Post game rants --- Chicago -- Pre-season

[jonathanrivers]

I am still very new to the game of football. I am trying to learn the game by watching as many Broncos games as possible. I watched the first preseason game and I have some questions.

1. The commentators for the game said before it started that Peyton Manning would be throwing Nolan Ryan balls. I looked up Nolan Ryan, but it seems he is a baseball player, not a football player. What am I missing?

2. One commentator said, “Because of Peyton Manning, the game is now played at the line of scrimmage.” What did he mean?

3. One commentator said the Bears were a Tampa 2 team. What is that?

4. Josh McCown, one of the Bears quarterbacks, was penalized for a false start. The commentator said he was not used to the snap count and voice inflection. What does that mean?

5. The referees are in a labor dispute, so the games are being officiated by replacement referees. Is that going to be a problem for this season? If yes, how will it affect the games?

6. One of the commentators talked about new Broncos defensive lineman Derek Wolfe and said that John Fox said, “He has the perfect disposition for a defensive lineman. You don't want your enforcer to be a Champ Bailey cornerback.” What does that mean?

7. Is there any rhyme or reason to how the preseason games are scheduled?

Any help I receive is most appreciated. Thank you.

Joyfully,
The Minx

1) I'm not sure about the Nolan Ryan reference, but it was likely a reference to the fact that Nolan Ryan was effective late into his career at a pretty old age. I'm can't be positive, though.

2) The game being "played at the line of scrimmage" is a reference to a reactive style of offense where the QB and offensive line diagnose the defense before the snap and make adjustments to take advantage of the defensive alignment.

Whether it's checking into a swing pass checkdown on the side of a blitzing linebacker...or noticing that both safeties are are at equal depth (likely a Cover 2...see below) and exploiting the "seam" between them with a quick pass to the tight end...the offense nowadays has more of an advantage because most good QB's can adjust to at least get our of a bad play...if not getting into an ideal play for that defensive look altogether. That is, there are more ways for an offense to take advantage of a specific defensive alignment than there are ways for the defense to "disguise" their alignment to try and confuse the QB. Peyton has mastered this art and is probably the best known guy in history for playing the game at the line of scrimmage.

3) A Tampa 2 defense is a Cover 2 zone concept, meaning that you have two safeties who are responsible for covering each of two deep halves of the field on most plays. Tampa 2 requires a middle linebacker who has excellent range and is good in pass coverage (Brian Urlacher)...he must be athletic and instinctive enough to cover short, and often intermediate-deep passes BETWEEN the halves of the field that the safeties are responsible for. The Tampa 2 also requires and excellent pass rush and corners who can throw off a WR's timing at the line of scrimmage. It's a "bend but don't break" defense, and favors big plays and relying on the offense to make mistakes over trying to stonewall the defense. The defense was made famous by the 2002-03 Tampa Bay Bucanneers.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have teams like the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints, who play very aggressively with their safeties and rely on a lot of man coverage from their corners.

4) I'm not sure of the exact wording of the rule. I would guess that he was doing something that fell outside of the normal snap count variation.

5) If the preseason is of any indication, we don't want these replacement referees near an NFL stadium during regular season. It's been that bad.

6) He was referring to the fact that you want someone with a high motor and mean-streak to be the main concern of opposing RB's and QB's. He was probably referring to past years when Champ was one of our top 5 tacklers and no one on the defensive line had more than 30 tackles all season.

7) No, from what I can tell.

Hope this helps you out man.

[Papa-pwn]

I am still very new to the game of football. I am trying to learn the game by watching as many Broncos games as possible. I watched the first preseason game and I have some questions.

1. The commentators for the game said before it started that Peyton Manning would be throwing Nolan Ryan balls. I looked up Nolan Ryan, but it seems he is a baseball player, not a football player. What am I missing?

2. One commentator said, “Because of Peyton Manning, the game is now played at the line of scrimmage.” What did he mean?

3. One commentator said the Bears were a Tampa 2 team. What is that?

4. Josh McCown, one of the Bears quarterbacks, was penalized for a false start. The commentator said he was not used to the snap count and voice inflection. What does that mean?

5. The referees are in a labor dispute, so the games are being officiated by replacement referees. Is that going to be a problem for this season? If yes, how will it affect the games?

6. One of the commentators talked about new Broncos defensive lineman Derek Wolfe and said that John Fox said, “He has the perfect disposition for a defensive lineman. You don't want your enforcer to be a Champ Bailey cornerback.” What does that mean?

7. Is there any rhyme or reason to how the preseason games are scheduled?

Any help I receive is most appreciated. Thank you.

Joyfully,
The Minx

1 - Nolan Ryan was revered for his fastball, so I'm assuming they meant Peyton would be throwing the football quickly and hard.

2 - other poster got it.

3 - it's a defensive scheme that not many team run much of any more, but the bears still run.

4 - he and the center had different ideas of which word to snap the ball on. For example when he said hut he was expecting the ball in his hands and started moving, while the center was waiting for him to say hut a second time.

5 - it means more flags thrown, rules misinterpreted, and possibly outcomes of games squandered.

6 - Wolfe is a big mean man at 6'5" 300 lbs. Champ Bailey, while very skilled, is a quiet, tempered man and 6'0" 200 lbs. He's saying he wants the enforcer to be someine with a more imposing presence.

7 - the preseason schedule is worked out and released in early spring of every year, with input from the league and teams alike.

[Br0nc0Buster]

Nolan Ryan threw the fasted recorded pitch ever at like 108 MPH.
I dont remember the announcer referring to Nolan Ryan, but he could of meant he thought Manning would come out throwing heaters

[TheWV]

Mays in on running downs and Irving in on passing downs?

[The Minx]

Thank you very much, Everyone! I am a woman and I didn't grow up with sports-watching family. It's been hard to find people willing to explain things to me. You have no idea how grateful I am for all the help. This is great team with great fans.

[one_bad_55]

Welcome to the Broncos forums! Do not ever hesitate to ask questions as there are a lot of great posters here that will help explain things for you. I have watched this game for many years and while I know the basics there are a lot of schemes and formations that are newer than from when I played.

The folks here are great at explaining the different schemes that the teams use and you can learn a lot.

Have fun reading the posts and learning the game.

[#24 Next Champ]

Thank you very much, Everyone! I am a woman and I didn't grow up with sports-watching family. It's been hard to find people willing to explain things to me. You have no idea how grateful I am for all the help. This is great team with great fans.

You're awesome lol

[Remedy]

Welcome aboard

[The Minx]

Thank you.

[Junn Hoard]

Here we go...

Of course he did. That's how preseason works.

If you can't evaluate a player based on their field presence alone, don't assume that everyone else can't by stating the obvious "he played against 2nd team". Everyone knows that Irving ran with the 2nd team. But you can factor that into your analysis of how he played without having to put a footnote by it every time.

Essentially, he played good enough against the backups that a logical person could draw the conclusion that he would be at least somewhat effective against the starters.

Does every positive comment have to mention that we're in the preseason? I hate to be rude...but sheesh. Everyone knows that the 2nd stringers are playing against 2nd stringers, 3rd against 3rd, etc. Does it have to be pointed out in EVERY thread. As if there are people who care about the Broncos enough to come to a message board don't know that this is the preseason?

Look through the threads and you'll see what I'm talking about.

/rant.

I agree and obiviously the starters are better that's why they are starting but any respectable starter in the NFL will tell you that as a starter "you are only as good as your back up". So pointing out the obivious when it comes to this is somewhat pointless.

[KentuckyFan]

Minx I have some Questions for you.

1.) What made you get into football? (family member, friend, or something you saw on TV).

2.)Why did you choose the Broncos? (for me it was a Superbowl party and I was the only one going for the Broncos, it was the first of the two back to back and I just fell in-love with me after that.)

Anyways I speak for everyone when I say, we are always happy to get more fans!

[elecshoc]

welcome to the party Minx. Sit back relax and enjoy the show

Also one more thing, best Nolan Ryan vid anywhere...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12745349

[Papa-pwn]

I thought they both played well. But I don't see Irving surpassing Mays just yet. I wouldn't be opposed to it, though!

[SammyWinder]

If we only had someone that could play NT... We got some decent lineman and some very good LB's LB/DE hybrids..... I would love to see VON and DOOM in the 3-4 together...... For that matter I would love to see Mays/Irving/Danny in the middle...GOD!!! I wish Warren could play NT!!!

[The Minx]

1. I was trying to get work writing for a sports blog and decided I needed to learn football.

2. I chose the Broncos because they are the best team.

Thank you very much for the warm welcome. I greatly appreciate it.