本帖最后由 haowh 于 2011-12-13 13:45 编辑
摘自今天的WSJ. 说的是三大传球QB和他们战术与大学橄榄球的渊源。非常专业的一篇分析。双子星TE进攻竟然占了爱国者整个传球进攻的39.7％，也说明为什么Rob Gronkowski能屡破记录！
Whileall eyes are trained on Denverand the magic feet of quarterback Tim Tebow, the NFL is quietly having anhistoric season through the air. It's not that there's one quarterbackthreatening to smoke Dan Marino's 17-year-old single-season passing record.There are three.
DrewBrees of the New Orleans Saints, who's averaging 336 passing yards per game,and Tom Brady of New England, who's at 329,are both on pace to surpass Marino's mark of 5,084 yards. Aaron Rodgers of theGreen Bay Packers, who's arguably having the best season by a quarterback inNFL history, is projected to come within eight yards.
Thisflowering of passing carries the residue of design: Starting in 1978, the NFLtried to open up the skies by enacting a rule that prohibited defensive playersfrom making contact with receivers more than five yards downfield. The rulesent passing totals soaring over the next five seasons, culminating in 1982 when San Diego's Dan Fouts averaged 321 yards passing per game—another record that's injeopardy. Defenses have caught up at various points, but later rules tweaks(many of them designed to protect quarterbacks and wide receivers) continue tomake passing better. The way the rules are, says Fouts, now a CBS analyst,defense may never regain the advantage.
Still,the performances of this season's three virtuosos can also be traced tosomething many NFL coaches and players are too haughty to mention: the powerfulshaping influence of the college game.
Brees,Brady and Rodgers—who are all between 28 and 34 years old—are products of atime in college football when offense was being reshaped by the spread: ascheme that features the quarterback taking shotgun snaps with as many as fivereceivers and an empty backfield. The 1990s—after decades of buttoned-upmilitarism—were college football's version of the psychedelic '60s.Free-thinking coaches finally stepped away from the bedrock values of thepower-running game to fully embrace the pass.
FormerPurdue coach Joe Tiller, who coached Brees in college, grew up in Ohio as a disciple of Woody Hayes, the legendary Ohio Statecoach who championed the idea that the top teams in college football were thetoughest teams. That meant grinding out yards behind a punishing offensiveline.
Butas he began his own coaching career, Tiller didn't take Hayes's lessons asgospel. He recognized a challenge: Hayes had the luxury of relying on theground game because he had the best players and the biggest linemen. So how doyou level the playing field with lesser talent? "We'd pass until we gothot," Tiller said, "and once we got hot, we'd keep passing."
Theiteration of the spread, as Tiller conceived it, wasn't about bombing the balldownfield the way NFL quarterbacks often did. Instead, he wanted hisquarterback to exploit one-on-one matchups in space. Brees elevated the spreadinto something of an art at Purdue, where he eviscerated a heap of Big Tenpassing records between 1997 and 2000.
Brady,who went to Michigan, and Rodgers, who playedat California,didn't run the spread. They typically lined up under center with a tailback inthe backfield. But philosophically, they were more likely to wear paisleyshirts and Nehru jackets than suits and fedoras. The idea was essentially thesame: stretch the field horizontally by zipping the ball to playmakers. InBrady's first season at Michigan,he set school records for pass attempts and completions. During onetranscendent stretch at Cal,Rodgers completed 26 consecutive passes.
"Atone time it was all about having a big quarterback with a strong arm,"former Michigancoach Lloyd Carr said. "I think today most guys would say that accuracy isat the top of the list. You have to get rid of the ball, and you have to throwit so guys can catch it and run with it."
Thisformula has worked for all three quarterbacks in the NFL, where their offensesare predicated on the pass—specifically, the quick, short pass. Collectively,the Packers, Patriots and Saints have generated 74.4% of their offense bythrowing the ball. And more than 60% of the time, the three quarterbacks aretargeting receivers who are less than 10 yards downfield, according to ProFootballFocus.com.
Thecollege spread has elevated the function of slot receivers, who often work themiddle of the field as safety valves whom the quarterback can target ifpressured. In the NFL, that role is being occupied by larger pass-catchingtight ends. These players, who are generally faster than linebackers andbrawnier than safeties, are more durable than receivers. Quarterbacks can hittheir tight ends if they do feel any pressure, and Brees, Brady and Rogers allhave great footwork, which allows them to extend plays. Overall, tight ends areaccounting for 21.3% of the league's receiving yards this season, up from just14.7% throughout the 1990s, according to Stats LLC. Saintstight end Jimmy Graham, a former college basketball player, has 80 receptionsfor 1,101 yards. Packers tight end Jermichael Finley has 42 receptions for 600yards.
Butthere's no more fearsome tight-end duo in the league than the Patriots' RobGronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, who have combined for 1,695 receiving yardsthis season—good for 39.7% of the team's total. "The evolution of theseguys is something completely different," said former Packers quarterbackDon Majkowski, who led the league in passing in 1989. "They're huge andathletic and fast. It's a nightmare of a matchup. I don't know how you stopthem."
Anotherbyproduct of the spread culture in college is the upgraded play of offensive lines,which have been producing players who are as big and strong as ever, but arealso faster and lighter on their feet. At Purdue, Tiller was always looking forwhat he described as "dancing bears" up front who could handle theteam's complicated blocking schemes. As these players have become stalwarts inthe NFL, the offensive linemen have been more mobile and better able to pick upblitzes.
BrianSipe, a former quarterback with the Cleveland Browns, said offensive lines havegotten so good at protecting the quarterback that defensive coordinators haveresorted to blitzing more often. The danger, he said, is that blitzing leavesthe secondary vulnerable.
Whenthe quarterback is a dart-thrower like Brees, Brady or Rodgers, things can godownhill in a hurry. Before Sunday's games, all three were averaging more yardsper pass attempt against the blitz than in normal pass-rush situations.
Ifthere was any question this is the year of the quarterback, it was erasedSunday when Eli Manning of the New York Giants threw for 400 yards against Dallas—pushing him towithin 20 of Rodgers on the season's list. Doesthe NFL owe coaches Tiller and Calcoach Jeff Tedford a note of thanks? Probably—but it seems to have gotten lostin the mail. "You'll never see a pro coach say, 'Well, I picked that upfrom College XYZ,'" Tiller said. "They have to protect theirfraternity, you know. And because of that, they've been pretty stagnant intheir ideas. But I think you're seeing some changes. And I think you'll noticethat those changes are working."
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发表于 2011-12-13 13:42
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