Breaking a Pass

For this How to post I want to focus on the side of the defense. With this post I am going to explain how to break up a pass.

Position: Defensive Back

Your job as a Defensive back is to only stop the pass. That is what your mission is on the field. Once the ball is snapped you are all about sticking to your man and eliminating him from gaining any yardage. You priorities on the field are 3 different things. They are as follows;

1.      Intercept the ball

2.      Knock the ball down

3.      Make the tackle once the ball is caught

With these steps checked off you become an effective defensive back. As an effective player you always want to be on the look out for balls that can be intercepted. Interceptions alter the feel of the entire game. It causes a shift in momentum and a game that may not have been going in your favor might suddenly be working on your side. Knocking the ball down is something that is not only a confidence booster but it will also eliminated any yardage for the other team. Finally the most important thing on your priority check list is to make the tackle. Football is based on scoring points and making tackles, THAT’S IT! So as a defensive back that is your job. Make the tackle and eliminate the run, or pass play that is happening.

Ok now let’s talk about breaking up the pass. The most important thing is to make sure you stick with the receiver. You never want to lose the receiver because you were searching for the ball in the air and lost the player you were covering. It is essential that your eyes stay between the receiver and the quarterback because they have practiced this play before and understand where each needs to be to make this play successful.

As the ball approaches you and the receiver you need to make sure that you are not in contact with the player before the ball because you will get flagged for pass interference. Once you receive that call you are looking at 10yards against your team, and in all reality causing the other team an automatic first down.

Next is when your hand placement is critical. The hand closest to the receiver needs to be secure incase you miss the ball. If your hand is secure you can ensure a tackle if the ball is caught. With the front hand you need to position it almost block the ball. Do not swing at the ball because you will most likely miss the ball.

These are the only steps needed for breaking up a pass. First getting your hands ready to block the ball, and then making the tackle on the receiver once the ball is caught. If you are able to cause disruption to the receiver you will find it easier to get them to fumble the ball. Creating any type of catch that is different from the usual will work in your favor.

Executing this play is easy. It just takes practice to perfect the motions that will help you avoid any penalties against you.


peaceouteverybody!

Vick > Young

         This week I analyzed a blog from a NFL nation blogger on 's website. Dan Graziano wrote up a good blog to explain the situation that the Eagles are in by choosing Vick or Young for starting quarterback for the rest if the season.         

         Life with out Vick, huh that sounds like a travesty. Well I believe it is far from horrible to hear these words. Although you do not want to accept that the half a million dollar man will be sitting on the bench for another week you realize who you have brought in to cover such times. Times like this is why Andy Reid and the rest of the Philadelphia Staff have made sure we had an appropriate back up for our quarterback. Vince Young seems like he will be more than willing to take this position. After shaking off the cob webs from his almost year off from playing football, he lead this team to a HUGE win against the New York Giants. Just when people counted us out as a team the Eagles are able to turn things around.   

When you have nothing to lose but everything to gain your team plays do or die football. Having the on going rivalry of the Giants to fuel your fire will also help your team in the quest for a win, and win we did. The game last week was a great game. From all ends it was a defensive battle for both side and it came down to who was able to make the drives down the field and capitalize with points in the end zone or through the up rights. If it was not for the final interception with about a minute and thirty seconds left I honestly believe that the game would have gone into over time. Although the Eagles defense came to prove a lot last Sunday and getting the final interception was just the icing on the cake.

            I have to agree with Graziano though replacing Young with Vick as the starter even when Vick comes back off of injury is the wrong this to do. We have stock in Vick and trust that he can lead this team to where we want to be. It is extremely unfortunate that his is out on injury at the moment; this is why we have Vince Young. He was able to lead us to the victory we needed when Vick was out. All good things must come to an end though. Looking at the struggles we are having it is understandable that people are getting excited. Knowing us Philadelphia fans we are super hot and cold. With a win against the Giants you better believe we are HOT right now. So the Eagles being hot is the reason many people believe that Young should continue to start, but you need to realize who is leading this team its Vick not Young.

            I think that Dan outlines a lot of correct points within the blog that the fans of Philadelphia know and understand but are still on a high note from the win on this past Sunday they aren’t thinking logically. We can not just think that Young pulled us through this game because he didn’t. The defense really came to play on Sunday and they helped us pull out this victory.

            There is a long road ahead of us if we are even going to think about playoffs, but taking it one day at a time with do or die situation for every game might just be in our favor. 

peaceouteverybody!

Week 12

Its week 12 in the NFL and teams that we thought would be pulling out as extreme front runners have some what come up short. There are three specific teams that come to mind that have disappointed once the season began getting longer. The Lions are the first team that I could think of. They started off the season 5-0 and everyone believed they would be an extremely hard team to be this season. Time tested them and over weeks 6 and 7 they feel short of the mark. Now we are in week 12 and they just suffered a loss the defending champion Green Bay Packers. As it stands now they are 7-4, and their schedule is looking like a 50/50 chance for them to win or lose. It is all going to come down to how much they want to win.

The next team that has seriously fallen short of the mark is the Buffalo Bills. They also started their season hot with 3-0 start but have fell short in a few key games along the way. Its hard to think that a team we were shocked to see pulling out wins every week, has now suffered a bottoming out in offense along with defense.

Looking at teams that are still going strong we see the Green Bay Packers continuing to dominate the game week in and week out. They are truly showing why they are the defending super bowl champs. Every opponent faced has been defeated and they are looking at a perfect 11-0 record. With play off looks high, we can only hope for a continuing show of skill from this team.

The NFL website does a great job of putting together the statistics for leading offense and defensive players around the league. You can check out the top rushers, passers, and tacklers from all the NFL teams. It’s a easy way to check up on the stats you need for bragging rights while you talk to your friends. It also allows easy access to check up on your fantasy picks.

Its only Thursday but the games planned for Sunday are huge games. During the 1pm games you have the Buffalo verse the Jets match up. Also at 1 you have the match up of Tampa Bay verse the Titans. At 4:15 we have the huge New England verse Philadelphia, which will be a big season decider for the Eagles. Monday night football is also looking like a great match up because you have the New Orleans Saints verse the New York Giants. Week 12 will continue to test the teams and decide who will be the winners and losers of this week.