Ineligible Man Downfield

Ever since the Miami Dolphins ran the “wildcat offense,” all the rage is about what version of the wildcat offense does your football team play.  So off the top of my head, I can count several teams including the Dolphins who have used it:  Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens and a whole host of other teams.  The total stands at about 16 or basically half of the teams of the NFL.  The Philadelphia Eagles are the latest to use this formation with the addition of the versatile and controversial Michael Vick.  Some teams should use it such as the Chargers with the more than capable LT as the hybrid quarterback/running back.

Why such interest?

I think the answer is quite simple.  Its the same reason gadget plays (made famous by Ken Whisenhunt) work.  The answer is leverage.  If the defense does not know what the offense is going to do, the advantage defaults automatically to the offense which helps them score more points.  Unlike gadget plays which are used once or twice in a game, teams are using the wildcat more regularly.

Isn’t the wildcat a college play?

Sure, the wildcat is used more often in college and high school, because not every school has a capable quarterback that can throw the long ball. (Some NFL teams such as the 49ers or Lions should look into this).  With that said, the obvious question would be since this offense has been around for so long, wouldn’t coaches have a defensive scheme for it?  Yes and no.  The college game is different from the pros where defensive coordinators already have it on the books.  It was inconceivable that a college play such as the wildcat would have succeeded in the NFL that it was assumed unnecessary for defenses to plan for it.  However we know now how that turned out.  Some assumptions need to be tested and this passed with flying colors.

Significance of the wildcat

So what is the importance of this discussion anyhow?  The NFL has relied on the same number of plays over the years and the wildcat represents possibly a new revolution in scheming in the NFL.  New plays and formations may change the game, making it more exciting.  (Aside:  Dang, Roger Godell should hire me for my type of analysis!).  What if we line up with two quarterbacks or what if we only line up with 3 running backs?  Wouldn’t that be intersting?

This begs the following question:

Can the spread offense work in the NFL?

What can I say?  I’m speechless almost to the point of “shock and awe“.  Okay maybe not to that extreme, but I am certainly disappointed at the Carolina Panthers for putting forth a lackluster game against the Arizona Cardinals. The game was basically over by halftime with Jake Delhomme chucking giveaways like he was Santa Claus, the man incarnate.  Meanwhile, Kurt Warner was throwing TDs and partying like it was 1999:

In my opinion if the Panthers had stuck with the running game of DeAngelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart, the game would have ended in Carolina’s favor.  Instead, an anxiety attack hit after the first few turnovers and the Panthers tried to air it out like they were the “Greatest Show On Turf” of Warner’s Ringling Brothers past.  Argh, how frustrating! Continue reading

The home crowd, the live experience, the nachos, beer and sausages are some of the great peaks when attending a game; but other than your team kicking some ass, there is nothing better than some wonderful and delicious CHEERLEADERS! As all of you know, my partner and I were lucky enough to see the Chargers kick the Colts out of the payoffs for the second straight year. To put a cherry on the top we got to watch some of the finest cheerleaders the NFL has to offer. I personally admire Jill Ann but you should check the San Deigo Chargers Cheerleaders yourself and lets us know which one is you favorite.

This being my first post, I would like to introduce myself to the blog world as Quackster.  Why such an oddity of a name?  Well I’m glad you asked or rather not, actually.  My simplest and most direct answer is I do not know.  However, if I required divulge the reason why I have such a “brilliant” name, I would probably have to answer that question by saying that my moniker is related to the way ducks “quack” or voice their opinion.  Consequently with impeccable foresight and coincidence, the main reason for our blog (ours meaning myself and my partner who shall introduce himself in a forthcoming post) is to voice the quirky and “quacky” side of sports, analyzing this domain with a broad lens, possibly as big as SETI.  Anyway, let me describe to you my first experience at an NFL football game and analyze what I was able to perceive.

One of my favorite teams is the San Diego Chargers and they rank second on the list.  Yeah, I understand that you’d think that I’d be talking about my all-time favorite team, but that would be the Carolina Panthers (who will be playing this coming weekend a.k.a be on the look out for that post), but the reason for this post is that  my first NFL experience was a playoff game. I got decent seats as you can see from the following:

A playoff game atmosphere is quite amazing as the fans are generally up on their feet the whole time, at least as far as “my not so quite 20/20 vision” will allow me to see.  TV definitely does not do the game justice, especially to the volume of the fan cheers.  It also does not do it justice in terms of the speed of the game.  Seeing the game live, you definitely see the speed of the players, especially that darn speedster of a player, Darren Sproles.  He could probably give the roadrunner some competition.  He’s definitely a game changer.  Now if we still had Michael Turner and a healthy LT, we’d have the West Coast version of Earth, Wind and Fire (Do you think the ATL would allow Turner–not named Norv– come back to the Chargers for the playoffs because you know, he’s just “chillaxin” after the Falcons lost to the Father Time–Kurt Warner–led Cardinals).  Well as you probably know,  the game was close throughout and San Diego was able to pull out the upset (yes, I said upset) at the end needing the overtime period to do so.

I can probably go into further detail the account what others have already have done through reliable news services such as ESPN or CBS Sportsline, but the aim of this post as well as the blog in general is to point out unique views or experiences as well as analysis not always covered by the mainstream media.  One could probably say that our website is a touch of The Onion, but derived from real sources and is a parody of sorts.

To begin, I’d like to point out what my weak sauce 3x optical, 4x digital zoom Canon camera (SD 600 for you camera freaks) can do:  One things for sure  is the ability to spot John Madden from NBC Sports up in the press box:

I think you can see Al Micheals too, but I’m not so sure.  You can spot John Madden with his white hair on the left in the press box area.  So what is the point I am trying to get at?  Oh yeah, not only is my camera weak sauce, but the particularly the press box is also weak sauce.  Being up so high, I wonder how they can make such astute observations about the game.  Granted they get an overview of the play from the top and can see how a play develops, but it always amazes me when the commentators can determine quickly the gain or loss in yardage when the players get into a dog-pile.  It is like they have a “sixth sense” for those type of calls.  Even though they have video monitors, the same one that projects the coverage to the viewers at home, you probably couldn’t tell off-hand the difference in yardage so fast.  Is there a conspiracy out there?  Does Roger Godell or the referees or even both buzz in letting the announcers know the result of the play or perceived result?  Does that extend to the results of games as well?  Hmm?  I know John Madden is a superb commentator and his analysis is normally spot on, but that does answer my question aforementioned.  I guess the answer lies with Al Michaels, but since I cannot clearly see him in the booth, a possible answer must lie elsewhere:

Check the zoom-in.  You see that Al is talking to a person, but just not any person.  It seems to me to be Tom Moore, the offensive coordinator of the Colts.  Why is this so?  Is he telling Tom to persuade the Colts to keep the game close or even lose purposefully to save NBC Football ratings?  Hmm?  I never knew my camera was so good at picking up these small tidbits, even though it is weak sauce in its “zoomability.”  I guess it is in line with Bud Light’s “Drinkability” campaign, and you all know how Bud Light rates on the taste meter.  Whatever the back story is, the true reason for the Colts loss (Could it be Ed Hochuli? You know I had to bring this up) is the following:  Mike Scifres is the the real reason the Chargers won.  Did you see his 67 yard punt in the game?  He literally kept the Colts in check with his kicks.  He is the WildCard Weekend MVP for 2009 in my book.  Aside:  I’m not sure if such an award exist, but if it doesn’t, that idea is copyrighted by yours truly.   Obviously, I’m a bit biased here but the fact of the matter is if the Colts’ starting field position were a tad bit closer, the game would have been a blow-out with the AL MVP and his team moving on.  Oddly enough, that was what I was expecting, but my heart won this one with the Chargers going forward.  Let’s see if they can win one against Big Ben this upcoming weekend.  Go Super Chargers!  Get that mushroom so you can grow like those Mario Brothers!