Quick Bits: Talking Defense

A reader recently asked me to explain types of defenses. And so, request granted!

Most often, commentators will talk about man-to-man and zone coverage. Basically, man-to-man is when a defensive player is assigned to block (or defend against) a particular player. Zone is when a defensive player is assigned a particular zone. Simple, right?

In man-to-man coverage, the defender's only job is to make sure his assigned man doesn't get the ball (or in the case of an RB, doesn't get anywhere with the ball). The defender is going to stick to that guy like a tween to her HS crush....Following him like a lovesick puppy. Or a pit bull chasing bacon. Either way, in man-to-man coverage, the defender sticks to his, well, man.

In zone coverage, the defender is guarding his "zone" or his fiefdom. The biggest difference is, when a defender is playing zone, it doesn't matter who comes into his fiefdom, that joker is getting laid out if he's got the ball. (At least, that's the plan if it is effective zone coverage). Interesting fact: according to www.dummies.com (yes, I scour other sources so you don't have to!!) an easy way to identify zone coverage is when more than two defenders drop deep into the secondary.*

Now, within each of these, there are even more subtypes of the defenses: 3-4 Defense, Cover 2, Nickel, and so on. But that's more detail for a different day. Can you spot both of these this week? Let's call that a project for Week 2.

*so basically, they line up like a guy is at home plate during the kickball game rather than a girl. Did this bug anyone else in elementary school? No? Just me then.

Tutorial: What's a Tight End?

Okay, other than what made Jen Selter "famous", a tight end is an increasingly important position in the game.

To paraphrase the NFL's definition of a TE: a tight end is both an eligible receiver and a blocker. “This position combines the attributes of receivers and lineman and will block during a running play or run a route during a passing play.” Tip: sometimes referred to as a Slot Receiver.

So basically, this is a player who is nimble enough to bob and weave, but big enough to knock a defensive player on his keister. Check and check.

How can you tell if a player is a tight end or a receiver? Well, he’s generally a tall and strong guy who you may also see running a route. They share numbers with wide receivers, so you’ll look for numbers beginning with 1, 4, or 8. It's the guy on the field that my tall homegirls will want to reserve for themselves, but only if they're the sort of chick that likes to get tossed around before making whoopee. On the field, he's the guy that's going to be the lover (catching the beloved pigskin) and the fighter (knocking a defensive lineman on his ass when he's in protection mode).

Notable tight ends for this year (in no particular order):
Jimmy Graham*
Vernon Davis
Rob Gronkowski
Julius Thomas

Tight ends are bound to be a hot position this year, with Tony Gonzalez** setting the standard for what a TE should be doing over his illustrious career; and Julius Thomas and Rob Gronkowski just going HAM last year. Choose wisely in your fantasy leagues this year...you never know when this hybrid position is going to join the elite points-horses we all know and love.






*Yes, officially. There was a whole thing. Check the explanation here.

**Or as I like to call him, Sex on a Stick.

When Football is Your Fantasy

Football fantasies often involve cheerleaders, bare midriffs, jerseys, and balls . But fantasy football has nothing to do with any of that. Fantasy football is Monday Morning Quarterback meets Madden (the video game, not the coach). Fantasy football gives all of us who are glued to the TV on Sundays (and Thursdays and Mondays) the chance to build the team of our dreams and battle against the team our friends dream about. So how does it work? It's actually a lot easier than you think*.

I only have experience with Yahoo!'s Fantasy Football, but I'm told they are all basically the same. Each person is a manager (aka, a General Manager or GM) and has the opportunity to pick their team. Typically, you pick: a quarterback, a defense, a tight-end, 2 wide receivers, 2 running backs, 1 tight end, 1 flex position (which can be either a wide receiver or a running back or maybe a tight end), and a kicker. These are the positions that must be filled at all times. Then, there are 5 people on the bench. You need those folks for bye weeks, injuries, or if your first choice ends up sucking. You develop your team on draft day. Some leagues do this as a huge event -- live and lots of yelling about stealing players. Others do it by auto-draft. However you do it, the strategy and gamesmanship can start as early as the first round. So be careful who you pick!

Of course, you can't always get the team of your dreams on the first try. (What would be the fun in that?) Inevitably, one of your favorite players will go to another team. Or you'll be in a huge league and end up with all kinds of players you've never heard of. That's fine. There's always the opportunity to draft players later, and many leagues allow for trades among teams.

So, you've set your team. Scoring is then based on what happens in the actual game each week. So let's take the QB position. Say you have Drew Brees (my fantasy pick 3 years running). I score every time Brees does his job on the field. For every touchdown he throws (running or throwing), I get 6 points. For every 20 yards he runs or throws, I get 1 point. And, for interceptions, -2. If my guy Brees gets sacked, -1. Running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers all score similarly in that they receive 1 point for every reception, 6 for each touch down (receiving or rushing), and 1 point for every 10 yards rushed (or received in the case of wide receivers and tight ends). Each position has the opportunity to score based on what really happened in each player's real game. Check your league settings for the rest of the scoring scheme.

The only downside to fantasy football, as beautifully stated by a friend of mine, is that you lose your ability to remain objective about games you just shouldn't care about. Suddenly, you're sitting in front of the TV intently watching the Monday night Cardinals vs. Raiders game, because your fantasy team's final score is totally dependent on how many receptions Larry Fitzgerald has. Which is pretty unreasonable if your Packers beat the snot out of the Bears in the early game on Sunday. Silver lining? It makes going out to watch the games on Sundays WAY more interesting. Suddenly, you understand why everyone loves the game so much.

One of my greatest triumphs is when I can talk about stats and points about little known players. I was out with a great friend a few years ago. She'd asked me to come with her to the local Browns bar to watch the 2nd half of the Browns' home game against the Patriots. As a true Packer fan, I'm an NFC kinda girl, and I couldn't care less about a random interconference AFC game, but whatever, I love football and my friends. And besides, the Browns were winning! Who wouldn't want to witness this live and among their fans? At the time, Peyton Hillis was one of my running backs on my fantasy team.. He was the Browns' running back that year, and their star player. He was a fantasy sleeper -- meaning, for those of us who had him, he was likely an auto-pick -- but out of no where, he started scoring mad points. (The same thing would happen with Joique Bell of the Detroit Lions the very next year). So, I'm standing at the bar, and Peyton Hillis runs it in for a touchdown. I'm not in a Browns jersey but I'm totally screaming my head off. A guy standing next to my friend makes some snarky comment like "riiiiight...like you really the Browns." And I respond, "they're alright, but more importantly, Peyton Hillis is KILLING it for me!! He's got like 28 points today!!" At which point the guy totally high-fived me for a) knowing who Peyton Hillis was in the first place, b) choosing him for my fantasy RB, and c) playing (doing?) fantasy football. Added bonus? It always feels good when Tom Brady is losing.



*And, as an aside, it's a great way to learn more about teams and players outside of the ones you already follow.

Go For It!

Some of the most exciting moments in football happen when a team is facing a 4th down and they decide to go for it. Ask any Pats fan about the 4th and 2 play against the Colts in 2009, or any Packers fan about 4th and 26 against the Eagles in 2004 and you will be met with an audible groan. One of the fundamentals of football are the downs. So let's start with a quick definition about what they are and why we care.

Downs are essentially "chances." A team has 4 chances to move the ball 10 yards. Once a team moves the ball 10 or more yards, then they get 4 new chances to go 10 more yards. To keep track of where we are, announcers generally refer to the number of yards to go before a team will have moved the ball 10 yards. With me so far? Ok, let's try an example.

Okay, you always start with the 1st down and you always have 10 yards to go. So, the first play of any series is always 1st down and 10 yards to go -- for short: 1st and 10. So let's say, the quarterback does a quick pass to the running back and he runs 4 yards. Now, time for a little bit of math.* We had 10 yards to go, and we only went 4. So we've still got 6 yards until we've moved 10. So therefore there are 6 yards to go and we've only got 3 downs (chances) to get there. So for our second chance we have 6 yards to go. Or....you got it...2nd and 6. Now, let's say on the next play, the quarterback throws a pass to the wide receiver who is about 5 yards away. The wide receiver catches it, but is immediately tackled. Now what? Well, back to math. We had 6 yards to go, but only went 5. So 1 yard to go and 2 chances to get there. It's our 3rd shot to move 10 total yards. So it's now what? (All together now) 3rd and 1.

Now, let's get fancy. On the 3rd down, a wide receiver gets away from a receiver and hauls ass down the field about 15 yards. QB hurls the ball to the wide receiver, who catches it and runs another 10 yards before being tackled by a cornerback. Now what? We've got another chance to go, and we're 24 yards past where we needed to be. Is it 4th and -24? Of course not, that'd be silly. We made it the 10 yards, so we start over with 4 new downs to go another 10 yards. So, it's 1st and 10.

Ok, let's say the defense is really good, and has just been containing the wide receivers and stuffing the running backs. So, let's say it's 4th and 1**. If you try and fail to go that 1 yard (the whole thing people...close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades), then the other team takes over exactly where you are. That's no good. So you can either kick it away -- pinning them as close to their own end zone as possible. OR, you can try to go that 1 yard. And this is where so many cringe-worthy or awesomesauce moments are born. Take this, for example:



In this video, we see the Packers stop the Steelers at 4th and 2...in the final meaningful play of the Super Bowl. With this stop, the Packers fans are celebrating and Steelers fans are crying.

Tomorrow, I head out for a re-match of the Fail Mary. Sure, it's a pre-season game, but it's going to be awesome! Next time you'll see me, I'll be the one with the heels on the gridiron. Love it!

******************UPDATE*******************

Someone pointed out that field position is an important part of the decision of whether to go for it or not. This is true. Certainly when a team is in the red zone, the odds of going for it on 4th down go up. At that point, they are just sooooo close to the end zone that a team might think it's worth the risk. The farther away from the goal line, the lower those odds will get. Another factor? The time in the game. When it's the 1st quarter, the team may kick it away and rely on the defense to get the ball back. 4th quarter and last few minutes of the game? Well, that's how you end up with videos such as the one above. It's either go for it, or feel like you didn't give it your all and try to win the game. Lastly, the skill of the players is a big part of the decision. If you've got one of the top running backs in the league (Adrian Peterson -- Vikings; Brandon Jacobs -- Giants; Ray Rice -- Ravens; and so on) you're more liable to rely on him to get you those last few feet.

There are stats floating around the internet that say teams should go for it more often than they do. The pressure certainly makes the game more exciting. Wonder if we'll be seeing a lot of teams trying to turn that 4th down into a 1st down? We'll see!



*I know, I know. I was also told there'd be no math. But you can handle this, I promise.

**Yes, exactly. We've gone 9 yards in the first 3 chances.