Two Minute Drill

Last night’s (8/15) Monday night game, broadcast live on ESPN:

New York Jets (16) at Houston Texans (20)

The score was 16-13, Jets ahead, with 4:46 to go in the fourth quarter. Houston punted the ball and the Jets caught it at their own 18 yard line.

The commentator said the Jets would go into their Four Minute Offense. All the Jets needed to do was three things: 

1.                Keep the ball in bounds, to keep the clock ticking (the clock stops when the ball hits the ground or goes out of bounds);

2.                Make 1^st downs, to keep the ball in their possession;

3.                Take time off the clock. In football time, 4:46 is an eternity of time. If you don’t think so, clock how much time it takes to actually play that amount of time.

The Jets did not achieve those three goals. Houston got the ball back, and went into their Two Minute Drill. This refers to the final two minutes in each half, when the team with the ball, or the team who gets the ball, tries to score in the final two minutes of the half. This does two things (three if it’s a home game):

1.          It scores points;

2.          It gives the scoring team momentum to carry with them into halftime (if they score at the end of the second quarter) or into the next game (if they score at the end of the game);

3.          If they are at home, it gives the home crowd something to cheer about and keep their enthusiasm for their team high.

Sunday night I watched the replay of the Denver Broncos at Dallas Cowboys game (originally played Thursday 8/11). The ending was more exciting to watch than it sounded, and it sounded exciting. Dallas was down 23-16 to Denver; if they had scored a touchdown and gone for the point after kick, they would have tied the game and gone into overtime. Already with the ball in a scoring drive, Dallas used their remaining two minutes wisely; they were able to convert on 4^th down to keep the drive alive, and scored the touchdown. Opting to win the game outright, Dallas quarterback Stephen McGee passed the ball for the Two-Point Conversion and the go ahead score with 15 seconds left on the clock. Total time of the scoring drive: 5:29; 12 plays. Dallas won the game 24-23.

For more information about football, Football Basics - How the American Football Game is Played is available as a Kindle ebook at Amazon. Click the book title to purchase, or visit my website www.FootballBasics.net to read an excerpt of the book.

3rd Down Conversions

Five games were played last night (August 13):

Green Bay Packers (17) at Cleveland Browns (27)

Buffalo Bills (3) at Chicago Bears (10)

Indianapolis Colts (10) at St. Louis Rams (33)

New York Giants (10) at Carolina Panthers (20)

Minnesota Vikings (3) at Tennessee Titans (14)

The live game last night on NFL Network (channel 212 on DirecTV) was Green Bay at Cleveland. NFL Network is showing all the preseason games (some live, most replays), so there is an opportunity to see your favorite team play the whole game instead of just catching the highlights.

The home team won all five games last night. Is this significant? It’s hard to tell during any game, but particularly in preseason. The starters typically play for one or two quarters, then come out to give the rest of the players time on the field. Does that mean the home teams last night have better depth at each position? Again, hard to say at this point. Time will tell as the preseason progresses, and we get a better look at the players on each team, and also see how the trades work out as new players learn their new team’s playbook.

In the Green Bay at Cleveland game, Green Bay scored right before halftime with a touchdown scoring drive of 9 plays that moved the ball 89 yards in 1:22 (one minute and 22 seconds). As the second quarter ended, the score was Green Bay 17, Cleveland 14. Cleveland scored in both the third and fourth quarters. Green Bay didn’t score at all in the second half. The final score: Green Bay 17, Cleveland 27.

Green Bay was 5 for 14 (5/14) on third down conversions. One of the successful conversions was during that 9 play scoring drive just before the half, at 2Q 1:34. It was 3^rd and 10, and the ball was passed for a gain of 19 yards. It was important to convert at this point; not only did Green Bay end up scoring at the end of the drive, it kept the scoring drive alive.

Third down conversions are important for several reasons: they keep a scoring drive alive, as in the Green Bay-Cleveland game; they keep the team’s forward progress and momentum going; they keep the ball in a team’s possession.

Time of possession is a stat that may or may not be relevant; it depends on what a team does with the time they control the ball that makes the difference.

Monday night's game is New York Jets at Houston Texans. The game will be shown live on ESPN.

For more information about football, Football Basics - How the American Football Game is Played is available as a Kindle ebook at Amazon. Click the book title to purchase, or visit my website www.FootballBasics.net to read an excerpt of the book.

Sacks and Shutouts

Five games were played last night:

Cincinnati Bengals (3) at Detroit Lions (34)

Miami Dolphins (28) at Atlanta Falcons (23)

Pittsburgh Steelers (7) at Washington Redskins (16)

San Francisco 49ers (3) at New Orleans Saints (24)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (25) at Kansas City Chiefs (0)

The television coverage is limited right now, and the only two games I could watch were the Miami Dolphins at Atlanta Falcons, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Kansas City Chiefs. SportsCenter on ESPN is a great resource to find out what I missed in the other games, and get highlights of the games I did see.

During the 49ers/Saints game, the Saints had 6 sacks in the first half. A sack means the quarterback is tackled before he hands the ball off to a runner or throws (passes) it to a receiver; only quarterbacks are sacked. The goal is to have zero sacks in a game. To have 6 in the first half means the offensive line did not do their job protecting the quarterback.

Sacks are bad for three reasons:

1. The quarterback is more likely to be injured while being sacked;
2. The sack effectively wastes the down, because there is no forward progress of the ball;
3. Because the quarterback is behind the line of scrimmage, and drops back farther if he is going to pass, getting sacked almost always results in loss of yardage.

Commentators talk about the “pocket collapsing” around the quarterback; this is the line of offensive players whose job is to prevent the defensive players from getting to the quarterback and sacking him, or interfering with the forward progress of the ball in any way. They form almost a horseshoe around the quarterback, and this is called the “pocket.” It is hard to win a game when a team is not moving the ball forward on every down, and in this case New Orleans beat San Francisco handily.

A shutout occurs when one team prevents the other team from scoring any points, effectively shutting them out from scoring. In the Tampa Bay game at Kansas City, Tampa Bay shutout Kansas City. In this case, Tampa’s offense was better than the Kansas City defense, and the Tampa defense was better than the Kansas City offense.

Five games are being played tonight:

Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Browns

Buffalo Bills at Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts at St. Louis Rams

New York Giants at Carolina Panthers

Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans

For more information about football, Football Basics - How the American Football Game is Played is available as a Kindle ebook at Amazon. Click the book title to purchase, or visit my website www.FootballBasics.net to read an excerpt of the book.

Football is Back, Baby!

Football is back, baby!

Preseason started last night, with five games.

Jacksonville Jaguars (12) at New England Patriots (47)

Baltimore Ravens (6) at Philadelphia Eagles (13)

Seattle Seahawks (24) at San Diego Chargers (17)

Denver Broncos (23) at Dallas Cowboys (24)

Arizona Cardinals (24) at Oakland Raiders (18)

So what do we know so far?

The time spent since the lockout ended has been volatile, with free agents up for grabs and teams ready and willing to grab them. Training camps opened, and cuts have already begun. Team size must be down to 45 active players by September 8, when the regular season begins. Teams are also allowed 8 inactive players, for a total of 53 players.

The games last night, and the upcoming preseason games, are a chance for the teams to try out their new players and get them used to the team’s style of play.

In Denver Kyle Orton, Brady Quinn, and Tim Tebow are the quarterbacks. Kyle quarterbacked a few plays, then Brady and Tim played the rest of the game. Tim is the newest addition to the team, signing with the Broncos in 2010 and having his rookie season last year, and has the most need of seasoning. There has been a lot of talk about the “quarterback controversy” between Kyle and Tim; while Tim was a star at the University of Florida and won the Heisman Trophy, he needs to work on his game to get it to the level necessary for the NFL. To me, the biggest “controversy” is between those who think Tim is the next biggest thing to hit the NFL, and those who believe his college performance won’t translate into similar performance in the NFL.

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos with a touchdown pass and two-point conversion, with 15 seconds left in the game. The two-point conversion allowed Dallas to win the game outright with a total of 8 points scored, instead of the usual 7. If they had gone instead with kicking a PAT (Point After Touchdown) to tie the game, it would then have gone into overtime.

Teams are allowed one chance to get extra points after a touchdown. Most often, the ball is kicked through the uprights for one extra point. Sometimes the extra points come from a two-point conversion. In this play, the quarterback either passes the ball to a player in the end zone or hands the ball off to a runner. If the ball is caught in the end zone, or the runner crosses the goal line, two points are scored.

Five games are being played tonight:

Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions

Miami Dolphins at Atlanta Falcons

Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Kansas City Chiefs