Bears’ utter domination of the Vikings
Youth Anthony Miller Jerseys , first taking a moment to note two players that have recently started playing their best football of the season. [1:00-6:10]I then
review the injuries suffered in Sunday’s game (and the play of those who
replaced them) [6:10-9:40] before raving about just how great this defense is
and why I think this was the biggest statement they’ve made this year.
[9:40-15:00]From there I preview the Bears’ upcoming playoff game with the
Eagles, detailing just who Nick Foles is and why I think he’s due for one of his
worst games as a pro this weekend. [15:30-20:35]I discuss Wendell Smallwood for
a bit [20:30-21:40] before speculating about when I think Foles really hurt his
ribs and what kind of play we ought to expect from him going forward.
[21:40-23:30]Finally, I discuss how the Bears’ strengths and weaknesses match up
with the Eagles’ before making my prediction about this weekend’s contest.
[23:30-26:00]I finish out by recapping everything that happened outside the
Bears this weekend, covering fired coaches, Fangio interviews, and each Week 17
game.Feedback rocks, so please feel free to provide it! Whether positive or
negative, I want to make something that you want to listen to. Comments about
length, content, anything you have an opinion on is welcome. Bear Down, and
thanks for Bearing With Me! The new book from Doug Farrar, The Genius of
Desperation, takes a chronological view of the evolution of football strategy.
While it documents the schemes and the men behind those innovations, the book
also does a nice job of underlining why some of these changes came about. This
book really helped connect some dots for me to help focus what I think is going
on in the game today. Often, we can look at history to learn about our present,
and Farrar’s book serves us well in that capacity. The first example Farrar
covers that really stuck out to me was Clark Shaughnessy with the Chicago Bears.
Shaughnessy’s influence on the Bears’ T-Formation led to a 73-0 drubbing of
Washington in the 1940 championship game and set up a stretch of dominance for
those Bears (4 championships in 6 years). Those innovations really took the
league by storm and were the major impetus behind that sustained success. But,
the league eventually catches up and reaches a state of equilibrium until the
next innovation comes along. Conversely, Farrar digs into Vince
Lombardi
Anthony Miller Jerseys Stitched , who he says isn’t credited enough as an offensive innovator because the Packers ran a fairly simple scheme. Here’s where
I disagree with the author. Lombardi’s greatness was not in innovation but in
perfection of his scheme. No one had dug into the details of each player’s
responsibilities, techniques, and iterative variations to attack different
defenses quite like Lombardi. That’s not necessarily innovative with regards to
scheme but rather maximizing the efficiency of the scheme. Think of it as the
difference between an entrepreneur and a Six Sigma Black Belt. Lombardi squeezed
every drop out of that Packers Sweep en route to 5 titles over 7 years. The
Lombardi Packers were the epitome of the end of that evolutionary cycle, so to
speak – when someone or something dominates to such a degree that there has to
be a major innovation to overcome it. In the evolution of football strategy, I
would argue that schematic innovations have moved in predictable cycles. An
innovative strategy provides the innovator with a strategic advantage, many
times resulting in immediate success. This is essentially the same thing as a
“first-mover advantage” in the market place. This is followed by the death of
old, dated concepts (and usually fired coaches), copying and incorporating
elements of the new scheme throughout the league, and finally settling into some
sort of equilibrium. The successful teams during that equilibrium are usually
defined by who can do their best Lombardi impression and maximize that scheme
with the best personnel. With the advances in technology, scouting, free agency,
analytics, etc. we see these schematic changes adapted by the league more
quickly than before, thus reducing the windows of the first-mover advantage.
Book cover for Doug Farrar’s the Genius of DesperationFarrar has laid out the
tick-tock of the innovative disruptors and the schemes that got them there
throughout the league’s history. Sometimes it was just a mad genius with some
chalk, but many times these innovations were born out of desperation – how can I
beat this Goliath with a rock and a slingshot? I know I can’t win if we play
their game. How can I use my players that aren’t as good as the team we’re
playing and outsmart them with how we run our offense or defense? Put another
way – the best swordsman in the world doesn’t worry about the 2nd best
swordsman; he worries about the most unconventional one. The history of football
is full of these innovations, and many of them resulted in multiple
championships and dynasty runs. Think about the 49ers in the 80’s with the
implementation of the West Coast Offense. That offense led to 5 championships
and a new definition of what good QB statistics look like. Seriously – take a
look at players before Montana and since and tell me there isn’t a huge
difference in accuracy expectations for the modern NFL QB. Those concepts
fundamentally changed the way the game is played forever. But, the West Coast
Offense was born out of a sense of desperation, not with Montana
Youth Sherrick McManis Jerseys , but in Cincinnati with a weak-armed QB where Bill Walsh served as Offensive Coordinator.Some innovations send shockwaves, others
send ripples. Think about the wildcat – very effective for the desperate
Dolphins to beat the Patriots, but now merely a gadget play. Or, think about the
Bears 46 defense, something so dominant it gave birth to some of the most
devastating defenses in NFL history but is nowhere to be seen in today’s NFL.
This book is full of these examples and provides for a fun history lesson.
Farrar digs into both sides of the ball with vigor and uses a fair number of
diagrams to illustrate the innovations. If I had to pick some nits, I would have
liked to see a primer at the front of the book for the novice fan to make this
more accessible to a wider audience and more diagrams along the way for all of
us to enjoy. If you’re an avid football fan and have at least a cursory
understanding and interest of the X’s and O’s, you’ll absolutely love this book.
If you’re more on the front end of the learning curve, this book probably
doesn’t meet your needs. Honestly, I’d love to see the author turn this into a
video series, showing film to illustrate the innovations and how they worked.
I’d be all-in for an 8-part NFL Films documentary too – and the Sam Spence
soundtrack to go with it.This brings us to the present and future of the game
that Farrar closes the book with, including the takeover of the RPO. I believe
the league had been sitting in an era of equilibrium for a while, where it
essentially required an MVP-level pocket passing QB to be consistently
competitive or a defensive juggernaut to bring them down. For the most part,
this evolutionary cycle has been defined by the premiere pocket passers fitting
in tight window throws to receivers. Something earned over years of tape study,
timing with receivers, and wisdom gained the hard way. Tom Brady, Peyton
Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers. If you didn’t have one of “those
guys”
Sherrick McManis Jerseys Stitched , you almost certainly had to have something special on defense to compete.The problem with that from a team building
standpoint was that it was increasingly difficult to find one of those premiere
pocket passers. The college game was shifting and teams were sinking high draft
picks into QBs that couldn’t adapt to that game quickly enough for anxious
franchises. Add in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and the containment
of rookie contracts and all the sudden, relying on young QBs with a modest
contract surrounded by a great team context was en vogue. But what can those
young QBs run right out of college? You got it – RPO’s, spread concepts, putting
pressure on defenses with the ability to run read option plays. The hope, it
would seem, is that when the price tag comes due on the second contract, that QB
can carry a heavier burden and transition to the traditional pocket passing
scheme. The NFL today feels like it is experiencing one of those innovation
moments – a disruption in the equilibrium. The best teams of 2018 appear to be
in one of two molds - the young QB running creative concepts with wide open
throws or the last vestiges of the old guard premiere pocket passer able to fit
in tight windows with consistency. In one corner, Sean McVay, Jared Goff, Andy
Reid, and Patrick Mahomes. In the other corner, Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Bill
Belichick, and Tom Brady. Will the best swordsmen in the world win again or will
it be the unconventional ones?The Genius of Desperation is the type of book that
needs to be in your library if you care about the history of the game and the
schemes that make it so interesting. Simply put – this book makes you a better
fan of the game. Doug Farrar can be found on Twitter @NFL_DougFarrar. I can be
found on the same format @gridironborn.
