PF question... Can you teach us during the offseason?

[Salsalife]

Hi PFW, Catch 22 and all the great shows for the fans. I never played football, love to watch and learn the nuts and bolts of it all. Can you dedicate an offseason show to learning about things like ( 11 personal, cover 2, cover 5, seam routes, dig routes... so confusing for me on defense and offense. Football lingo stuff you guys chat about. Man I would really appreciate it. Show it on old Patriots past films so I can see the purpose. Might not be popular I understand so maybe just a write up with diagrams...Thx!
Old Patriot fan from the Grogan era..

 

[neuronet]

Thread 'How/Where to Learn the X's and O's of Football'

Jan 29, 2017

Hey all, I've been a Pats fan since I started watching football in 1994 and fell in love with it. I've seen a lot of games, but when it comes to the X's and O's I'd like to learn more. I have a basic understanding 11 players on each side, 4-3, 3-4, Zone vs. Man, etc. But I'd like to learn more and enjoy the game on a deeper level.

I'm just wondering if any of you can help me out. If you know any websites or youtube video series or books I can get that would teach me more about different defenses, offenses, special teams etc. Not just the actual formations and stuff which I can easily get...

• NovaScotiaPatsFan
• Replies: 15
• Forum: PatsFans.com - Patriots Fan Forum

 

[Salsalife]

Thread 'How/Where to Learn the X's and O's of Football'

Jan 29, 2017

Hey all, I've been a Pats fan since I started watching football in 1994 and fell in love with it. I've seen a lot of games, but when it comes to the X's and O's I'd like to learn more. I have a basic understanding 11 players on each side, 4-3, 3-4, Zone vs. Man, etc. But I'd like to learn more and enjoy the game on a deeper level.

I'm just wondering if any of you can help me out. If you know any websites or youtube video series or books I can get that would teach me more about different defenses, offenses, special teams etc. Not just the actual formations and stuff which I can easily get...

• NovaScotiaPatsFan
• Replies: 15
• Forum: PatsFans.com - Patriots Fan Forum

Tried the link, it failed. Thx anyway!

 

[neuronet]

Tried the link, it failed. Thx anyway!

Weird it works for me

 

[Salsalife]

Weird it works for me

Found it. How many backs. How many TE's!

 

[Pape]

Found it. How many backs. How many TE's!

Some basic offensive personnel concepts can be found here

Personnel Archives - Weekly Spiral

Personnel groupings and how they’re organized

weeklyspiral.com

 

[Sect140]

You should read the book Take Your Eye Off the Ball, written by Pat Kirwan, he’s on NFL radio every weekday from 3:00pm - 7:00pm, he’s been a coach and player personnel guy and GM, it’s book on how to watch football, the title kind of says it all, sometimes watch a play while not following the ball.

 

[Salsalife]

You should read the book Take Your Eye Off the Ball, written by Pat Kirwan, he’s on NFL radio every weekday from 3:00pm - 7:00pm, he’s been a coach and player personnel guy and GM, it’s book on how to watch football, the title kind of says it all, sometimes watch a play while not following the ball.

Amazing I'm really enjoying learning. Book will come soon. Now a game within a game I'll be watching...

 

[Vindicate]

Play Madden. I mean, you can easily play not learning a damn thing, but it can be a nice little benchmark to see if you understand concepts visually and pick a play according to pre-snap formation/motion.

My friends and I sometimes take bets on what you think the offense should do on any given snap. We'd pause the TV when they're at the line and just about to snap the ball. That's prolly where I learned the most, but I had the luxury of being around some folks who played OL in college and stuff, so they could point me in the right direction lol. Still protecting the blindside...

 

[raduray]

Unfortunately, live TV doesn't show all 22, so it's hard to know what's really going on. Replays only help so much. For myself, I focus on the left tackle as the ball is snapped and that provides a clue as to what's going to happen.

 

[Salsalife]

Unfortunately, live TV doesn't show all 22, so it's hard to know what's really going on. Replays only help so much. For myself, I focus on the left tackle as the ball is snapped and that provides a clue as to what's going to happen.

I will this season. Really hope we drafted 2 Superstar starters in Williams and Henderson. Beat man coverage players. Play by play guy could help with telling us the Defensive coverage and personal on offense.

 

[Steve102]

Hi PFW, Catch 22 and all the great shows for the fans. I never played football, love to watch and learn the nuts and bolts of it all. Can you dedicate an offseason show to learning about things like ( 11 personal, cover 2, cover 5, seam routes, dig routes... so confusing for me on defense and offense. Football lingo stuff you guys chat about. Man I would really appreciate it. Show it on old Patriots past films so I can see the purpose. Might not be popular I understand so maybe just a write up with diagrams...Thx!
Old Patriot fan from the Grogan era..

The language is a real trick. Some of it is not standardized, and varies from program to program. I've been coaching for a long time (20+ yrs), and I've been to clinics (Glazier) and some of the terminology even took me a bit to catch up with them. Guys feel the need to reinvent the language. Sidelines become boundary, deep in cuts become dig routes, ect.

 

[Steve102]

Hi PFW, Catch 22 and all the great shows for the fans. I never played football, love to watch and learn the nuts and bolts of it all. Can you dedicate an offseason show to learning about things like ( 11 personal, cover 2, cover 5, seam routes, dig routes... so confusing for me on defense and offense. Football lingo stuff you guys chat about. Man I would really appreciate it. Show it on old Patriots past films so I can see the purpose. Might not be popular I understand so maybe just a write up with diagrams...Thx!
Old Patriot fan from the Grogan era..

Personnel Groupings In Football Explained - vIQtory Sports

That covers different personnel groupings.

 

[Steve102]

Here's your different gaps and technique line ups for DL. When you hear guys say "he's a 3 technique", it means the D lineman lines up on the outside shoulder of the guard, shading the B gap. I never really understood why guys get labeled a certain technique, because you can easily move them around on the LoS where you want them, based on tendencies of the offense or the OL players. Maybe that's where they are best, but a guy who's a 3 certainly can slide to a 2 or 2i as needed. A guy who's a 5 certainly would be a different skill set than a 2-3 or a 0-1 guy, but it's just fancy terms IMO. A nose tackle is a nose tackle, if he's 0 or 1 really is up to the defensive alignment IMO.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

You should read the book Take Your Eye Off the Ball, written by Pat Kirwan, he’s on NFL radio every weekday from 3:00pm - 7:00pm, he’s been a coach and player personnel guy and GM, it’s book on how to watch football, the title kind of says it all, sometimes watch a play while not following the ball.

Have you read the 2.0 version
If so which one is better

 

[PP2]

Unfortunately, live TV doesn't show all 22, so it's hard to know what's really going on. Replays only help so much. For myself, I focus on the left tackle as the ball is snapped and that provides a clue as to what's going to happen.

That is why the aftergame content from Lazar, Kyles, et al., is a must follow. Pretty much as good as watching the game itself.

 

[Sect140]

Have you read the 2.0 version
If so which one is better

No I have not, I read the original after it came out maybe 15 years go, after I read it, at games sometimes I focus on certain positions for a few plays.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

No I have not, I read the original after it came out maybe 15 years go, after I read it, at games sometimes I focus on certain positions for a few plays.

I had season tickets for 30 years
Just recently transferred them to a family member because I will be in SC for the winters
I had seats in the 100’s but could not follow the play because of field deception and people standing the whole game
I transferred my seats to the lower ring of the 300’s (1st row) right above the luxury suites
I had a perfect view to sense pre snap assignments and watched the safeties
Watching the safeties pre snap gave me a good idea where Brady would go with the ball
I did watch off the ball most of the time. Peak into the backfield now and then for a quick moment
Going to get this book. Thanks for the suggestion

 

[raduray]

That is why the aftergame content from Lazar, Kyles, et al., is a must follow. Pretty much as good as watching the game itself.

Do you have links, say from last season?

 

[Huckleberry1]

You should read the book Take Your Eye Off the Ball, written by Pat Kirwan, he’s on NFL radio every weekday from 3:00pm - 7:00pm, he’s been a coach and player personnel guy and GM, it’s book on how to watch football, the title kind of says it all, sometimes watch a play while not following the ball.

I used to do that when riding a stationary bike at home. I would just watch the offensive and defensive line play, and I would usually come away with a different view of how they played opposed to just watching the game live.