stuckincincy Posted May 29, 2009 Posted May 29, 2009 Interesting read. Will wedge be pitched? Geoff Hobson (B'gals beat writer)May 28, 2009 http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/will...81-1d73568f18bd
BillsWatch Posted May 29, 2009 Posted May 29, 2009 Really think they are making wrong change here. Author has a good point.
Hossage Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 I am upset about this. It is a perversion of the game and another brick in the wall of the NFL trying to pussify the game. I am just shocked. This isnt football. I already dont watch as many games as I used to. As a former wedgebreaker, I give the NFL the one finger salute.
Sisyphean Bills Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 Outlawing collisions in football seems like a worthwhile pursuit.
MJCULE Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 bot only that but it eliminates the strategy behind kick off returns. you go from setting up formations and trying to work with/around those guys to basically having no wedge anymore. it will be interesting to see IF/how many return TD's go down this year. also as anyone who pays attention to the history of the game, every kick return from now on is "harder" to return since theres one less blocker. it is an independent variable that has been taken away from the kick return game
Tsaikotic Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 Bobby April explained that they are eliminating shoulder to shoulder wedges of 3-5 players..he also said Buffalo runs a 3 man wedge so it won't be as hard to change for us as it will for some teams that incorporate the 4 and 5 man wedge...I would assume April will find a way to keep 3 players in a new wedge formation where they r not shoulder to shoulder...call it the april fools wedge...
KRT88 Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 I hate the onside kick rule change. Now you can't put more than 5 (or is it still 6) guys on any one side of the field. Onside kicks are hard enough to recover but since the rule change they have become even more difficult.
vincec Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 I hate the onside kick rule change. Now you can't put more than 5 (or is it still 6) guys on any one side of the field. Onside kicks are hard enough to recover but since the rule change they have become even more difficult. Actually I think that the recovery rate for onside kicks is close to 25%, and that's mostly in obvious onside kick situations with the receiving team expecting them. At that rate, you'd think that teams would be using them throughout the game more frequently. I always wondered why teams don't just have the kicker try drilling one of the opposing up men with the ball. He's only 10 yards away. If he hits him, the ball ricochets and the kicking team has a great chance to recover it. If it misses, then it's a squib kick with only a moderate loss in field position. This type of strategy wouldn't be affected by the new rule.
BuffaloBill Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 Thanks - interesting read. I have no doubt that Bobby April will figure out how to make the best of the rule change.
Nanker Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 It would be safer if there were only one player on each kicking/punting team - the kicker/punter and the returner. By rule - the returner would have the option of making a fair catch - or catch the ball and return it - crawling on all fours. The kicker/punter then chases down the returner and pulls a flag out of the returner's belt. First down!
Sisyphean Bills Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 It would be safer if there were only one player on each kicking/punting team - the kicker/punter and the returner.By rule - the returner would have the option of making a fair catch - or catch the ball and return it - crawling on all fours. The kicker/punter then chases down the returner and pulls a flag out of the returner's belt. First down! There you go! And, the players should all be wrapped in a minimum of 8 inches of bubble pack from head to toe. What about tagging guys down with lasers that the coaches can activate with a joystick up in the booth? That might keep players from breaking a nail and ruining an expensive manicure!
DazedandConfused Posted May 31, 2009 Posted May 31, 2009 bot only that but it eliminates the strategy behind kick off returns. you go from setting up formations and trying to work with/around those guys to basically having no wedge anymore. it will be interesting to see IF/how many return TD's go down this year. also as anyone who pays attention to the history of the game, every kick return from now on is "harder" to return since theres one less blocker. it is an independent variable that has been taken away from the kick return game Actually, on the contrary I think this will heighten the strategic activity as you see teams searching for a holy grail of the"new" way to do kick returns and coverage well. There is in no way one less blocker because the way these blockers can be configured has changed. There was one return guy and 10 blockers before and there will be one return guy and 10 blockers after the rule change. What has changed is that too some extent (and we will see how the rule is applied as it seems on the face of it that the critical pre-season challenge is that it will be applied differently by different teams of refs and the effort is going to be to make all application similar) teams are going to be fairly severely penalized for using a 3 man wedge when they will claim they were not doing this. The Bills actually stand to gain an advantage from this probably significant rule shift for several reasons: 1. Certainly as much as any team in the NFL they have a system for doing ST and have has success teaching this system to new players. This is important because if this rule shift suceeds and changes the game in a significant way, it will be the teams which most easily understand and successfully alter their system to maximize performance under the "new" rules which will profit the most. As long as the change is consistent (which there is little certainty it will be consistent for much of the year but we will see)the teams that run a good system well and make changes to that system to take advantage of these changes will do well. Bobby April has consistently produced good results with this team for several years. The Bills clearly have a system and clearly have made adjustments to this system on an ongoing basis to remain top level statitstical performers on ST. 2. This team has solid long term ST leadership. Bobby April clearly runs the store and has been rewarded with getting the Assistant Head Coaches job to secure his leadership amongst the co-ordinators. The "skill" players (Moorman, Lindell, McGee, Parrish) on each unit have all experienced great success for a number of years and are acknowledged leaders of their units. The skill return guys all have McKelvin behind their backs forcing competition and potentially surpassing them as they get older or unless they perform. There are a variety of vets whose primary contribution to the team is not as position players but as ST players who know their cash wealth and status on the team are dependent upon their ST play and not in becoming great position play performers. 3. The coaching staff appears committed to not simply having ST be an add-on thing to practice when they have time but devote significant time and attention to it in practice. Overall, I suspect the Bills have a "plan" in terms of how they are going to exploit the new rules. I would not be surprised if one of the reasons we have seen this team seemingly load up in drafting and acquiring DBs this off-season is not simply because we are addicted to them as position players but this may be to cover the rule change to get faster more athletic players (who are not afraid of contact) who will do well in the new world with less reliance on the wedge. The Bills will need to have more smart fast players who can learn well how refs call the game so they can be the third player who plays far enough off the two wedge players not to get called for the penalty but close enough to actually perform as a wedge for return purposes. The actually heightened level of strategy which we will see this year on ST as a team strive to have a plan to be ahead of the other teams and then strive to have their players consistently implement the plan will be one of the fun things for us football addicts to watch this year. The worse thing about it will be that the TV networks tend to mostly follow the ball and will not give us good pictures which show the entire mosaic of the coverage and return patterns as they are unleashed. My sense is that the two "issues" which April and the Bills ST braintrust will confront this year are: 1. Developing the plan for the new ST and then training the players well enough to implement the new plan consistently, but 2. I suspect the larger issue is going to be getting the refs to apply the new rules consistently . If April has a moving target of rule application to try to build and implement a consistent plan upon he will simply fail to achieve consistency.
Hossage Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 Schemes that dont use the wedge already exist and most special teams coordinators already know about them. Not everyone currently goes with a wedge, and they are surprisingly hard to coordinate.
Tsaikotic Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 Actually, on the contrary I think this will heighten the strategic activity as you see teams searching for a holy grail of the"new" way to do kick returns and coverage well. There is in no way one less blocker because the way these blockers can be configured has changed. There was one return guy and 10 blockers before and there will be one return guy and 10 blockers after the rule change. What has changed is that too some extent (and we will see how the rule is applied as it seems on the face of it that the critical pre-season challenge is that it will be applied differently by different teams of refs and the effort is going to be to make all application similar) teams are going to be fairly severely penalized for using a 3 man wedge when they will claim they were not doing this. The Bills actually stand to gain an advantage from this probably significant rule shift for several reasons: 1. Certainly as much as any team in the NFL they have a system for doing ST and have has success teaching this system to new players. This is important because if this rule shift suceeds and changes the game in a significant way, it will be the teams which most easily understand and successfully alter their system to maximize performance under the "new" rules which will profit the most. As long as the change is consistent (which there is little certainty it will be consistent for much of the year but we will see)the teams that run a good system well and make changes to that system to take advantage of these changes will do well. Bobby April has consistently produced good results with this team for several years. The Bills clearly have a system and clearly have made adjustments to this system on an ongoing basis to remain top level statitstical performers on ST. 2. This team has solid long term ST leadership. Bobby April clearly runs the store and has been rewarded with getting the Assistant Head Coaches job to secure his leadership amongst the co-ordinators. The "skill" players (Moorman, Lindell, McGee, Parrish) on each unit have all experienced great success for a number of years and are acknowledged leaders of their units. The skill return guys all have McKelvin behind their backs forcing competition and potentially surpassing them as they get older or unless they perform. There are a variety of vets whose primary contribution to the team is not as position players but as ST players who know their cash wealth and status on the team are dependent upon their ST play and not in becoming great position play performers. 3. The coaching staff appears committed to not simply having ST be an add-on thing to practice when they have time but devote significant time and attention to it in practice. Overall, I suspect the Bills have a "plan" in terms of how they are going to exploit the new rules. I would not be surprised if one of the reasons we have seen this team seemingly load up in drafting and acquiring DBs this off-season is not simply because we are addicted to them as position players but this may be to cover the rule change to get faster more athletic players (who are not afraid of contact) who will do well in the new world with less reliance on the wedge. The Bills will need to have more smart fast players who can learn well how refs call the game so they can be the third player who plays far enough off the two wedge players not to get called for the penalty but close enough to actually perform as a wedge for return purposes. The actually heightened level of strategy which we will see this year on ST as a team strive to have a plan to be ahead of the other teams and then strive to have their players consistently implement the plan will be one of the fun things for us football addicts to watch this year. The worse thing about it will be that the TV networks tend to mostly follow the ball and will not give us good pictures which show the entire mosaic of the coverage and return patterns as they are unleashed. My sense is that the two "issues" which April and the Bills ST braintrust will confront this year are: 1. Developing the plan for the new ST and then training the players well enough to implement the new plan consistently, but 2. I suspect the larger issue is going to be getting the refs to apply the new rules consistently . If April has a moving target of rule application to try to build and implement a consistent plan upon he will simply fail to achieve consistency. Holy sh-- you babble...and you use these way to often ()..not alone you put paragraphs in them not a few words...you remind me a lot of pyrite gal....LOL
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