Steelers Roethlisburger Sets Himself Apart From Brady and Manning

When you think of the best quarterbacks in the NFL most people would think of Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and of course the one and only Peyton Manning of the Colts. But how many of you would throw Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger into the mix as well as being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and what sets him apart from Brady and Manning?

Probably the single element that separates him from the others is his ability to prolong the play. Roethlisberger can get himself out of trouble by being able to scramble out of the pocket when under pressure and either run or roll and throw his way out of trouble. Prolonging the play enables his downfield receivers the time to get themselves open so that they can bail out the big quarterback who has a great knack for finding these receivers open and turning what looked like a sack and loss into a huge gain. Even against one of the best prepared defences in the league in the New York Jets, Roethlisberger was able to do something that both Manning and Brady were unable to do and that's to beat the Jets!

So what does this tell us as coaches?

It tells us that a well designed and prepared defensive game plan will fall apart when a good quarterback is mobile and able to be creative and prolong the play. Normally, your defensive plan is based on the other team's tendencies, strengths and what they like to do offensively in a given situation. When teams are good they tend to do things consistently well all the time at a high level. As a defensive co-ordinator you are able to game plan for this as you know what they like to do. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning like to be in the pocket and they do not run the football when in trouble, they will hang in there until the last minute which was their demise against the Jets in both their play-off losses as they were sacked by the Jets defence. Big Ben separated himself by being able to be mobile. This mobility was not factored into the Jets game plan and in the end it cost them a trip to the Super Bowl as Ben made plays out of nothing that moved the chains and vaulted the Steelers into the Super Bowl.

Both Manning and Brady were not mobile against the Jets defence. Their usual surgical like approach was hindered by the Jets patient game plan of not being too predictable in their defensive schemes and blitz's. The Jets were able to create confusion and then pressure Brady and Manning into making mistakes and miscues and allowing them more of an option to run the football rather than throw which is not in their comfort zone. Roethlisberger, however, is comfortable running and rolling with the football which is what separated him from the other two great quarterbacks.



Cheers!

Youth Football: Attacking the Zone and Man Defence

Recently I was asked what the best passing patterns to run versus a zone or man football defence.

First of all your football systems depend a large amount on your personnel that you have to run them. Based on that, you design or adopt a particular football system that your players have the means to thrive in. In other words you don't run a system that your players don't have the tools to operate.

Once you establish that system and your players thrive within it you will be able to make game adjustments within that football system that will be easy for players to adopt. One of the things that you will probably do at some point is to adjust your passing patterns based on what kind of football pass defence that you are up against whether it be man or zone defence.

One of the rules that I have adopted and it's easy to remember is: "Run away" from man and "Sit down" versus zone coverage. In other words, when adjusting football passing patterns versus a man coverage system, call crossing patterns or passing routes whereby your wide receiver is running away from the defensive back. Look for the mismatches where your wide receiver is basically a better athlete than the defender and is out running them. A lot of teams when up against a man coverage football system will isolate their best athlete versus a weaker defender and let his athletic ability get him open.

Versus zone coverage, the adjustment to make would be to get your players to "sit down" or stop and set up in the seams between the zones. Basically your wide receiver would run his route and look for the opening between zones, stop, set-up, while the quarterback would scan and find him open in the seams.

Rule of thumb: Run away from man and sit down versus zone!

Cheers!

Steelers and Jets take Humble Approach

After the trash talk of last week between arch rivals New York Jets and the New England Patriots its interesting to listen to both the Steelers and Jets now pay respect to each other. Especially the Jets, who clearly seem to have a admiration for the Steelers.

Seems funny does'nt it?


Perhaps the NFL has stepped in after the drama of last week and has warned both teams that negative comments will not be tolerated this time around. It just seems so strange to hear the compliments. Certainly, its a lot better this way and a lot more professional.

Overall, last weeks comments put a black mark on the league standards. Kinda looked like bush league type behaviour. The post game antics were definately unsportsmanlike, something that you'd expect out of 10 year olds and not from the best athletes in the world! Probably, after some insight into last week all agreed it was not in the leagues best interest.

Anyway, expect a great football game on Sunday between two great football teams!

Cheers!

New York Jets Walk the Talk: Is this the new NFL?

I must admit that I was surprised on Sunday after the New York Jets defeated the New England Patriots 28-21 in what can be described as a defensive masterpiece versus Tom Brady's Patriots. With all the hype and the trash talk leading up to the game I thought for sure that it would motivate the Patriots. But in the end the Pats were motivated but were defeated by a more motivated and determined, well prepared football team.

But what about all the trash talk, character attacks, and call -outs between players? Is this the new NFL?

Clearly, the media fed on these comments and the build-up to the game was enormous but do we want this in our sport?  With all the social media thats available today do we want our ten year olds to trash talk each other the days leading up to the game?

Certainly Not! Wheres the professionalism and at the end of the day what are we teaching our youth?

Cheers!