I’ve emphasized the importance of leverage in a variety of situations, mostly in terms of blocking or pass rushing. No matter the position you’re playing, leverage has a major role in how much success you’ll achieve. Sometimes it’s getting your hands on the ballcarrier - good tackling form requires good use of leverage. Linebackers use it to keep their legs clear of clutter during a play. Wide receivers and cornerbacks talk about leveraging - bring force to bear - on a specific route. When you have a cornerback covering you tightly and you fake a cut into his body but plant and cut away sharply, he’s lost the leverage on that route.
It works the other way - you’ll see Champ Bailey taking away the leverage from a receiver by legally interfering with where the receiver wants to go. A top quarterback can do the same thing with just his eyes, forcing a safety to break on one route in order to set up another receiver to be open. Leverage can be physical, as it is in pass rushing and in blocking. It can be the intangible key to a successful negotiation or a defended or completed pass. It’s one of the keys to football on a number of levels.
I talk about leverage a lot because it’s equally important for the defenders and for the offensive linemen or whoever - a tight end, wide receiver or running back - who has to take on a defender and turn them away. The guy who achieves leverage first will win the battle. As I mentioned when talking about drive blocking - moving your opponent three vertical inches will win the encounter. That works for defenders who are working a bull rush, too - if you can get the blocker either off-balance or moving backward three inches (both are preferable), they’re at your convenience.
Good Morning, Broncos fans! Giants owner John Mara says it's "ridiculous" to accuse the league of concealing evidence on the long-term effects of concussions.
And you know what? That's true.
After all, the NFL tried very hard not to ever find that information out in the first place, by having a freaking rheumatologist (Jets head doctor Elliot Pellman) head up its concussion committee, and by blackballing CTE expert Bennet Omalu and his pioneering research.
How can anyone possibly accuse the NFL of concealing information that its so-called "experts" did not have the expertise to interpret?
Surely there's a Randian explanation for all of this...
Continue reading "Peyton could’ve grabbed more cash in Tennessee Lard"
Happy Tuesday, friends. A few of you have been asking in comments around the site how my move has been going, and the answer is that it’s been kind of a cluster-(you know what). My moving company packed up my stuff on Friday 6/29, and they told me that they average three to five days for delivery. A few days ago, I got tired of spending money on hotels, and I started camping out on the floor in my new place, with no furniture. As of Monday night 7/9, there’s still no telling when my stuff is coming to Florida, and the company wasn’t too sympathetic to my plight when I called them this morning.
Other than that, though, things are good. I started the new job, and everything is cool there. This whole thing is a big adjustment, and it will require figuring out some new habits and routines, but I’m going to try to start returning some normalcy to my writing schedule this week.
Today, we'll do Part 3 of my series on the Bartlett Defense. If you’re just joining us, or want to refresh your memory, please see the following links:
Part 1 – Personnel and Alignment
Part 2 – Principles for 100% Soundness
Part 2.5 – Responding to an Excellent Comment
Continue reading "The Bartlett Defense: Part 3 - Reads and thought processes"
Good Morning, Broncos fans! Yesterday we mentioned that Rusty Hardin (known recently in the sports world for representing colossal dick Roger Clemens) was the assistant DA when a bunch of Mets were arrested in Houston 26 years ago in similar fashion to Adrian Peterson.
Well, guess what? Hardin is now representing Peterson, and he says that not only did ADP not push or shove any cops, but they "struck (Peterson) at least twice in the face."
A spokesperson for the HPD scrambled by saying Peterson will likely only face a fine. But with the clean-imaged Peterson and the high-profile wildly successful Hardin unlikely to relent, it's probably a bit too late for that.
Continue reading "John Clayton and Clark Judge have insight beyond our feeble minds Lard"
The keys to the basics of blocking are found in the drive block. When an offensive line player is run blocking, the drive block is going to be central to that approach.
Even a zone-blocking team uses them at times: they demonstrate a lot of keys that apply to any form of run blocking. I’m going to present a description of the how-tos of it and also provide a selection of some videos that offer useful tips. The detail that goes into this technique is remarkable. I’m going to keep to just the main points.
The goal of drive blocking is to engage a defender - defensive tackle, end, or linebacker - and to control them to the point where you can move them to the side or backwards, or put them on the ground. You can drive block from a two-point stance - firing out from a crouch - a three-point stance, or a four-point stance. It’s all dependent on which lineman is blocking and what situation they’re in.
Big shot: Bill Self homers — yes, homers — in losing cause
www2.ljworld.com
Fans booed K.C. Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel during introductions, but gave him polite applause during his at-bats.
At least Broncos fans don't boo their own players - amirite Kyle Orton? Can't wait for the Brady Quinn billboards to go up in Chiefsland. (via PFT)
Good Morning, Broncos fans! Washington GM Bruce Allen steps in for PK in writing today's MMQB, and he spends the opener shamelessly fluffing the horrible owners he's worked under: Al Davis, the Glazers, and Dan Snyder.
He also says he dislikes "political correctness" (in a locker room), and how could he not say that when his franchise's name is the epitome of racism? Anyway, the whole column is a shoutout to his family and friends, and it's probably more self-referencing than anything PK himself has ever written.
We can only hope the boys at KSK will choose to obliterate this column instead of digging up more vintage PK, because between calling Snyder "brilliantly quick and witty," trying to portray D.C. as the greatest place in the world, and lobbying for his buddies to make the HOF, this is basically MMQB in his purest, most concentrated form. Eau de MMQB, if you will.
Updated 9:26am ET
Continue reading "Don’t go to Houston nightclubs if you’re a pro athlete Lard"
Good Morning, Broncos fans! Former nemesis Priest Holmes is among the latest ex-NFL stars to speak up about the lingering physical effects of his playing career:
As much as I loved it (football), that same love now has put me in situations that I have to live with. The frontal headaches, the migraines. Laying in bed, it’s tough to get out mornings just because of the pain that is setting in with an arthritic condition, it’s things like that that you never would have really thought about.
Holmes also describes the on-field symptoms he experienced after concussions in frightening fashion:
For a moment, as bodies are peeled off a woozy ballcarrier by officials and teammates, the sky can change color or become a heavenly light.
“This color obviously isn’t going to be blue. It can be a color that can be orange. It can be red. The sky could turn green,” Holmes told The Daily. “There’s even an episode where you see a clear light, like light at the end of the tunnel.”
Good Morning, Broncos fans! Chase Stuart's next look at franchise record holders covers receiving stats. Of course, almost all of Denver's marks are held by newest Ring of Famer Rod Smith, who will gain induction during a Week 3 ceremony when Kubes and the Texans are in town.
But there is one big record that Rod doesn't own, and it's the Broncos standard for touchdown catches in a single season.
Like Stuart has done with his trivia questions, I'll offer a few hints. But since I haven't figured out how to hide them just yet, I'll slip them throughout the Lard.
Gold star to anyone who can guess the player without a hint.
Continue reading "Bubby Brister among latest NFLers to sue over concussions Lard"
Chargers Now Actively Trying To Sell Tickets To Chiefs Fans
deadspin.com
To head off embarrassment, yesterday the Chargers sent out an email blast to a number of Chiefs blogs, including Arrowhead Addict.
The good news is, that Chiefs game will be on NFL Network, so with any cable game, it’ll be shown on local TV no matter the attendance, so Chargers fans will be able to watch the game. With the Chargers seemingly on the downswing, that might also be bad news.
This is quite the pathetic aftermath to the story we noted on Tuesday regarding the Chargers' understandable reluctance to lower their blackout threshold. You stay classy, San Diego.
