I wrote an article yesterday about what I had heard from people around the NFL regarding what some defensive coordinators were going to instruct their defensive players to do against the read option.
I was told that the defensive coordinators were going to tell their defensive players to hit the quarterbacks whether they had the football or not. Meaning if the quarterback faked the handoff to the running back or gave the handoff to the running back, the defensive player would hit and tackle the quarterback, regardless.
ProFootballTalk.com has an article in it where Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews laid this strategy out to a reporter as the Packers prepared for a game against 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who embarrassed the Green Bay defense last year in the playoffs with some big runs out of the read option.
“It looks as if as long as that quarterback is carrying out that fake, he loses his right as a pocket passer and rules that govern that,” Matthews told Bay Area reporters, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “We’ll see the hits that are legal and what’s not legal, but we think our game plan fits within the scheme of the officials and what we want to do.”
Of course this same situation will take place when the Eagles play the Redskins. Will the Eagles be able to hit Robert Griffin III when he runs the read option and hands off the football? Will the Redskins defenders be able to hit Michael Vick when he runs the fake on the read option? This is a huge question and the NFL will needs to make sure all of the games will be officiated the same way.
How will the refs call this? Will these hits be considered illegal or will they be legal? I do think a quarterback loses his rights as a pocket passer when he runs the read option fakes. In that capacity, he is a runner and therefore can be hit and tackled.
“You do have to take your shots on the quarterback, and obviously they’re too important to their offense,” Matthews said, via Maiocco. “If that means [coaches] pull them out of that type of offense and make them run a traditional, drop-back, pocket-style offense, I think that’s exactly what we’re going for. So you want to put hits as early and often on the quarterback and make them uncomfortable.”
This is going to be a huge issue in the NFL this season.
Kevin Kolb was interviewed shortly afterwards and simply stated “No Comment”
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT VINNIE AND I HAVE BEEN SCREAMING ABOUT. It is a BAD investment to run an offense where in the (typically) Highest Paid player on a franchise increases the hits he is exposed to.
We are gonna need all 5 QB keep Kinnie and Dixon’s agents on the Speed Dial.
Laughing at these jokers . Gonna get LIT UP and another superbowl will go to a Manning Brady ect!
After Thursday game, looks like Manning, He has a high powered, quick strike offense. Looks like he’s completely back from the neck issues. They just have to hold the fort, until Miller gets off of his suspension. They have no pass rush. DRC, didn’t allow a completion against Torry Smith. BWAHAHAHA!!!! Only in Philly!
Manning with 7 tds!?!
What’s the over/under on how many weeks it will take Vick to throw 7 tds??
Vegas line has it pegged at 4.5 weeks.
Who cares.
Only thing that matters in Ws.
Did you win the game. Did you lose the game.
The end.
There are no xtra points in the NFL for style.
In your fantasy world there aren’t.
Too bad the real NFL is different….
7 of the last 10 SB qbs all averaged 4030 yrds with 29 tds
Takes your hero 2 seasons to match that.
The only outliers are Rothless and Flacco and they had the Steel Curtain and a hall of fame D on their side.
THe Eagles don’t.
It isn’t 1972. 3 yrds and a cloud of dust is done. To win a championship you need a qb who is going to hit 65%, 4000 yrds, 30tds with 10 ints.
Vick cannot do that.
(btw…take just the last 5 sb winning qbs instead of the last 10 and the numbers are even higher….with all the rules favouring the dopback passing game, this makes complete sense.
In fact, over the last 10 years the NFL has adopted rule after rule favouring pocket passers….it seems strange why a team would not want one running the show.
Every Time He Roles out Vick (and the like) is gonna have more work for his Chiropractor.
Spines, Necks, Knees. Only so tough. (In an age of player safety we choose to go towards a college offense) Sure kill a scholarship athlete who is 20 something and can recover quickly.
Enjoy being in your 30’s getting hit 300 times this season Vick = Career OVER!
When I was in my early 20’s I would have thought this was a revolutionary offense.
Now I know this is the Experiment that will end Either Football as I have known and loved it (IE Pansy Rule Changes making Defense worthless to invest money in (Eagles are ahead of the curve lol) )
OR
It will be the end of this nonsense and Finally in a few years when Chip is back in college the Eagles will run a pro offense with a pocket passer and Championships will be had (Righhht!)
I hate being this jaded but Philly you have Nagadelphiazed me!
I had Hoped Chip was smarter than this. I guess Ego is able to bring down anyone.
Extract
Another
Greenback
Little
Entertainment
Sucker
Crickets from the Cult of Vick….
Defenses talking during the offseason means nothing. They all talked that “all we gotta do is hit the qb” crap last season and continued to get burned by the read-option.
But of course the Vick haters jump on empty talk because it confirms their bias.
On GCobb#2 Fantasy
I have QB Manning and got my Team off to a great Start
7 TD, 462 Yards, no Int’s.. Damn..
I also Have RB Adrian Petersen..
Should be a good Team for me
I want to know who sat Peyton in favor of Romo in GCobb#1 lol.
who is a total idiot for $500 alex
NFL VP of officiating Dean Blandino to teams this week:
On Read option QBs and hitting:
“He is still treated as a runner until he is clearly out of the play,” Blandino said. “The quarterback makes the pitch, he’s still a runner — he can be hit like a runner until he’s clearly out of the play.”
“The quarterback and the running back, they’re both treated as runners. We don’t know who has the football, we don’t know who’s going to take it, so both players are treated as runners,” Blandino said.
Blandino emphasizes that, while quarterbacks retain the ability to protect themselves by sliding to the ground, they are not granted the same protection while running the read-option.
“The basic concept is, the quarterback position is not defenseless throughout the down. It’s the posture he presents that will dictate his protections,” Blandino said.
“If the quarterback is out of the pocket, he’s clearly out of the play, he cannot be unnecessarily contacted,” Blandino said.
So….for 10 years the NFL has been writing and emphasizing rules for passers in the pocket. Protecting them. But read option QBs. Free Whammos every play.
And guess which one the Birds are going to choose to run? The type of Qbing that’s protected, or the type that’s allowed to get killed?
Good times.