Football 101

[Warhorse]

Since I have been critical of all the drama postings....and I hate hypocrisy, I have decided to start a football knowledge thread so that those among us, myself included, can partake in conversations that are more about the game of football, rather than what the football players are doing outside of the game itself. Bear with me mods, my intent is for this thread to contain direct Colt discussion after a first few information postings. Be aware that my knowledge is small at best, and I would ask for assistance through corrections or suggestions from others more knowledgeable than myself

This way we can pass the offseason time getting to better know the game, and how it applies to our upcoming season.

The first aspect I would like to tackle (lilttle inside joke there), is personnel groups. On offense and defense, there are 11 players each side. On offense, there is ALWAYS 5 offensive lineman and a QB. That leaves 5 other players which can be described as a personnel package or group. It is described with a set of two numbers such as 11, 21, or 00.

*The first number is the number of RB's

*The second number is the number of TE's

add those two together and the remaining number of the 5 possible players, is obviously the number of WR's. So a 21 personnel group would be?

2 RB's

1 TE

2 WR"s

What would a 23 personnel group be?

2 RB's

3 TE's

0 WR's

(This would be called your teams big package....likely seen at the goal line when the desire is to roadgrade into the endzone)

What would a 00 personnel group be?

0 RB's

0 TE's

5 WR's

(This can also be called "all go", when it is the last play of the game and a Hail Mary is about to be executed).

Feel free to add to this, correct it, or begin talking about how the past personnel groupings might change with the new front office and coaches that were hired. How do the players that are currently FA's possibly change our personnel groups?

[The Fish]

I dont like the Bears.

[UndecidedFrog]

Sometimes I see the Jim Harbaugh run a heavy/jumbo package with 6 linemen, 2 TE, QB and 1 FB and 1 RB, 0 WR...would this be a variant of the 23?

[Warhorse]

I believe that is a 23, with the 6th on lineman declaring he is a TE and the FB being the other RB. That would definitely be a monster package. When he was at Stanford and they need a first down, it was a beautiful thing to watch.

A variant on that package...especially with Peyton under center, would be for the Olineman declaring as a TE to be strong side, and have Peyton bootleg and roll back to the other side and mosey in for the score.

Time for another explanation. The side that the tight end lines up on...is the strong side. So if you had a defense that employed a strong-side Linebacker and a weak-side Linebacker...you can see that they would line up according to where the TE positions himself.

[Warhorse]

I dont like the Bears.

Ok. bare with me. That better?

[Dustin]

I dont like the Bears.

[KeyserSoza]

, good old Fry

[shecolt]

Ok. bare with me. That better?

Actually, no, it is not. "Bear with me" was the correct terminology. "Bare with me" would mean that you were . . . shall we say, asking others to undress with you.

BTW, I like this topic as it will help me learn more about the game itself.

[Portage Coltfans]

with the evolution of the TE position, maybe they will create a separate name to differ the two types of players.

the Jimmy G, clark, gronk type who play just as much outside as inside vs the traditional TE only types.

any idea's for what to call the New breed of TE's, instead of just TE?

[PManning21]

Tight Receivers? Lol

[Coltsfanman1953]

Wide ends?

[Warhorse]

Wide ends?

Actually, it's called a "split end".

Aren't there any other football savvy people out there to add to this? I will add more tonight after work.

[Coltsfanman1953]

Actually, it's called a "split end".

Aren't there any other football savvy people out there to add to this? I will add more tonight after work.

"It was a joke, son, a joke I say" to quote Foghorn Leghorn

[Coffeedrinker]

Good idea for a thread. Nothing much to add to your initial post, other than I will say different teams using different titles for their formation. In college we used a number and a color. The number indicate personnel package the color indicated which side would be strong side or a balanced formation. Then the routes (for pass plays) were given in order from left to right.

To add something useful to the thread I will talk about zone blocking and man blocking.

Zone blocking is a scheme where each player is responsible for an area usually from the left edge of the neck of the person to their left to the right edge of the neck to the person on their right and that zone extends to 5 yards beyond the LOS to the endzone behind the offense. That way you have some overlap of areas. The Olineman is then responsible for everyone that comes into that area whether it be one, two or three defenders. The overlap helps with that because hopefully if there are three people in one area at least one of the other blockers are not engaged and can help. We have all watched with the Colts as the guards and centers are being pushed back by 4 or 5 defenders and yet the tackle is just standing there with no one to block. You are screaming at the TV for him to go help. But the tackle is doing his job; one of the first rules of zone blocking is you do not abandon your zone until the ball is past you. This is a big reason why continuity is so important in a zone blocking scheme, each lineman has to know exactly what the lineman on both sides is going to be doing in certain situations. To go back up to the example above. Let's say 3 defenders are attacking the LG's zone. They have a LB coming to the outside so the LT has someone in his zone and they have someone in the center's zone. Now this leaves the RG with no one to block. But the RG has to recognize the situation and be prepared because the center is supposed to move his defender to the RG's zone and pass him off to the RG, then disengage and provide help to the LG. If the center fails to pass of his guy or the RG fails to pick him up then the LG is trying to block 2 or 3 defenders which is a losing battle most of the time.

The way to attack a zone blocking scheme is simple... overload one side of the line. That is why 3-4 teams have been effective against the Colts because it's easier to overload one side from that formation.

A man blocking scheme is self explanatory. A play is called and when the olineman get up to the line they pick their man based on where the play is going. People think that man blocking needs to have 350lb maulers on the front but that's not the case, they do need to be strong but they also need to be able to get out to the 2nd level quickly to get a LBer if he is their man. If the line shifts or the LBers move then the lineman have to keep track of that because the man they are supposed to block may change.

The way to attack a man blocking scheme is to have your key reads and then have LBers athletic enough to flow behind those keys and fill the hole. An example of this working perfectly is when you watch a hole develop and then a LB steps in front of another defender who is engaged and fills the hole. On the Colts both Conner and Angerer are very good at that. I don't remember his name, but a LBers for the Pats did it extremely well in the first half of the SB and it was a big reason why the Giants went away from the running game. Ray Lewis has made a name for himself by seeing that hole develop and getting their quickly to fill it.

Thanks warhorse for starting this thread. Let's keep it going. Is there a defensive guru out there that give us some basics on D?

[Warhorse]

"It was a joke, son, a joke I say" to quote Foghorn Leghorn

"I say", "This kid is reeeeeeeeal dumb". Funny stuff.

[Warhorse]

Here is a drawing of a common passing tree. It has the names of different routes that you hear talked about.