurgh Steelers ~ the 245 + 155!!
* GreenBay Packers ~ Nickel + Psycho Packages!!
* Seattle SeaHawks ~ the Amoeba Defense!!
Mind you: all of these are instances of the "155" and the "245" being employed as Sub Packages.
Nobody's talking about installing the "155" or the "245" as a Base Package.
Well, except for me.