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摘抄 WSJ上的一篇文章给懂英文的朋友分享 When the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed the rival Dallas Cowboys Sunday night on national TV, it was in some ways a vindication of a controversial defensive alignment with a catchy name: the Wide Nine. The name refers to what football coaches (and geeks like us) call the "nine technique," when a defensive end lines up either across from the tight end's outside shoulder, or a few feet outside of the offensive tackle. The wider alignment means there is usually nobody lined up across from the defensive end, giving him an unobstructed path up the field. When both defensive ends use this technique simultaneously to clamp down on the quarterback like the two points of a lobster claw, it's called the "Wide Nine." The alignment looks even less ordinary because the two defensive ends line up in a pose more common at track meets than at football games, with both hands on the ground and their butts in the air, allowing them to get a quicker running start at opposing quarterbacks. The Wide Nine worked so well Sunday night that it turned the game into a Halloween horror show—at least for Cowboys fans. In the first quarter, after the Eagles went up 7-0, the Cowboys were starting their own march downfield. Then they took a 10-yard holding penalty, which left them with a first-and-20: an obvious passing situation. Eagles defensive end Jason Babin lined up in his track stance just outside of Cowboys tight end Jason Witten. When the ball was snapped, Witten went out for a pass, leaving Babin free to do his best Usain Bolt impersonation in the direction of quarterback Tony Romo. Babin spun around right tackle Tyron Smith and implanted his shoulder in Romo's rib cage, which had already been shattered earlier in the season. The hit came 2.6 seconds after the ball was snapped. As Romo fell to the ground, his head collided with the forearm of Eagles defensive end Trent Cole, who had lined up in the same track stance on the other side of the Eagles' line. [size=1em][size=1em][size=1em][size=1em][size=1em][size=1em][url=]Enlarge Image[/url]
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NFLThe Eagles line up in the Wide Nine against the Cowboys on Sunday. Before Sunday night, the formation had become somewhat of a scapegoat for the Eagles' early-season struggles that saw them lose four of their first five games.
The Eagles' Wide Nine had turned Romo into a human pretzel lying in a heap on the grass, and the crowd was going wild. Five minutes later, the Eagles were up 14-0 and on their way to a 34-7 rout. There's no question the Wide Nine is a quarterback killer. But before Sunday night, it had become somewhat of a scapegoat for the Eagles' early-season struggles that saw them lose four of their first five games. The question some fans asked was whether, by its very nature, the Wide Nine caused the Eagles to struggle against the run. Defenses on every level of football—from high school to the pros—operate on one basic principle against the run, known as gap control. The spaces between each offensive lineman are called gaps, and each one is defined by a letter. The space between the center and guard is the A gap, the guard and tackle is the B gap and so on. Defensive linemen and linebackers are each assigned specific gaps to control or cover. In the Wide Nine, the defensive ends play so far outside that the linebackers have greater gap responsibility in the middle of the line. Safeties also have to play a bigger role in stopping the run. The Eagles' disastrous start this season was due in large part to problems stopping the run. Michael Turner, Frank Gore and Fred Jackson all gashed the Eagles for over 100 yards during their 1-4 start. Former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil said he's noticed Philadelphia has had difficulties stopping the run, but isn't so sure it's all because of a faulty scheme. The Eagles have a first-year defensive coordinator (Juan Castillo) who had a shortened offseason in which to install his new strategy. "I think it's the talent getting used to playing that scheme," Vermeil said. The Wide Nine is, in part, a response to the sea change in the way NFL teams play offense: More and more, they are incorporating elements of the "spread offense" pioneered by college teams, sending extra receivers downfield. As this offensive revolution takes place, defenses have entered a state of flux as they figure out how best to cover the NFL versions of college offenses. There's some evidence the Wide Nine may be a good antidote to the spread offense. One of college football's top defensive teams—Michigan State—regularly runs the Wide Nine, which it uses to stymie quarterbacks before they ever have a chance to release the ball. The Spartans have given up the second-fewest yards per game in major-college football. Like any NFL innovation, it's impossible to tell where the Wide Nine was first used, but the Eagles and Detroit Lions—its two primary practitioners—both got it from Tennessee. Jim Schwartz, the Titans' former defensive coordinator, brought it to Detroit in 2009 when he became the Lions' coach. The Eagles got it from Jim Washburn, the defensive line coach who left the Titans for Philadelphia this season. Ironically, the Titans have gone back to a more traditional defensive front under Jerry Gray, their first-year defensive coordinator. Gray said the Wide Nine alignment made it difficult for some players to handle all of the gaps they were responsible for on running plays. If teams can run for four or five yards on first down, it makes it easy for spread-style offense to throw a quick, easy pass for a first down. "The philosophy here is, let's stop the early-down runs," Gray said in an interview. The Titans are 4-3 and 11th in points allowed so far this season. But the Eagles look like they may be getting the hang of it. They've held their last two opponents to fewer than 14 points and under 100 yards rushing. Monday, they play the Chicago Bears, who struggled in Week 5 against the Lions' version of the Wide Nine.
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发表于 2011-11-1 15:05
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