Football for Normal Girls - Page 11 of 67 -

Ashley’s Rookie Season : Headsets and Touchdown Scorers

Here we go with Round 4 of Ashley’s Rookie Season! If you’ve missed any of our previous sessions, you can find them all here:

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Ashley has two great questions today. Let’s dive in!

Q: The coaches have microphone headsets – who are they talking to and why?

A: There are lots of answers to this question, but we’ll start with the most relevant one first. The head coach is usually talking to coordinators who are up in the box (a press box up high in the stadium). They can see things from a much different vantage point than the head coach can and make different observations and play calls based on what they see from above. The coach can also get up-to-date stats on how effective the team is in any number of contexts – third down conversions, running plays on first downs, passing plays, etc – and makes decisions for future play calls based on those numbers. Basically, the head coach is engaged in a constant conversation with his staff in the box in order to collectively create the most effective game plan possible.

Another important microphone/headset scenario is the communication that takes place between the sidelines and the designated “live” helmet. One player from each team is allowed to have a live radio in his helmet through which he receives play calls from a coach – usually a coordinator or position coach, not the head coach, since he is in communication with the coordinators upstairs. On offense, not surprisingly, this player is almost always the quarterback. He usually gets the calls from the offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach. On defense, also not surprisingly, this player is often a middle linebacker, who is like the quarterback of the defense. Similarly, he usually gets the calls from the defensive coordinator or linebackers coach.

The “live” helmets are designated by a green dot sticker on the back of the helmet. The lines of communication aren’t always open – during the 40-second play clock, the coaches have 25-seconds to communicate with the player wearing the live helmet. It automatically shuts off in the last 15-seconds.

Q: Is there an offensive player that is most-likely to score a touchdown?

There are lots of answers to this question, too! Most Likely to Score a Touchdown is a Football Superlative that anyone can win. There is no one position amongst the offensive “skill” players – wide receivers, running backs, tight ends – that is more likely to score a touchdown than any other. It is completely dependent on the team, the players, and the style of offense they play.

Let’s take a look at the 2012 season offensive scoring statistics. Arian Foster, running back for the Houston Texans, had the most touchdowns with 17 total – 15 rushing, 2 receiving. His skill set, combined with the Texans offense (and offensive line), made him most effective as a running back scoring rushing touchdowns.

The player with the second-most touchdowns was James Jones, wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers. He had 14, and they were all receiving touchdowns. Why? That’s the style of offense Green Bay plays: it’s a heavy-passing West Coast offense manned by the league’s best passer, Aaron Rodgers. At that time the Packers had one of the worst running games in the league. Passing was the name of the game, and James Jones is really, really good at that game, so he had a lot of receiving touchdowns as a wide receiver in a pass-happy offense.

Make sense? If you have any followup questions – or any completely unrelated questions! – feel free to leave them in the comments.

5-Minute Football : Audible

Here’s a football term that has crossed into mainstream culture: calling an audible. You might have heard it in any number of contexts, but today we’ll define what it means on a football field.

Calling an audible is what happens when someone, usually the quarterback, changes the play at the line of scrimmage. Why? Usually for one of two reasons: 1. If he doesn’t think the original play called will be successful against the defensive he’s seeing, or 2. If he sees some weakness in the defense he thinks he can exploit with a different play.

Peyton Manning, king of all things offense, does this frequently. Here’s an example:

You’ll notice when an audible is being called because the quarterback will be in make-things-happen mode, waving his arms and yelling and pointing, and players will be switching places to line up for a newly called play.

So, in essence, calling an audible means changing the original play call to a different play that will give your team a better chance to succeed. Like when you audible to pizza for dinner instead of meatloaf as planned to please the masses on a Friday night. (Always a good play call.)

At the Water Cooler : Week 10

Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings (Vikings won, 34-27)

Credit where credit is due: prior to leaving in the 3rd quarter with an injury, Vikings QB Christian Ponder went 17 of 21 for 174 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. Not amazing, but not too shabby for a guy who doesn’t get much r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons (Seahawks won, 33-10)

Stick a fork in the Falcons. They’re done.

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears (Lions won, 21-19)

This NFC North matchup was everything it was promised to be. Megatron and his two second half touchdowns sealed the deal for the Lions, who now own first place in the division.

Philadelphia Eagles at Green Bay Packers (Eagles won, 27-13)

The Packers own first place in the game they are playing, called Let’s See How Many Backups We Can Field In One Season. All appearances would suggest they are a lock to win it.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans (Jaguars won(!), 29-27)

The Jaguars can breathe a sigh of relief: they will not be the 2013 version of the winless ’08 Lions. Your move, Tampa Bay.

St. Louis Rams at Indianapolis Colts (Rams won, 38-8)

Not to take anything away from the Rams, who played very well, but this was a complete collapse by the Colts. And likely the worst game of Andrew Luck’s life: 29 of 47 for 353 yards, 1 TD, and 3 INT’s. That’s a bad day at the office right there.

Oakland Raiders at NY Giants (Giants won, 24-20)

The Giants are officially on a 3-game winning streak. It wouldn’t be news in any other season, but in this one, it’s cause for major celebration – especially considering that two other NFC East rivals fell (Redskins and Cowboys) this week.

Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers (Steelers won, 23-10)

This wasn’t quite the welcome back party Bills fans were anticipating with EJ Manuel back in the lineup.

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens (Ravens won, 20-17 OT)

The Bengals, somehow, came all the way back from a 17-point deficit, thanks in part to an insane AJ Green TD catch. (Even more insane than is usual insane TD catches.) But in the end it wasn’t enough to best the Ravens, who are now only one game behind the Bengals in the wide open AFC North.

Carolina Panthers at San Francisco 49ers (Panthers won, 10-9)

This was the litmus test for the Panthers. They had won four straight…but not against teams like the 49ers…and the 49ers coming off a bye and playing at home, no less. With their fifth straight win coming against the well-rested defending NFC Champs and a Carolina defense that looks scary good, the Panthers can officially be recognized as the real deal.

Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers (Broncos won, 28-20)

Cue the script for the rest of the week in the world of sports: Is Peyton ok? It’s a legitimate question – one we’ll get more answers to after his MRI today – and one that will be talked to death until the Broncos hit the field against the undefeated Chiefs next Sunday.

Houston Texans at Arizona Cardinals (Cardinals won, 27-24)

That fork we used for the Falcons? Feel free to stick it in the Texans. It’s kind of hard to believe they’ve dropped to 2-7.

Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints (Saints won, 49-17)

In Friday’s post we had talked about both the Saints and the Cowboys needing a big statement win after their mediocre Week 9 games. The Saints certainly held up their end of the bargain on that one; it was a thorough stomping.

Miami Dolphins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (MNF on ESPN)

Florida football has seen brighter days, that’s for sure. The fallout in Miami gets a little messier every day and the Bucs – afflicted with MRSA, an ousted QB, and generally bad play – are still looking for their first win. Tonight might be their best chance to get it.

Bye: Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, NY Jets

Review and Preview : Week 9

Review

Down: Once the offense starts their drive, they have four chances, called “downs,” to move the ball 10 yards from where they started (this place is called “the line of scrimmage”). Each play is then calculated by what chance (down) the offense is on and how many yards they have left until they reach 10 yards total. (From Tuesday’s post.)

Down and Distance: The calculation of what down it is and how far the offense has left to go (1st and 10, 2nd and 2, etc). (From Tuesday’s post.)

Line of Scrimmage: The imaginary starting line extending from the ball to both sidelines. (From Tuesday’s post.)

Punt: To kick the ball away to the other team to start a new drive. (From Tuesday’s post.)

The Holder: The guy who takes the snap and holds the ball in place for the kicker. (From Wednesday’s post.)

Actual Field Goal Distance: The distance at the current line of scrimmage + 17-yards. The extra yardage accounts for where the holder holds the ball for the attempt (7-yards behind the line) and where the goal post is located (at the back of the end zone, which is 10-yards deep). (From Wednesday’s post.)

It’s Aaron: A charitable initiative created by Aaron Rodgers and David Gruber that highlights amazing organizations and amazing kids. (From Thursday’s post.)

Also, don’t forget to sign up for your spot in the Understanding Football class over at the Influence Network on November 26th!

Preview

Normal Girl Game of the Week

Broncos at Chargers, Sunday at 4:25pm EST

There are a bunch of worthy candidates for game of the week in Week 10, but I really like this AFC West battle. The Chargers, once again, lost a game they could/should have won in overtime against the Redskins last week. The Broncos are coming off a bye, have an interim head coach (Jack Del Rio, current OC and former Jaguars head coach), and are getting ready for the game of the year next weekend against the Chiefs. The Chargers need this win to stay alive in the playoff hunt. The Broncos need this win to know they can function without John Fox at the helm. Plus: Peyton Manning vs. Phillip Rivers when BOTH are having unreal seasons?! Get ready for an offensive showdown for the ages.

Also on the Radar:

1. I’m really looking forward to Cowboys at Saints on Sunday night, and I’m not 100% sure why. It just seems like it’s going to be a good one – plus, it is Rob Ryan’s first game coaching against his former team, the Cowboys, so that always adds a layer of intrigue. The Cowboys barely won last week against Minnesota, and the mighty Saints fell to the We-Only-Win-In-Odd-Numbered-Weeks Jets, so both will be looking to make statement wins to bounce back this week.

2. Can the Packers hold it together without Aaron Rodgers? And without all of the other artists Formerly Known as Starters? Just to take inventory, here are some of the more notable players who were on the roster last year at this time who will not be on the field this Sunday: Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Nick Perry, Brian Bulaga, Jermichael Finley, Randall Cobb, DuJuan Harris, Donald Driver, Charles Woodson, Ryan Pickett, T.J. Lang, and probably a laundry list of others that I can’t remember because it’s basically the entire team. If you turn the speakers on your computer up you can probably hear me sobbing in the background.

3. The Mess in Miami goes primetime on Monday Night. Against the Bucs. This has the potential to be one long, ugly night in Florida.

Things That Matter : It’s Aaron

I love my quarterback. (Even his fractured collarbone which will keep me up at night for the next 4-6 weeks.)

But more than that, I love people loving on other people. Which is why we are taking a break from the x’s and o’s today to spend a minute focusing on things that matter more than football.

I know we’ve talked about Aaron Rodgers’ work with the MACC fund before, but I had to show you these new videos from Season 2 of It’s Aaron. They’re just so good. It’s great to see someone with a platform highlighting awesome organizations like Operation Dream and Independence First, but it’s just as great to see amazing kids get their chance to shine.

Take a few minutes out to watch these today, and when you do, think about how you can make a similar impact in your own circle of influence – even if you aren’t Aaron Rodgers. And for the record, let’s note that it appears as though Aaron Rodgers has a Yankee Candle air freshener in the vehicle he is driving. He’s just a normal guy. A normal guy with a car jar who happens to have a high profile job but still finds ways to do things that matter.

All of us normal people can find ways to help out, too. If you know of an individual (in the football world or otherwise) or an organization that is doing work that matters give them a shout out in the comments!

5-Minute Football : Actual Field Goal Distance

Let’s consider this scenario:

Your team has advanced pretty far down the field on offense. They are at the opposing team’s 20-yard line facing 4th down. They decide to kick a field goal instead of trying to go for it on 4th down, and it seems like a good decision since a kick from the 20-yard line is pretty much a chip shot. But when the kicker comes out for the field goal, the announcer says it’s a 37-yard attempt. And you’re thinking…What gives?! Where did those extra 17 yards come from?!

You’re not crazy. That’s a good question!

Here’s a good brain exercise: that field goal in the example above will, in fact, be kicked from the 20-yard line. But it will also be a 37-yard attempt. And while it would seem like this is more of the same football shenanigans we’ve seen before – things like imaginary lines and invisible boxes – it’s actually not.

The line of scrimmage doesn’t change for field goal attempts. But that’s where the offensive linemen are all lined up, not where the holder is. The holder – the guy who takes the snap and holds the ball in place for the kicker – is 7-yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Those are the first 7-yards. The other 10 come from the location of the goal post: at the back of the end zone, which is 10-yards deep. So the 7-yards behind the line of scrimmage where the ball is kicked from plus the 10-yards to the goal post in the back of the end zone account for 17 extra yards that are added onto every field goal attempt. Which makes that “chip shot” from the 20 still makable from the 37, but at nearly double the distance.

So your math equation for every field goal attempt is as follows: current line of scrimmage + 17 yards = actual field goal distance.

Check out this video to put all of the pieces together – the offensive line on the line of scrimmage, the holder 7-yards behind, and the goal post at the end of the end zone.

Quiz of the day: In the video, Matt Prater kicked a 53-yard field goal, which means that the Broncos 4th down line of scrimmage was at which yard line?

10 points if you guessed the 36-yard line! 53 – 17 = 36.

(And 10 more if you used a calculator to double check your 1st grade math, as I just did.)