planomateo
Member
I've posted a few Peter King articles here in the past. I enjoy his writing and the interactions he has with his twitter followers. He's probably the most interactive social media reporter I follow...way more.
For those of you who don't watch NFL football, the Patriots caught the Ravens with a trick play from Alabama's playbook. Lane Kiffin flew up to Foxboro to help them last week with this.
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Patriots 35, Ravens 31: Thank you, Nick Saban.
On Nov. 8, on the first snap of overtime against LSU, Alabama lined up four offensive linemen in their usual spots but with a tackle, Cam Robinson, split out wide right, having declared himself to the referee an ineligible receiver before the snap, with a wide receiver to the right of him. A backup lineman, Brandon Greene, was in the left tackle slot, but he was actually an eligible receiver because Robinson, wide right, was not. At the snap of the ball, Robinson stepped back from the line and held his hands up for the ball, continuing the ruse. Greene lumbered up the left seam, and quarterback Blake Sims hit him with a pass. Gain of 24, to the LSU one-yard line.
On Saturday night, in the third quarter against Baltimore, New England lined up four offensive linemen in their usual spots but with a running back, Shane Vereen, split out wide right, having declared himself an ineligible receiver before the snap, with a wide receiver to the right of him. A backup tight end, Michael Hoomanawanui, was in the left tackle slot, but he was actually an eligible receiver because Vereen, wide right, was not. At the snap of the ball, Vereen stepped back from the line and held his hands out for the ball, continuing the ruse. Hoomanawanui lumbered up the left seam, and quarterback Tom Brady hit him with a pass. Gain of 14, to the Baltimore 10-yard line.
Exact same play.
The New England play could not have been more of a carbon copy if Alabama coach Nick Saban or his offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, had flown to New England last week to help offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels install it.
I was in Gillette Stadium Saturday night for three such plays run by the Patriots on the same third-quarter scoring drive, but I didnāt fully understand what had happened during the game. I didnāt understand the genesis of it until a friend of mine said it was what Alabama did to LSU in overtime this season. I found the play on YouTube, watched it, and the light bulb went off: Belichick and Saban are very close. There is no doubt in my mind, based on the duplication of the play, that the Patriots got this play from Alabama. And good for them. Itās perfectly legal, despite Baltimoreās protestations to the contrary, and though officiating czar Dean Blandino told me Sunday the league is going to examine the play (actually, the Patriots completed three passes, for 11, 14 and 16 yards on the three plays they ran), what rule can the NFL change?
Baltimore coach John Harbaugh protested the play because he thought the Ravens werenāt given time to āmatch upā after the Patriots made their switch. Hereās how the rule reads: āIf a substitution is made by the offense, the offense shall not be permitted to snap the ball until the defense has been permitted to respond with its substitutions. While in the process of a substitution (or simulated substitution), the offense is prohibited from rushing quickly to the line of scrimmage and snapping the ball in an obvious attempt to cause a defensive foul (i.e., too many men on the field). If, in the judgment of the officials, this occurs, the following procedure will apply:
ā(a) The Umpire will stand over the ball until the Referee deems that the defense has had a reasonable time to complete its substitutions.
ā(b) If a play takes place and a defensive foul for too many players on the field results, no penalties will be enforced, except for personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct, and the down will be replayed. At this time, the Referee will notify the head coach that any further use of this tactic will result in a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.ā
I timed the three plays in question to see if Baltimore had been unfairly disadvantaged by the Patriot ploy, using NFL Game Rewind as my resource. Playing the NBC telecast back, I clocked the amount of time between referee Bill Vinovichās in-stadium announcement of the ānon-eligible playerā (it sounded like that was what Vinovich called the spread-wide faux fifth lineman). By my count, seven, 10 and seven seconds elapsed between the announcements and the snap of the ball.
āThe whole issue with Baltimore,āā Blandino said, āis they felt they werenāt given enough time [to match up]. We will review the three plays, but it appears from a mechanical standpoint that the announcement was made properly, the defense was notified, and the proper mechanics were executed.āā
As Blandino explained, the offense must have seven men on the line of scrimmage before the snap of the ball. The outside two players are eligible receivers. In this case, wideout Brandon LaFell was split left and wideout Julian Edelman split right, with Edelman outside Vereen, who was the ineligible fifth offensive lineman. āEveryone on the line between the two outside receivers, all five other players, have to be ineligible,āā said Blandino. (This, of course, doesnāt count receivers or backs in the slot, a step or two behind the line.)
Thereās another advantage to this play, from New Englandās standpoint. On the play I described, three Ravensāsafety Anthony Levine and linebackers C.J. Mosley and Daryl Smithāwere pointing and shifting and moving with uncertainty just before and as the ball was snapped. On one of the other plays with the four-man line, Terrell Suggs shifted just before the snap and wasnāt ready to rush at the snap of the ball.
My feeling is Baltimore should have had a coach upstairs identify the New England weirdness as the announcement was made, and note that a tight end was playing left tackle. A coach upstairs should have the power to say in the headset to Harbaugh, āCall a timeout! New Englandās doing something we canāt identify!ā Or something like that.
But itās not up to the referee to give the defense an unlimited amount of time. Seven seconds is enough for a defense to match up. In this case it was simply a great use of trickery by the Patriots, and the players werenāt giving much away in the locker room after the game. Asked about the formation, several replied vaguely, and with no details about what happened, or when it was practiced. Belichick has trained them well.
For those of you who don't watch NFL football, the Patriots caught the Ravens with a trick play from Alabama's playbook. Lane Kiffin flew up to Foxboro to help them last week with this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Patriots 35, Ravens 31: Thank you, Nick Saban.
On Nov. 8, on the first snap of overtime against LSU, Alabama lined up four offensive linemen in their usual spots but with a tackle, Cam Robinson, split out wide right, having declared himself to the referee an ineligible receiver before the snap, with a wide receiver to the right of him. A backup lineman, Brandon Greene, was in the left tackle slot, but he was actually an eligible receiver because Robinson, wide right, was not. At the snap of the ball, Robinson stepped back from the line and held his hands up for the ball, continuing the ruse. Greene lumbered up the left seam, and quarterback Blake Sims hit him with a pass. Gain of 24, to the LSU one-yard line.
On Saturday night, in the third quarter against Baltimore, New England lined up four offensive linemen in their usual spots but with a running back, Shane Vereen, split out wide right, having declared himself an ineligible receiver before the snap, with a wide receiver to the right of him. A backup tight end, Michael Hoomanawanui, was in the left tackle slot, but he was actually an eligible receiver because Vereen, wide right, was not. At the snap of the ball, Vereen stepped back from the line and held his hands out for the ball, continuing the ruse. Hoomanawanui lumbered up the left seam, and quarterback Tom Brady hit him with a pass. Gain of 14, to the Baltimore 10-yard line.
Exact same play.
The New England play could not have been more of a carbon copy if Alabama coach Nick Saban or his offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, had flown to New England last week to help offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels install it.
I was in Gillette Stadium Saturday night for three such plays run by the Patriots on the same third-quarter scoring drive, but I didnāt fully understand what had happened during the game. I didnāt understand the genesis of it until a friend of mine said it was what Alabama did to LSU in overtime this season. I found the play on YouTube, watched it, and the light bulb went off: Belichick and Saban are very close. There is no doubt in my mind, based on the duplication of the play, that the Patriots got this play from Alabama. And good for them. Itās perfectly legal, despite Baltimoreās protestations to the contrary, and though officiating czar Dean Blandino told me Sunday the league is going to examine the play (actually, the Patriots completed three passes, for 11, 14 and 16 yards on the three plays they ran), what rule can the NFL change?
Baltimore coach John Harbaugh protested the play because he thought the Ravens werenāt given time to āmatch upā after the Patriots made their switch. Hereās how the rule reads: āIf a substitution is made by the offense, the offense shall not be permitted to snap the ball until the defense has been permitted to respond with its substitutions. While in the process of a substitution (or simulated substitution), the offense is prohibited from rushing quickly to the line of scrimmage and snapping the ball in an obvious attempt to cause a defensive foul (i.e., too many men on the field). If, in the judgment of the officials, this occurs, the following procedure will apply:
ā(a) The Umpire will stand over the ball until the Referee deems that the defense has had a reasonable time to complete its substitutions.
ā(b) If a play takes place and a defensive foul for too many players on the field results, no penalties will be enforced, except for personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct, and the down will be replayed. At this time, the Referee will notify the head coach that any further use of this tactic will result in a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.ā
I timed the three plays in question to see if Baltimore had been unfairly disadvantaged by the Patriot ploy, using NFL Game Rewind as my resource. Playing the NBC telecast back, I clocked the amount of time between referee Bill Vinovichās in-stadium announcement of the ānon-eligible playerā (it sounded like that was what Vinovich called the spread-wide faux fifth lineman). By my count, seven, 10 and seven seconds elapsed between the announcements and the snap of the ball.
āThe whole issue with Baltimore,āā Blandino said, āis they felt they werenāt given enough time [to match up]. We will review the three plays, but it appears from a mechanical standpoint that the announcement was made properly, the defense was notified, and the proper mechanics were executed.āā
As Blandino explained, the offense must have seven men on the line of scrimmage before the snap of the ball. The outside two players are eligible receivers. In this case, wideout Brandon LaFell was split left and wideout Julian Edelman split right, with Edelman outside Vereen, who was the ineligible fifth offensive lineman. āEveryone on the line between the two outside receivers, all five other players, have to be ineligible,āā said Blandino. (This, of course, doesnāt count receivers or backs in the slot, a step or two behind the line.)
Thereās another advantage to this play, from New Englandās standpoint. On the play I described, three Ravensāsafety Anthony Levine and linebackers C.J. Mosley and Daryl Smithāwere pointing and shifting and moving with uncertainty just before and as the ball was snapped. On one of the other plays with the four-man line, Terrell Suggs shifted just before the snap and wasnāt ready to rush at the snap of the ball.
My feeling is Baltimore should have had a coach upstairs identify the New England weirdness as the announcement was made, and note that a tight end was playing left tackle. A coach upstairs should have the power to say in the headset to Harbaugh, āCall a timeout! New Englandās doing something we canāt identify!ā Or something like that.
But itās not up to the referee to give the defense an unlimited amount of time. Seven seconds is enough for a defense to match up. In this case it was simply a great use of trickery by the Patriots, and the players werenāt giving much away in the locker room after the game. Asked about the formation, several replied vaguely, and with no details about what happened, or when it was practiced. Belichick has trained them well.
