Age Of The Forward Pass

The NFL has been moving toward this for many years now, but with the mass of fines and protection rules governing defensive players who rush the passer, the league has entered fully the age of the forward pass.

The Super Bowl was a prime example: two elite passers, with two elite or near-elite receiving corps, combining for 29 completions out of 79 attempts for 567 yards - while amassing a whole 153 yards (by non-QB's on the scramble) on 30 attempts.

Green Bay ran 11 times for a whopping 52 yards, and they led by two or more scores for much of the game.

The future of NFL defenses is in the secondary.

I know Carolina's defensive line needs some serious help, and Nick Fairley may be the second coming of Warren Sapp, but having a nasty D-Line won't help much against today's sophisticated passing attack. And the NFC South has a few of those.

It may be time for the Panthers (do you hear me, Marty Hurney?!) to pry themselves away from the John Fox philosophy of having a dominant defensive line and begin the rebuilding with an elite secondary.

What that might entail for FA and the draft? Who knows? With a lockout looming it may all just be academic anyway. But the primary need doesn't change. We are now completely in the age of the forward pass and the Panthers better get that in their franchise game plan before it's too late.

 

A qb can't hit open receivers if he doesn't have time to get a pass off. Defensive line is just as important in today's pass happy game as in the past. A perfect example is the Giants run in 2008. Wouldn't have happened if they couldn't put all those qbs on their backs.

Linebackers are the position you could argue is not as important, as shedding blocks/supporting the run is becoming less a necessity if a guy can cover. I still wouldn't say the position is becoming less valuable as much as evolving. Secondary is definitely becoming more a priority in teams drafts, and we're going to start seeing safeties and cornerbacks make the hall of fame more often.

 

Very thoughtful posts by both of you, but since neither one of you are part of the solution, then you must be part of the problem. I'd suggest channeling that frustration into something that can be more useful to the organization. There's no law that says you can't play defensive back for the Carolina Panthers.

 

except for the law of physics, which says I can't get my body moving faster than an NFL wide receiver at a jogging pace.

 

Big Ben got hit on the pass that was picked and returned for a TD. The pass rusher made that play. That turned out to be the winning margin....

 

It just further points to the shift to the 3-4, with the extra LB able to drop into coverage more often. It seems the weakness with the 4-3 is that there aren't enough sacks to justify it's existence.

If a team is only going to get 50-60 yards running per game, then there is no reason not to put a more mobile LB in there. LBs can still run blitz when needed.

 

How do you give the pass rusher any more credit than you give the ol a failing grade?

 

Its less about the scheme than it is about the personnel to run that scheme.

 

The strength of the 34 is actually the run defense. Typically, it sets a wider edge and you have more size up front. When you have the right players, it's an awesome defense to use. I do think too many teams are "experimenting" with parts that don't fit, though.

 

good point