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I just finished listening to @CoachVass’s great podcast with Don Brown and he made some amazing points about defense and football philosophy
Thread: (it gets more interesting near the end)
Thread: (it gets more interesting near the end)
Something Brown said was that he likes using different packages where each player has a role that fits his skillset and also playing simpler coverages so his players don’t have to worry about tons of different checks and rules
This reminded me of something I was thinking about the other day on how to dictate and control the chaos in football, and is something I’ve learned from chess
In a chess tournament games can last over 5 hours, so you need to be very focused on all the details and calculate tons of different variations, which is comparable to gameplan preparation.
In bullet chess (1 min for entire game- you lose if you run out of time), however, playing fast is critical as you only have abt a second a move, which is comparable to playing football as it’s all about instincts and knowing what to focus on as you have almost no time to think
Against slower ppl I usually try to keep things simple and play faster than them.
However, that doesn’t work against most ppl as if you’re playing fast and simple than they’ll be able to play fast and simple
However, that doesn’t work against most ppl as if you’re playing fast and simple than they’ll be able to play fast and simple
So, to play faster than ppl that aren’t slow you have to complicate things and apply pressure, while still playing fast
So, in football, like with bullet chess, you can either simplify the chaos or control the chaos. If you’re players aren’t as good as the other teams’ you can’t rely on keeping things simple and playing faster as doing that makes it about who is better
So, the key question is how to control the chaos as doing so gives your players an edge as they can play with confidence and aggression while the other team’s players can’t
A great example of this is the Dolphins’ defense, and in particular their cover 0 package. They have three plays in their cover 0 package:
1. Bring everyone aligned on the LOS and play cover 0 behind
1. Bring everyone aligned on the LOS and play cover 0 behind
2. Drop out if blocked to cover the hot
3. Rotate just before the snap to spot drop cover 3
After the Rams started exclusively using full slide vs the 0 looks, the Dolphins switched it up to a single high press man coverage with a dbl on Kupp and their DE was easily able to beat the TE 1-on-1
So, while the Dolphins’ players just have to learn and practice three different calls, the offense doesn’t know if they’re going to be hot, if they’re going to be able to throw hot, or if they’re going to have isolations across the board or have to beat cover 3
So, the Dolphins create a ton of chaos with this package, but they’re in control of the chaos and they don’t have to worry about lots of different checks or rules.
The Dolphins are a perfect example of how the best way to play defense is to play as little defense as possible
The Dolphins are a perfect example of how the best way to play defense is to play as little defense as possible
One of the key benefits of using play packages/sequences is that they become more effective the more you call plays from that package as the opposing team becomes less sure of what you’re going to be doing
The same idea applies to offense as having series/packages of plays is key and is something all the best offenses do https://twitter.com/abyrne44/status/1352384208765923331?s=21
An example of this is a ‘Casper’ package I came up with a few days ago- Casper refers to split zone with ghost motion.
Play 1- split zone
Play 2- end around
Play 1- split zone
Play 2- end around
Play 3- play action pass
Play 4- screen
https://alexbyrne.substack.com/p/the-chiefs-casper-door-screens https://twitter.com/abyrne44/status/1361478705214853120?s=21
https://alexbyrne.substack.com/p/the-chiefs-casper-door-screens https://twitter.com/abyrne44/status/1361478705214853120?s=21
