"In the NFL, college tactics emerging"

[philnotfil]

Wait, I thought that gimmicky college stuff wouldn't work in the NFL?

espn.com

The divisional round produced three spectacular football games, plus a fourth contest, more like a coaching clinic, in which the Patriots once again methodically demonstrated they are the best team of the past decade. And the divisional round produced a message -- that college football is taking over the NFL.

Watching Colin Kaepernick run the zone-read option against Green Bay was like watching an iPhone versus a Princess rotary dial. On offense, the Packers were trying to do what all NFL teams have been trying to do since Joe Montana. The Forty Niners were trying to do what college teams are doing right now. And college trumped pro tactics.

Green Bay's outside linebackers kept crashing -- standard NFL tactics, but death against the zone read. On Kaepernick's 56-yard touchdown run, which put the home team ahead to stay, Green Bay linebacker Erik Walden crashed inside and seemed unaware Kaepernick still had the ball as the San Francisco quarterback roared past him, then outran future Hall of Famer Charles Woodson to the end zone. Green Bay linebackers were still crashing in fourth quarter when Kaepernick, who already had 163 yards rushing at that point, got to the edge for a 16-yard run that was the lights-out moment. Linebackers at Akron or Bowling Green know not to crash against a zone read. But NFL linebackers didn't know it.

The zone read is a fad, and fads always run their course. But last season, Tim Tebow at Denver used the zone read to defeat the Steelers in the playoffs. This season, San Francisco and Seattle used the zone read to win playoff games, and San Francisco is not done. Traditionally, NFL coaches look down on college tactics as not super-sophisticated like pro tactics. Gaining 579 yards on offense seems pretty sophisticated. Where's my varsity sweater?

[JerseyGator01]

Without stud OLs, stoic QB's like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will become endangered species with the salary cap in place. Teams will just accumulate stud DL like the Giants have over the last several years.

[Sylez_G_Koolaid]

Finna see a lot of this in the future then.

[Tebowism0823]

Originally Posted by Sylez_G_Koolaid

Finna see a lot of this in the future then.

lol

[Gatorrick22]

Originally Posted by Sylez_G_Koolaid

Finna see a lot of this in the future then.

That's mean..............yet hilarious too.

[socraticsilence]

Originally Posted by Sylez_G_Koolaid

Finna see a lot of this in the future then.

Good point, because guys like Brady and Manning haven't suffered season ending injuries any time in the last decade.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Any offense can work at any level.

[Gatorrick22]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

Any offense can work at any level.

Unless it was Tebow doing it in Denver.