The fraternity of NFL coaches is an exclusive one, to which only 32 men belong. Most of these men are well-educated and a great deal of them are former players themselves, be it in the NFL or at least college. Yet it baffles me how each Sunday we see the same coaches making the same mistakes. Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results.
John Fox and Carolina, playing at home against Buffalo, a team that surrendered over 300 yards rushing the week before to the Jets, rushed 25 times and dropped back to pass 44 times, almost a 2:1 ratio. This despite the fact that they were running for 4.6 ypc and began the fourth quarter down just 5 points. To this point, your QB has thrown 2 INTS and entered the contest tied for the league lead with 10. He had thrown at least 1 in every game to that point, you had to expect he would give away at least another. The team came in on a two-game win streak in which they ran the ball often and well. Yet facing an opponent that ranks dead last against the run, you allow your (error prone) QB to drop back and heave the ball up for grabs 44 times. Surprisingly, the Panthers lost the game...
:mj03:
Andy Reid has long been an abuser of the run/pass ratio as well. Most recently he called three times as many pass plays as runs in a 13-9 loss to Oakland. This despite the fact that Philadelphia never found themselves trailing by more than one score and Donovan McNabb was getting hurried, hit or sacked every time he dropped back. Many Eagles fans though that maybe the Birds would feature more of a balanced attack like they did during last years surge to the NFC Championship, especially after picking up LeSean McCoy in this years draft. It'll be interesting to see if they have learned from last week's mistakes and go for a more balanced attack against Washington, a team that allows 118 ypg on the ground.
There are countless more examples of this every Sunday. It boggles the mind how these coaches remain in employ of their teams when things that are so painfully obvious to the fan seem to escape the head coaches.
John Fox and Carolina, playing at home against Buffalo, a team that surrendered over 300 yards rushing the week before to the Jets, rushed 25 times and dropped back to pass 44 times, almost a 2:1 ratio. This despite the fact that they were running for 4.6 ypc and began the fourth quarter down just 5 points. To this point, your QB has thrown 2 INTS and entered the contest tied for the league lead with 10. He had thrown at least 1 in every game to that point, you had to expect he would give away at least another. The team came in on a two-game win streak in which they ran the ball often and well. Yet facing an opponent that ranks dead last against the run, you allow your (error prone) QB to drop back and heave the ball up for grabs 44 times. Surprisingly, the Panthers lost the game...
:mj03:
Andy Reid has long been an abuser of the run/pass ratio as well. Most recently he called three times as many pass plays as runs in a 13-9 loss to Oakland. This despite the fact that Philadelphia never found themselves trailing by more than one score and Donovan McNabb was getting hurried, hit or sacked every time he dropped back. Many Eagles fans though that maybe the Birds would feature more of a balanced attack like they did during last years surge to the NFC Championship, especially after picking up LeSean McCoy in this years draft. It'll be interesting to see if they have learned from last week's mistakes and go for a more balanced attack against Washington, a team that allows 118 ypg on the ground.
There are countless more examples of this every Sunday. It boggles the mind how these coaches remain in employ of their teams when things that are so painfully obvious to the fan seem to escape the head coaches.
