OT: Why was Raven's Coach John Harbaugh Upset with Patriot's Off-Balanced Line?
In yesterday's AFC divisional playoff game the Patriots used an unbalanced line where they lined up an eligible receiver where the left tackle would ordinarily be and an ineligible receiver was split out right. John Harbaugh was pissed that his team wasn't allowed to identify the eligible receivers...
“We wanted an opportunity to be able to ID who the eligible players were, because what they were doing was, they would announce the eligible player, and then time was taken, and they would go over and snap the ball before we even had a chance to figure out who was lined up where. And that was the deception part of it. That was clearly deception.”
I'm not familiar with the "announcement" rule he's talking about. Occasionally I've heard officials announce a player is an eligible receiver but don't know why they do it. Doesn't the formation dictate the eligible receivers? Isn't it the defence's responsibility to identify them? I know the NFL has rules about who can wear what numbers; is this what the announcement is for? Does college have the same rules?
I think it's facinating when a team figures out new ways to take advantage of the rules, especially in the NFL. Of course, New England has been known to work outside of the rule book from time-to-time. What was going on here?
January 11th, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
If John wants to become a position coach at Michigan next year, he better stop all that crying.
January 11th, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
It got neg'd, but I thought this was funny.
January 11th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
Glad we got Jim!
January 11th, 2015 at 11:08 AM ^
Almost every instance where I have seen a tackle reported as eligible, the resulting play is a run. I assume that is why they never mention on a TV broadcast when a tackle reports eligible. The tackle is "eligible" because of his placement on the line but won't really be a receiver. But I actually do recall a play during the Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" days when they threw a TD pass to the eligible tackle. It must have shocked the defense.
January 11th, 2015 at 11:22 AM ^
January 11th, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
That was a hoot!
January 11th, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
Whooo threw it?
January 11th, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
There was that former buckeye #50 (I'd remember his name if he'd gone to Michigan!) Brady used to target frequently, but he was a defensive player who'd line up on O to create a mismatch, just like the one everyone's talking about today. They had to announce him eligible because of his jersey #. Anyway, he caught several TDs
January 11th, 2015 at 11:12 AM ^
Harbaugh and the Ravens could have done the same thing to the Patriots.
January 11th, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^
There's no contradiction in having an unfair system or game codified by rules. Declaring anything that is "legal" to automatically be "fair" is just authoritarianism.
January 11th, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^
the NFL shield appears.
January 11th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
We're talking about a game played for entertainment, not political systems.
January 11th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
So no, it's not authoritarianism.
January 11th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^
Yes but those rules could still be unfair, or unjust. To automatically justify anything as "fair" just because it's within the rules is thoughtless deference to authority.
There are many unfair games, which are nonetheless legal and played for entertainment purposes. For example, blackjack -- the dealer just wins in the long run. It's not fair; the rules codify this advantage. But it is legal and both players regardless agree to the rules.
In football, there's a spirit of fairness between the offense and defense. Tricking the other team by exploiting the officials in a new way and then running your play before the defense has been permitted to identify the ineligible man is just unfair to the defense. There's a reason why offensive linemen wear numbers that identify them as ineligible most of the time. We agree that the defense should be allowed to see who is and who is not eligible. That's fair. This, IMO, wasn't.
January 11th, 2015 at 4:13 PM ^
The rules say that if you are going to line up a player with an eligible number in an ineligible position, that player has to report to the officials before the play. Vereen did so. If the Ravens can't look at the formation and tell that Vereen is ineligible because he is covered up by the outside receiver (and it IS clear that he is ineligible in that formation if you understand football formations) then the Ravens need to study formation eligibility more. They are professional football players after all.
If you don't like the rules, then lobby the NFL to change them. That is what the Ravens will surely do. Until they change the rules, bitching at the Patriots for creating a trick play that follows the rules is kind of silly. Are you mad at them for Edelman's pass too? That was a trick play also.
Trick plays are part of the game. Maybe this particular trick play should be shut down or altered by the NFL. Until it is, there is no reason the Pats (or anyone else) shouldn't run it. The play is sacrificing a player (Vereen) for the element of surprise. The Pats were essentially playing 10 on 11 hoping that the Ravens would be confused enough that it would work. It did. All it takes is for the defense to recognize what is going on and the play will get shut down, because then you will have 11 defenders on 10 offensive guys.
January 11th, 2015 at 5:59 PM ^
Each team plays by the same rules. Not sure how this is unfair. Unless you're trying to claim that lack of knowledge is unfair to the team that lacks it? Because that is a terrible argument.
January 11th, 2015 at 11:56 PM ^
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January 11th, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
January 12th, 2015 at 3:21 AM ^
January 11th, 2015 at 2:49 PM ^
This is true but in practice, the difference between where a receiver on the line and off the line stands is pretty small. Offensive linemen are frequently lined up what looks like more than a yard behind the line of scrimmage but this is tolerated. From the perspective of the defense it is not always obvious who is on the line and who is behind it. And if it's close, it's generally not called as an illegal formation anyway, so you leave men uncovered at your own risk.
January 11th, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
January 11th, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^
I thought it was kind of a bullshit move from the Pats, but whatever.
January 11th, 2015 at 1:13 PM ^
Vereen is covered up by an outside receiver, it's obvious he's not eligible
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000456365/article/john-harbaugh-pa…
January 11th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
It was cut off in the video but Rapoport also indicated that Oakland was still in play for Jim Harbaugh*.
*According to his unnamed sources.
January 11th, 2015 at 1:44 PM ^
January 11th, 2015 at 1:55 PM ^
I can't believe people are mad about this and think it is dirty for being "deceptive."
Other common football things that are deceptive and designed to throw the defense off:
Play action
Pump fakes
Hard counts
Fake punts
Fake field goals
Pretty much any trick play
They are all perfectly legal, and if the NFL thought they were too mean, they would eliminate them. New England did something unique that Baltimore wasn't ready for, and that is nobody's fault but Baltimore's. They could have called a timeout, or they could make sure the guys they pay millions to play defense every year can identify eligibility based on formation, especially when there is announcement that someone else is checking in as eligible, which immediately indicates somebody else must not be.
January 11th, 2015 at 2:02 PM ^
January 11th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
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January 11th, 2015 at 2:42 PM ^
January 11th, 2015 at 2:46 PM ^
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January 11th, 2015 at 3:27 PM ^
January 11th, 2015 at 5:01 PM ^
Just calling it like it is: Despite having the last name of "Harbaugh"...John was completely out-coached and schooled by Bill Belichick. Harbaugh should only be upset with himself for not preparing his team for that type of formation.
The Patriots followed the rules to the letter, and the refs announced the player. This type of play, btw has also been used by Nick Saban at Alabama with great results.
Belichick and Saban are good friends....and often share info and strategies.
January 11th, 2015 at 5:25 PM ^
The real issue tho is the refs might not have been announcing the players correctly due to the Pats hurry up offense.
January 11th, 2015 at 5:06 PM ^
I just googled Belichick and unbalanced lines and found this indepth interview from last September. Harbaugh should have done the same thing, or have had his scouts tip him off. Had he prepared his defense, he may have stopped the play:
"“I think it’s hard to be in an unbalanced line and just run one or two plays because you don’t know if the defense is going to move over or not move over, rotate away from the formation passing strength, rotate to it,” Belichick continued. “But, if you have a number of plays then no matter what (defenses) do, then theoretically, just like everything else in your offense, you can (determine), ‘If they do this, we do that. If they do that, we do this.’”
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/09/19/soccis-notebook-education-from-a-…
January 11th, 2015 at 5:23 PM ^