How would you handle the Patriot's eligibles/ineligibles?

[hangumhi]

When I was watching the AFC Championship game I thought the biggest difference in the game was the Colts defense not understanding how to match up to all of the eligible/ineligible receiver changes. When they're reporting so fast and so often I don't know how a defense is supposed to prep for that. It's a nightmare to know who to concentrate on with so many decoys and so little time to adapt on the fly.

My hope is that the Hawks play a lot more bump and run. Jamming and throwing their entire defense off time seems to be the best way I can think of but I'd love to hear some honest opinions.

I am 100% confident we're going to see a lot of it in the superbowl and I there's little you can do to prepare for something if you have no idea what it's going to look like.

 

[brimsalabim]

For one thing the Hawks should be publicly demanding that the league officials follow the procedures and notify the defense of who has reported. I don't know about the rest. The only other thing I can think of is to go playground style and match up everybody. Who ever matches Brady needs to hit him.

 

[Smellyman]

Luckily the Seahawk D plays very straight up, not many personnel changes or blitzes. As long as it is reported they will match up and be fine.

They are a smart, well coached D too

 

[homerun1970]

I am not that good with the x and o's but couldnt you pretty much ignore the ineligible as a player and rush, leave him out there unguarded? especially in a empty formation.

 

[minormillikin]

I am not that good with the x and o's but couldnt you pretty much ignore the ineligible as a player and rush, leave him out there unguarded? especially in a empty formation.

Well, the tricky part is not always knowing who is eligible or not. They will declare a WR ineligible and a lineman eligible, for example. The refs are supposed to let the other team know,but it's unclear if the refs have been doing their part.

In general, based on how the Seahawks play D, it probably won't matter that much.

I'm certain they will be working on dealing with it, though.

 

[hawknation2015]

Carroll's defense is kind of tailor made to combat tricks like these. The guys just play without having to think too much, so it should be easier for them to point out who is eligible because they already have their assignments down.

If they do need more time after the substitution of an eligible player, then they should take their time in substituting. The rules prohibit the offense from rushing to the line of scrimmage before the defense has had a fair amount of time to complete their own substitutions. A penalty for having more than 11 men on the field cannot be assessed under the rules if the offense rushes to the line of scrimmage after making a substitution, and the offense is supposed to be warned that they will be penalized for rushing to snap the ball before the defense has had adequate time to match their substitutions.

 

[hangumhi]

For one thing the Hawks should be publicly demanding that the league officials follow the procedures and notify the defense of who has reported. I don't know about the rest. The only other thing I can think of is to go playground style and match up everybody. Who ever matches Brady needs to hit him.

Totally agree. Watching the Ravens game the refs weren't even going to the Ravens sideline; the Ravens had to hear it over a loudspeaker. To top it off, literally seconds after hearing that two people are eligible or ineligible, the ball was being snapped because the pats were in hurry up. That takes most of the sport out of the intent of an ineligible and eligible receiver in my opinion.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

Can they make an eligible WR an ineligible WR and a lineman eligible that are on the field already? Example....left tackle is now WR and WR is now ineligible? They all went back into the huddle or are now spaced on the line...no substitution. Kinda freaky but with tricky billy..it could happen.

 

[mikeak]

Carroll's defense is kind of tailor made to combat tricks like these. The guys just play without having to think too much, so it should be easier for them to point out who is eligible because they already have their assignments down.
.

This aligns with what I heard yesterday by experts smarter than me

Seahawks will sit in their zones and let NE shift around and run around and then we will smack them over their head when they come across the middle (I added this last part)

 

[Scottemojo]

I am extremely confident that not only will we exploit the look, we will use it to get a shot on Brady. Pete will have the team prepared.

 

[hangumhi]

It's hard because imagine a right tackle reporting eligible, all of a sudden you don't know that if he moves forward it's a run play because he could be running a route. So what you're forced to do is watch the movement of the guard next to him which isn't good. A linebacker needs to be able to read lineman based on moving forward or not crossing the line of scrimmage and that two seconds of hesitation is precisely what killed the colts...not that the Colts d is even remotely close to the same as the Hawks but I still worry about this junk.

 

[Scottemojo]

It's hard because imagine a right tackle reporting eligible, all of a sudden you don't know that if he moves forward it's a run play because he could be running a route. So what you're forced to do is watch the movement of the guard next to him which isn't good. A linebacker needs to be able to read lineman based on moving forward or not crossing the line of scrimmage and that two seconds of hesitation is precisely what killed the colts...not that the Colts d is even remotely close to the same as the Hawks but I still worry about this junk.

Press every eligible receiver to force Tom to have more than one read. Rush 4 against their 4. No chance of a double team gives Williams a rare one on one. Because we don't play 2 deep safeties, Kam can be the guy who takes the "extra" man.

Also, don't pursue like mad if one of the "eligible" players retreats, like he going to catch a pass behind the line.

 

[12th_Bob]

This is going to be interesting to see how this D handles those situations. I noticed when the Pat's did it against the Colts, the Colts managed to stop it most of the time until they threw in a new wrinkle with Solder going out instead. When they did this another time w/o a LT to protect they got a good shot on Brady and the play went nowhere.

I'd think that a very disciplined zone would work but it's been a pretty effective strategy by master Bill the last couple of weeks.

I think the Pats are playing with fire though if for any reason the starting LT were to die or Brady got hit a little too much. At least Seattle used a backup LT when they pulled it out on special teams.

 

[Sarlacc83]

If they try to pull the Vereen stunt, you line up two of your fastest 4 guys (Avril and Irvin? ) where the tackle should be and you see how fast they call timeout.

 

[homerun1970]

Thats what i was meaning earlier in the thread Sarlacc. If they want to have a guy just sitting in space doing nothing let em in the meantime hit Brady. Soon they will back out of that look.

 

[bbsplitter]

I could see Belicheck not using it at all this week. Get the national attention on eligible/ineligible nonsense and keep Seahawks focus on that and then never run it once.

 

[DesiHawk]

I was watching our 2012 game against patriots the other day on NFL replay.
There was a small clip in it where Pete is asking the referee to give our defense enough time to adjust to the changes.

I am sure he will remind the officials the same before this game...

 

[Bob_the_Destroyer]

I was watching our 2012 game against patriots the other day on NFL replay.
There was a small clip in it where Pete is asking the referee to give our defense enough time to adjust to the changes.

I am sure he will remind the officials the same before this game...

There is nothing in the rules about allowing the defense enough time to adjust to reportings of eligible receivers. That was John Harbaugh's complaint last week – that his defense didn't have time to adjust – but he got shot down by the referees. (In fact, he got a penalty for arguing too strongly.)

It is *simple* to determine the eligible receivers if you know the rules: only two players on the line of scrimmage are eligible: the ones on either end. (All players behind the line of scrimmage are also eligible.)

Reporting to the referees in and of itself is not what makes a receiver eligible. Only players with jersey numbers not typical of eligible receivers must report their eligibility to the referees. This is done to help referees more easily keep track of eligible receivers. Whether he reported or not, an eligible receiver must still be at the end of the line of scrimmage.

The Patriots often use tackles in the tight end spots in blocking situations. Because he had a lineman jersey number, I believe one of the tackles actually reported eligibility something like 37 times in one game. They aren't going to wait for the defense to adjust and ask them if they are ready 37 times.

The Seahawks simply have to make sure, on every single play, the players at both ends of the line of scrimmage are accounted for and ignore the others in the middle of the line of scrimmage. They shouldn't wait for the referees to communicate who is eligible and ineligible before adjusting. In fact, they probably shouldn't adjust at all. They should just play whoever is on the ends - whether they are receivers, tight ends, or tackles - as eligible receivers. If there is a tackle playing at the end of the line of scrimmage, then play him as if he was a tight end who could potentially go out and catch a pass.

I am sure, in practice, that they will have the scout team do a lot of variations of tackle eligible plays.

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[Seahawkfan80]

Please explain if you could for us that dont remember as much as we should what covered and uncovered means on the offensive line? Where would that play into effect here with the lineman being a receiver? Thanks.

 

[tom sawyer]

Somehow I see us making this backfire on the patty-cakes, we'll see. but our D is not to e trifled with.