Archive for July 12, 2009

Did the Zone Blitz Really Help Kill the Run & Shoot?

July 12, 2009 at 12:37 PM · Filed under Pro Football ·Tagged , ,

Dick Lebeau is most famous as being the defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1995-1996 and 2004-Present. He also came up with the Zone Blitz in part to counter what Detroit, Houston, and Atlanta were doing with the Run & Shoot Offense. The Zone Blitz is largely credited with partly being the reason why the offense as a base use was driven out of the NFL but is there any proof? I’ve decided to take a look at the game logs from 1989-1991 when LeBeau was defensive coordinator for Cincinnati and 1995-1996 when he was defensive coordinator for Pittsburgh.

Successes
1989 Cincinnati @ Houston: Warren Moon was 17 of 33 for 198 yards and 1 TD vs. 1 INT. I’d call this a success for the zone blitz, although Hoston won 26-24.
1989 Detroit @ Cincinnati: Bob Gagliano and Rodney Peete combined to go 13 of 27 for 171 yards and 0 TD vs. 2 INT.
1989 Houston @ Cincinnati: Warren Moon and Cody Carlson combined to go 16 of 34 for 181 yards and 0 TD vs. 3 INT.
1990 Houston @ Cincinnati: Warren Moon went 25 of 48 for 288 yards and 1 TD vs. 1 INT. Cody Carlson went 1 of 6 for 12 yards and 0 TD vs. 1 INT.
1990 Houston @ Cincinnati (Playoffs): Cody Carlson went 16 of 33 for 165 yards and 2 TD vs. 1 INT.

Failures
1990 Cincinnati @ Houston: Warren Moon went 21 of 33 for 369 yards and 5 TD vs. 1 INT. Cody Carlson came in and was 3 of 7 for 32 yards with 0 TD vs. 0 INT.
1990 Cincinnati @ Atlanta: Chris Miller went 13 of 18 for 124 yards and 2 TD vs. 0 INT.
1991 Houston @ Cincinnati: Warren Moon went 22 of 37 for 315 yards and 1 TD vs. 1 INT.
1991 Cincinnati @ Houston: Warren Moon went 24 of 37 for 289 yards and 3 TD vs. 2 INT. Cody Carlson came in and went 4 of 7 for 92 yards and 1 TD vs. 0 INT.
1996 Pittsburgh @ Atlanta: Bobby Hebert went 24 of 36 for 234 yards and 2 TD vs. 1 INT. Although Pittsburgh won 20-17, Hebert had a good game.

As is the case when looking back, Dick LeBeau and his Zone Blitz scheme had its share of successes but also had a fair bit of failures as well when going up against the Run & Shoot Offense. The key statistic when measuring defense is of course how the team did in the win/loss column. Here’s how Dick’s teams did: 5-5 for a .500 record overall.

So while the Zone Blitz had some impact and may have slowed down the Run & Shoot Offense at times, it’s clear looking back that it wasn’t as shut down as many pundits and media members seem to remember it being.

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5 Guys to Watch In the 2009 NFL Preseason

July 12, 2009 at 11:57 AM · Filed under Pro Football

The NFL preseason is full of undrafted free agents and players low on the depth chart trying to impress the coaches enough with their ability on the field, whether it be through their assigned role or special teams, to be a part of the 53 man roster come opening day of the regular season. Here’s a list of players to keep an eye on during the games.

Miami Dolphins – RB Lex Hilliard out of Montana. He’s listed at 5′11 240 and will likely try to make the team as a FB behind Lousaka Polite. His competition will be FB Chris Brown out of the University of Tennessee who’s listed at 6′0 250.

Minnesota Vikings – RB Ian Johnson out of Boise State. The Vikings currently have 3 FB and 5 RB on their roster. Johnson will have to beat out the likes of fellow rookie Kahlil Bell and Albert Young to have a shot at claiming the 3rd RB spot on the depth chart.

New York Giants – WR Micah Rucker out of Eastern Illinois was picked up by the Steelers last year as a UDFA. He has great size at 6′6 221 but has tough competition to make a roster spot. He’ll likely have to beat out Taye Biddle, Shaun Bodiford, and Derek Hagan to have an outside chance at claiming the 7th spot on the Giants WR depth chart, if they carry that many. The one upside is his size, but WR Ramses Barden out of Cal Poly is a mirror image of Rucker.

Philadelphia Eagles – WR Danny Amendola out of Texas Tech was on the Cowboys preseason roster last year but struggled with fumbles. Has the potential to be a Wes Welker clone but like Rucker, has a lot of competition in the form of Brandon Gibson, Shaheer McBride, Brandon Robinson, and Marcus Thigpen for a chance at claiming the 7th spot on the WR depth chart. Again, it depends on if the Eagles will carry that many.

San Francisco 49ers – RB Kory Sheets out of Purdue offers versatility as a receiving RB as well. The 49ers currently have 2 FB and 6 RB on their roster. Sheets will likely have to beat out FB sized Zak Keasey, Thomas Clayton, and fellow rookie RB Glen Coffee out of Alabama for the 3rd RB spot.

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