2015 Preparation Started Early This Year!

Rising senior Noah Johnson (Durant High) and friends wanted to get their preparation for 2015 started right away, so America's Best QB's are training every Sunday afternoon in Lutz, Florida.
Contact us at AmericasBestQB@gmail.com if you would like to learn how to play the QB position at its best!

QB Training Begins In January!

Unlike previous years, we have started the new season of football training the Sunday following the Super Bowl.  This year we will begin on Sunday January 11th.
Youth QB's through middle school will train from 3 PM until 4:30 PM.  High school QB's will train from 4:30 PM until 6 PM.
Please contact Jeff Carlson at AmericasBestQB@gmail.com.

Romo resurrects Cowboys and self

A while back I posted that Tony Romo may be riding into the sunset, at least with the Cowboys, but in the first few games of this season, he has given the long-suffering Big D fans something to get excited about of late.
After enduring a painful back injury last season, he seems to fully healed and having fun again, along with his teammates.  A great running game will do that for you and has been getting fabulous support from his offensive line and a record-tying sixth 100 yard performance on the ground from DeMarco Murray to open the season!
It really is good to see smiles all around from Jerry in the box, to Jason (Garrett) on the sideline as well as Jason (Whitten) on the field.
It has been long enough for the most valuable NFL franchise to sputter around the lower half of the league.  Now they are 5-1 and go up against their NFC East foe New York Giants, who have been as Jekyll and Hyde this season as any of the teams that can't figure out who they are going to be thus far in 2014, but don't be surprised if both Tony Romo and the Cowboys, like Mr. Hyde, revert back to their former selves and stub their toes along this long and winding season.

Brady Handles Media Perfectly

When an NFL team makes their draft picks each year, the higher the pick, the more immediate impact is expected on the field this season.  Second round picks are usually expected to get regular playing time, but not necessarily walk right into the starting spot.  QB's are always an exception, with many more rookie first round picks expected to walk right into the starter's role, but this season year's crop of signal-callers seem to have gone back in time a bit and will get a small chance to develop before being thrown to the wolves.

The New England Patriots took Jimmy Garappolo from Eastern Illinois in the second round, which immediately sent the media into a frenzy to see what incumbent super star Tom Brady thought of the selection.  Brady is nearing the end of his career, whether he likes to think it is or not, but I wouldn't put it past one of the best pocket passers of all time, to extend it out further than most have been able to do.  Ryan Mallett was a third round pick a few years ago and he looks to be on the move out of New England soon, leaving the small school Garappolo as the heir apparent even though Brady thinks Garappolo will be an old man before getting a chance to lead the Patriots from under center.

With the media and behind the microphone following the draft, Brady was brilliant as he so often is on the field, saying that Bill Belichick is always interested in fielding the best team and that he (Belichick) doesn't care who is the quarterback.  No whining or crying from Brady, just the acknowledgment that in the NFL, they are always looking for the next guy that can get the job done.  Tom Brady turns off a lot of people around the country due to the appearance of his attitude on and off the field, but most of that is simple jealousy or just the competition factor of wishing their team could be his.  In this case he was masterful at handling the media and many around the league can learn something from him when they are posed with the same challenge of a high draft pick.

NFL Draft Goes As It Should

This year's NFL Draft was the most exciting in years and full of intrigue at the top of the first round with Jadaveon Clowney, thought to be the best overall talent in years and the multiple teams at the top with quarterback needs and the enigma talent of Johnny Manziel.  The Houston Texans decided to pair Clowney with superstar defensive tackle J.J. Watt in what could be the most devastating duo since Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice disrupted the Oakland Raiders for a Super Bowl title in 2003.  This was the right choice, because none of the QB's on the board could have improved the Texans anywhere close to what Clowney has the potential to do.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had the third pick and the pick of the QB crop.  They took the least risky route by going with the big and mobile Blake Bortles from the University of Central Florida.  Many draft gurus will say that his lack of total college starts is a historical problem for those signal callers that have come before him (Mark Sanchez).  Bortles size, athleticism and work ethic seem to check out well and was the best bet for long term success.

Johnny Manziel was this year's Aaron Rogers.  Rogers languished in the green room after watching Alex Smith (taken by 49ers, now with Kansas City Chiefs) go #1, when he was considered for that top spot by most "experts."  The Cleveland Browns moved all around the in the first round before moving up to get Manziel at #22.  This is a good value pick and a good move by a franchise that desperately needs something to cheer for.  The Browns management has made it clear to everyone that they want him treated as a rookie that needs to come in and work for his spot--a back up spot at that.  With Brian Hoyer considered a journeyman at best, I'm not sure how long the Browns will be able to weather the call for their exciting back up QB to come in and turn on the magic!

Teddy Bridgewater was this year's "most NFL ready" quarterback, deemed by talking heads following the college season and into the longest NFL Draft season ever.  After failing to impress in his pro day, his stock dropped significantly, but the Minnesota Vikings still made him a first round pick, taking him at #32, the last of the day and round.  I have my own doubts about Bridgewater and was not part of the crowd that thought he was the best prepared for success.  I don't take away any of his accomplishments at Louisville and his production, but he isn't very big, not super elusive, and most of all I don't like how low his release is off his shoulder.  This will be a problem in the NFL, unless it is diagnosed and improved.

Aaron Murray and AJ McCarron went in back to back picks in the 5th round to the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively.  Both of these guys found good landing spots for themselves, as they will not have the same pressure as the others and can both play the game and be successful. 

One of the surprise moves was the New England Patriots taking Eastern Illinois prospect Jimmy Ga

rappolo with the 60th pick, before they had traded their long-time back up Ryan Mallett.  Rumors say they were close to dealing him to the Houston Texans, but that remains just that, rumor.

Overall, this was a very good class of QB's, some more ready than others to actually step in and be successful in the NFL, but where all the chips fell, it seemed that the teams that took the leap at QB, filled their needs very well!

Manziel is good--and scary

I really like to watch Johnny Football play football.  Johnny Manziel will most likely be a top 5 pick in next week's NFL draft and will sell many tickets to his new team's games and to many away games, much like Michael Jordan did in all the visiting cities his Chicago Bulls played in.
From a technical standpoint, he throws the ball really well.  He has the quickest release of all the QB's in the draft and has plenty of arm strength to be successful in the NFL.  Manziel's biggest problem is that much of what made him Johnny Football at Texas A&M is exactly what will make his NFL career an abbreviated one.  Mike Holmgren recently said he is a lot like Brett Favre and I agree very much.  Manziel's "gunslinging" style makes for great watching, but for big mistakes as well.  I believe Manziel is a better, more pure thrower than Favre and will make less mistakes overall.  It took Holmgren a long time to take some of Favre's wild plays out of his game and to a Super Bowl victory.  Favre continued to make great plays and some really bad ones as well as his career continued on what seemed like forever.  Unfortunately for Manziel, I think it is his overall style of play and lack of physical size (girth) that will give him a much shorter career than Favre, who played through much pain, but avoided the big injury that hit RGIII, the last phenom to hit the NFL.
I was wrong about Allen Iverson when he went into the NBA.  He had a much longer and better career than I thought he would.  But, I am not a basketball analyst and didn't play in the NBA.
Johnny Manziel will get drafted at or near the top of next week's draft.  He will be exciting as heck to watch. And God willing he will avoid the big injury, but like Michael Vick, who depended on his legs so much, Manziel will struggle to stay on the field full time.  So, whoever does draft him better really like their backup QB, because it's a good bet that he will be your starter more often than you would like.

NFL Combine Quarterbacks 2014

The QB class of 2014 entering this year's NFL draft in May brought arguably more interest than any in recent years, especially with Johnny Manziel participating in the on-filed events except the throwing portion.
Teddy Bridgewater, still thought by many to be the most ready for the NFL, was in Indianapolis for the events as a bystander for the field events, but the other QB getting lots of attention was the lesser known quarterback from the University of Central Florida Blake Bortles.  Unlike Manziel and Bridgewater, Bortles has a prototypical NFL QB body and has a lot of athleticism to go along with it.  The biggest knock is that he didn't play against top-notch competition week in and week out in the American Athletic Conference.
I became a fan of his play as UCF found its way onto the television more often as the season progressed and he certainly showed well for himself in beating Baylor in his bowl game.
I don't think there are any questions with him and his abilities moving onto the highest level.  He is big, strong and athletic.  HIs arm strength is not a question, but his mechanics might be.  Looking at the photo from his combine throwing, he certainly takes the ball way too deep behind his head!  I haven't studied him enough to know if he does this all the time or just certain throws when he doesn't have his legs underneath him.  It can be fixed, but the QB coach that he lands with will need to know how to do it.
For our purposes here, know that the BEST way to throw the football is to keep the forearm vertical to the ground with the throwing hand directly on top of the elbow until the last second when the hand snaps toward the target, more like a boxer throwing a punch than reaching deep behind the head with the football.  This makes it much more difficult to get the ball's nose far enough around to fly properly.  Also, with a helmet and shoulder pads on, it makes it more difficult all around.  This "mistake" in his mechanics wouldn't be enough to stop me from drafting him, but it is a place for him to improve from now until his pro day!

Brady, Pats Blow Conversion Call and Game

In last year's Super Bowl, down to the final play, the 49ers opt for an all-or-nothing "fade" route to Michael Crabtree.  Everyone knows that didn't end well for the Niners.  It is a bad philosophy to call a play with only one option when you are down to your last play.  The 49ers should have rolled out their extremely athletic QB Colin Kaepernick and given him 3 or 4 receiving options (Vernon Davis and Anquan Boldin aren't bad choices either) as well as Crabtree doing something other than a fade.  The 49ers weren't down to their final play in this year's NFC Championship game with the Seahawks, but their season ended in eerily similar fashion again, but this time it was Richard Sherman on a deep "go" route, tipping the ball away and sending Seattle to the Super Bowl.

In the AFC Championship, the Patriots were attempting to make another dramatic comeback from a large deficit to the Broncos and needed to convert a 2 point conversion to give them a chance to get within a two score difference.  I don't know who made the ultimate call, but Josh McDaniels is the offensive coordinator, so the blame has to fall to him unless someone else steps up and says something.  The Patriots took the ball out of Tom Brady's hands and handed it to a running back on what also has to be considered an all-or-nothing play.  Failing to convert and the game was certainly lost.  Brady is arguably the game's best signal-caller and willed his team to many wins this past season.  To call a play where any missed block means defeat and also handing the ball off from shot-gun reduces the success rate even further, was derelict and a complete coaching mistake.  Obviously, since these "mistakes" are being made at the NFL level, I shouldn't be surprised to see it at other levels, but let us all learn that when you have Tom Brady or any other QB in the backfield, when you are down to the last play of the game or similar situation, give your team a much better chance at success by rolling out and giving your QB 3 or 4 options to win instead of only one.  It hasn't worked out for the 49ers or the Patriots in some of the biggest games in recent years!

Mike Glennon Lighting Up Bucs World

Mike Glennon was drafted in the third round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year and there was quite a bit of wondering why Head Coach Greg Schiano would do such a thing with a young "franchise" quarterback in Josh Freeman as the starting QB and plenty of needs on the rest of the team.  Schiano made a few curious comments and a few clarifications the rest of the sping, always assuring that Freeman was the team's starting quarterback.

After a series of miscues by Freeman came to public knowledge and maybe a few that didn't, a very poor start for both the team and the QB, the Bucs sent Freeman to the Vikings and elevated their tall and skinny rookie QB Mike Glennon to the starter's role. 

Glennon wasn't good enough to lift the Bucs to the first win of the season or for the next few weeks, but he continued to show promise and a better consistency than the fifth year Freeman had done.  Finally, after an 0-8 start and most fans starting to just hope for the first pick in next year's draft, the Bucs entire team turned a corner, led by the play of that same tall, skinny QB from North Carolina State.

With almost perfect QB ratings the last few weeks and absolutely no interceptions, the Bucs have now won 3 games in a row and behind those great QB ratings and defensive turnovers as well as special teams turnovers, the Bucs look like they can play with anybody. 

3-8 isn't very good, but to the depths of where the Bucs had fallen, it looks really good!  There are some very tough games still on the schedule and I doubt many believe they could run the table, but Coach Schiano looks like he has saved his job for this year.  And if the Bucs don't have one of the top picks in next year's draft, Glennon's great play may have saved his own job as well!

Tannehill Set For Good Things

Things didn't work out too well the other night for the Dolphins or Ryan Tannehill, last year's first round pick for Miami.  Not to fret, the Dolphins are still 3-1 and Tannehill is only going to get better.  What I really like about him is his overall athleticism and his tight, efficient throwing motion.  He will continue to improve as a QB as he adds snaps to his resume and his mechanics will keep him close to his targets.

Peyton Manning Out of This World

When John Elway jettisoned Tim Tebow for Peyton Manning, who was trying to return from serious neck issues, there were plenty of questions left to be answered.  2012 was a pretty good year for Manning and the Broncos and could have been magical if not for a defensive brain-fart in the AFC Championship game.
Fast forward to 2013 and Manning has taken the new rules of patty-cake treatment for wide receivers catching passes and exploited it to what may turn out to be the most prolific and efficient season on record, which is no easy task.
Through four games, he has a record 16 TD passes and is just making it look to easy.  There really is no answer from the defensive side, other than to beat a lineman and knock him down before he is ready to throw.  But, he has made that very difficult as well by getting rid of the ball quickly and keeping the offense running at a very high tempo and thus keep the defensive linemen tired and frustrated.
If the Broncos offensive linemen can keep Peyton upright all year, John Elway may have made the  managerial move of the century--albeit only 13 years thus far!

Patriots, Belichick Unsure How They Will Use Tebow

Players find different roles on their teams.  Sometimes a wide receiver becomes a kick-off return specialist and other players that don't find starting roles, find their niche on special teams, but rarely does a team sign or draft a player without knowing what they plan to do with him.  After being on the open market for a number of weeks without a suitor, Tim Tebow signed with the New England Patriots and Head Coach Bill Belichick said he doesn't know where Tebow will fit in.

The common thought is that the Patriots were one of the few places Tebow could go because of their ability to handle players that bring extra scrutiny, albeit the past players brought in had negative associations for their ability to get along.  Tebow gets along quite well it seems, but brings a storm of media no other player in the NFL does. 

With Tom Brady entrenched at QB, there is no story to write about Tebow moving in like everyday in New York.  The story is will offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels go out of his way to incorporate him into the offense in a way that will actually make Tebow the terror that he was in college?  Tony Sporano had no plan to integrate him into the offense and the weak effort to run a few spread option plays were pitiful. 

Remember back to the beginning of the "Wildcat" with Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown of the Miami Dolphins.  It was successful first because no one had seen it and it caught teams by surprise.  Secondly, it was successful because defenses were forced to defend two points of attack with two good runners.  The New York Jets could have been a force on offense if they had used Tebow as the Ronnie Brown runner coming in fast-motion across the formation past Brady.  Brady can give it to Tebow on the move to his left in a run/pass option, where the corner is threatened by a 250 pound fullback.  Come up to tackle Tebow and leave the receiver uncovered and Tebow will dump the ball just like he did at the University of Florida.  Stay back and cover the receiver and he will hurt you big-time on the ground.  After Tebow does that a couple of time, Brady fakes it to Tebow and pulls it back out and finds his receivers more open than usual because they had to react to Tebow taking the ball outside.  This offense would actually look a lot like what Tebow was doing with the Gators when he either gave it to Chris Rainey or Jeff Demps (two of the fastest guys on the planet) and pulled it out and ran it or threw it to an open Aaron Hernandez (yes, the Pats TE).  Josh McDaniels made Tebow a first round pick and caused much of this problem, because if Tebow had been a fourth round pick (where his QB ability justified his draft status), there would not have been nearly the expectations that have been on this player that if used properly can actually have the value of his original draft status, just not at the quarterback position!

New Football Camps for Girls Only!

Summer football camps across America number in the thousands for boys playing the nation's favorite sport!  But football camps for girls playing flag football number exactly zero!! 

Gridiron Girls is going to change that very soon.  At the end of June, Gridiron Girls will offer its first 3 day football camp exclusively for girls 10 and up (GirlsOnlyFootball.com) on the campus of Tampa Catholic High School.

Former NFL QB Jeff Carlson has teamed up with experienced flag football high school coach JJ Koski to give girls a chance to get the quality teaching, drills, techniques and strategies that until now have only been offered to boys. 

Title IX has been in place for 40 years now and opened an amazing door of opportunity for young women to explore their passion for sports at the collegiate level.  Unfortunately, flag football has not quite made the jump to college, but Gridiron Girls is hoping to be a major piece in the puzzle to breaking onto the collegiate scene very soon.  But in the meantime, let's get the girls game as good as it can be, so get out to the Gridiron Girls Football Camp on Friday June 28th (June 28-30).  Sign up today at GirlsOnly Football.com!

NFL Draft QB Follow-Up

As I wrote before the draft, I didn't really believe any of the 2013 draft class was worthy of a first round pick.  The Buffalo Bills selection of Florida State's EJ Manuel in the middle of the round caught many by surprise, including me.  I wrote for JoeBucsFan.com that Manuel might be a good option for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third or fourth round, after Oklahoma's Landry Jones.  I based that opinion on mechanics.  Jones has solid mechanics, maybe the best in the draft, while Manuel is inconsistent with his.  Manuel has a bigger upside, probably the biggest in the draft and that is why the Bills reached a little bit with the former Seminole signal-caller.

Geno Smith became this year's Dan Marino/Aaron Rogers, though both Marino and Rogers were actual possibilities to go early in the first round and fell.  It sounds as if Geno Smith was being misled into believing that he was not only first round worth, but early first round.  I didn't see it, as you can read in an earlier posting right here at AmericasBestQB.com, and neither did any of the 32 NFL football clubs.  After publicly saying he wasn't going to stay in New York for Day 2 of the draft, someone talked some sense into him and he stayed for the New York Jets to get some photo ops on the big stage as they picked him up with the 39th pick, an appropriate landing spot and the best place he could go for an early opportunity to take over!

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a relatively surprising 3rd round pick of North Carolina State's Mike Glennon.  The tallest QB in the draft is slightly bigger than Bucs starter Josh Freeman and while he shouldn't push for playing time this year, if Freeman falters in his contract year, Glennon may get a prime shot to take over in Tampa in 2014!

USC's Matt Barkley probably didn't think he would last as long as he did, falling to the fourth round and the Philadelphia Eagles.  I think Barkley could end up a solid starter in the league, but doubt that he will ever achieve greatness.  The New York Giants added Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, thought to possibly go to his college coach's Buffalo Bills, but he will get a chance to learn behind Eli Manning, a pretty nice place to be.

The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up the aforementioned Landry Jones, where he will be given the proper development time to start fighting Big Ben Roethlisberger in a couple years, the way it should be done.

Overall, this year's average crop of slingers fell into some pretty good situations for success in the coming years.  Geno Smith may not be too happy about what he has gotten himself into or how early he will be getting booed in New York, as I'm sure Mark Sanchez is still surprised how fast the wheels have fallen off of his career that looked so bright not too long ago.

QB's Struggle At All-Star Competition

I love compeitions.  That is why I named my company America's Best Quarterback.  I wanted to develop a series of competitions for all QB's (young and old, pro, x-pro and amateur) to compete across the country and see who was the best.  We had a great even a few years ago, but just didn't have the abitlity to grow it the way I had envisioned. 

I happened upon a college All-Star competition this afternoon that pitted "teams" against each other.  The NFL prospect QB's (EJ Manuel, Jordan Rodgers, Mike Glennon, Ryan Nassib).  Each of the four had issues dropping a single ball into a large net only 20 yards away and each of them had problems for different mechanical reasons.

EJ Manuel opened his body up to the throw (his chest was facing the target before his started his throwing motion) so that he reach back behind his head too far.  Stay "sqare" to the target with your your front hip and shoulder pointed at the target as long as possible (like a golfer) for the best accuracy.  You can see in the photo that he does this in real football as well.  Opening up like this reduces his accuracy and power.  He seems to have enough natural power, but even though his college completion percentage was very good, in the NFL, this mechanical flaw will haunt him.

Jordan Rodgers completed the task faster than the others, but he too had accuracy issues.  He drops the ball on first movement and then brings the ball behind his head and back, pointing the front end of the ball to the sky, creating an elongated delivery and making it hard to bring the ball back down the target in time.  He should watch his brother's mechanics a lot more closely and mimic those, where Aaron Rogers keeps the front tip of the ball facing the ground much more often by keeping his ball on top of his elbow with a straight wrist (which is the best way to throw).

Mike Glennon embarrassed himself in this meaningless competition.  He threw the ball short of the target many times because he was throwing directly at it and not giving it any loft.  This was an OK strategy as the ball would have gone in the net, but he was short and didn't correct his error.  The reason he was short was because he kept throwing with a stiff left knee.  Like shooting a free throw in basketball with stiff legs, the ball will be very flat.  To get proper trajectory, the shooter should have some bend in the knees, which fixes balance.  QB's should always have bend in their hips and knees.  The front knee bends even more after release and then goes straight after the ball is well out of the QB's hand.

Ryan Nassib had very much the same problem as Jordan Rodgers, but even more so.  He takes the ball so far behind his head he almost touches the ball to his back.  It is very difficult to bring the ball around in time to make consistently accurate throws and when he meets NFL quality competition, he and others that throw like him, will find that they don't have the luxury to take that much time throwing the ball.  These type throwers either get hit while throwing more often than others or decide they can't make the throw and pull the ball down more often, which causes more sacks and broken plays.

Ultimately these manufactured QB competitions don't prove anything about how a player plays when there are 22 guys on the field, but they are fun to watch and do

uncover some mechanical issues for them to improve so that their transition to the next level will give them their best chance at success!

Look Out For Landry Jones

Following Sam Bradford at Oklahoma wasn't an easy task and Landry Jones did not keep the Sooners in the National Title hunt like he or any OU fan would have liked, but he may just be the best NFL prospect in this year's QB draft class.

After watching him on "Gruden's QB Camp" and reading Charlie Casserly's thoughts about Jones' prospects, I too believe he is at the top of a relatively mediocre class of hopefuls.  Jones throws with great balance, ala Joe Flacco.  Because of this, he has better accuracy than most of his peers.

After showing Jones some poor decisions during his college career, Gruden pointed out that he needs to learn how to give up on some plays and not turn the ball over or make bad decisions trying to do too much.  If he can learn this philosophy, he has the throwing mechanics and ability to make a very successful move to the next level.

Train Hard Swim Hard

I read an article a few weeks ago about San Fransisco 49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh being a bit concerned that his new star quarterback might be spending a little bit too much time in the weight room getting a little bit too muscled up in the off-season.

When I was in high school, my coach told me to lay off the weights for the same concern of Harbaugh.  I did lay off the weights for a short time, but went right back to them and never stopped trying to get as strong as possible, but I did add stretching into my lifting routine throughout the training session and always maintained really good flexibility in my shoulders.  The other thing that I did and recommend to every QB regardless of how muscular or strong you are and that is swimming.  Swimming every stroke (freestlye, back stroke, breast stroke and butterfly) is a great, great workout and a fantastic way to maintain flexibility while building strength in parts of your body that you cannot really hit with weights alone.

If Tim Tebow really wants to take playing QB in the NFL seriously, he should take up a very rigorous swimming schedule and lose about 15 pounds.  He has a slow arm swing and swimming and weight loss would probably help with both.

As for Colin Kaepernick, I don't worry much about him getting too big in the off-season, but adding swimming to his colorful off-season activities wouldn't hurt his exciting and emerging game either!

2013 QB Draft Class

The 2013 NFL Draft is one of the most unimpressive in recent memory for quarterback talent.  USC's Matt Barkley was thought to be the eventual first pick in the draft before the 2012 college football season derailed that path.  Barkley may be improving his stock a little bit coming off a major injury to his throwing arm, but the recent talk that West Virginia's Geno Smith could possibly be moving closer to that top spot held by the Kansas City Chiefs is reaching at best.

There seems to be quite a few mid-round talent QB's that should go in the second, third, fourth and later rounds with Florida State's E.J. Manuel, NC State's Mike Glennon, Tennesee's Tyler Bray and others, but none of the above should go in the first round. 

As the Tim Tebow draft showed us though, it only takes one team to make a player a first round pick, but taking Geno Smith or any of these QB's as the top pick, would continue the move the Chiefs down the unsuccessful road that they have been traveling for some time.

I wish all of these QB's the very best luck when the draft actually happens, but unless a desperate team or two make a reach beyond the real grade, we shouldn't hear their names until late on day one at best.

49ers Coaches Blow Super Bowl

Taking nothing away from the Baltimore Ravens, but the San Fransisco 49ers' coaches made a major blunder in the waning moments of the Super Bowl that gave the advantage to the Ravens' defense with a goal-to-go situation at the 5 yard line.

The NFL and every other level of football is overly obsessed with the shotgun formation.  It certainly has its place at every level, but in short yardage situations and at or inside the five yard line are definitely not the right time or place. 

Case in point:  3rd down at the five yard line, Colin Kaepernick tried to throw a slant to his left that was broken up in the end zone.  Ravens' safety Ed Reed got an extra early jump at the line of scrimmage that wasn't called.  If Kaepernick was under center, Reed would have needed to take a left hand turn to get to the QB, but by being in shotgun, he was able to make a beeline right at Kaepernick, who was trying to get a handle on the ball and make an accurate throw.  He would have already had the ball in his hand and been able to make a better throw and had just a split second more time, increasing the odds of a winning touchdown throw.

On 4th down, the Niners took a time-out to think about their last play to either win or lose the game.  After deliberating, they chose an all or nothing fade route to the corner of the end zone.  Fade routes need to get up quickly to give the receiver a chance to catch it over his shoulder as he tiptoes inbounds.  Fades aren't that high a percentage pass to begin with, but to call it from shotgun guaranteed that the ball wouldn't get up quickly enough to be thrown properly.  Did Michael Crabtree get held?  Absolutely, but hoping the referee would call that on the final play was wishful thinking.  If the ball had gotten up earlier from being under center, the ball would have been closer to the ground and would have been much more blatant of a hold and possibly even gotten the call, but the all-or-nothing call was a very poor one to begin with.

When faced with a "win or lose" proposition, it is always a higher percentage chance to go with a multiple receiver set and a run/pass option for the QB, especially an athletic one like Kaepernick.  From the team that created "The Catch", one would think that of all the teams out there, this one would know better than to throw a fade in that situation.

Unfortunately many NFL teams are now using the shotgun in other short yardage and Red Zone situations.  This is a mistake.  The QB cannot get his hand on the ball and complete a pass as quickly as under center and cannot take advantage of missed assignments by the defense by dumping the ball for a quick two yard pick up.  The QB is asked to throw without getting his hand on the laces, increasing an errant throw and cannot get it to the receiver before he goes down the field significantly further and incurring better coverage.

The 49ers may not have completed either of their last two attempts on Super Bowl Sunday, but if they would have stayed under center like they should have, they just might still have a perfect record in those big games!

Ravens vs 49ers in Super Bowl

Before the kickoff of Super Bowl LXVII (47 for non-Romans) in New Orleans between the Baltimore Ravens and San Fransisco 49ers, I thought I would stick my two cents in on the eventual victor in what should be a very well matched game.

By all accounts the Ravens are being led through the playoffs on the emotion of their iconic and retiring middle linebacker Ray Lewis, who came back from a midseason triceps injury to make one final run at the Lombardi Trophy, like the one he and his team won in Tampa, Florida in 2000.  The Ravens defense has been the team's calling card for pretty much all of his 17 seasons and isn't what it once was, but they are still pretty good, but aging significantly.

The 49ers counter with great young talent that just missed this final game a year ago and responded strongly with their interesting head coach Jim Harbaugh, who took a very educated gamble on sticking with Colin Kaepernick's hot and talented hand when Alex Smith was ready to return from his concussion.  The Pistol offense is all the rage right now with the fast QB Kaepernick running it to perfection. 

Pretty solid arguments can be made for either team and the "experts" seem to be split down the middle as far as I can see.  The oddsmakers give the 49ers the edge.  In this case, I side with the oddsmakers because of the speed of the 49ers, their solid defense and the fact that the Niners have the right people running this multi-dimensional attack.  I believe over the last two weeks the 49ers coaches have come up with a plan to stop the big pass plays that have helped propel the Ravens through the playoffs as well as stop Ray Rice on the ground with their front six or seven if needed.  I really like Joe Flacco as a QB and believe he has climbed that ladder to be considered one of the best in the league, but tonight will not be the beginning of his legacy of Super Bowl wins.

So with that said, I will go with the 49ers winning a great contest 31-27!  I wouldn't go to the bank with it, but I will stick with it.