Cubicle QB - August 31, 2009

I’m back baby! After a short hiatus, the dawn of a new football season shines on the horizon, breaking the shackles of the sports doldrums of late summer. I can’t promise anything, but I’m rededicating myself for the fall with several weekly features. And please remember, this is all a work in progress. Send in your comments, ideas, requests… This is all for you – the ever faithful reader.
This is the inaugural edition of Cubicle QB. Each week, I’ll give you my take on the weekend that was. I’ll try to include a quick breakdown of one of the bigger games of the week (either college or pro) and several weekly elements. So without further ado…

Game of the Week
Let’s be honest: it’s the preseason. I don’t want to break down a preseason game and you don’t want to read about one. Let’s just move on.

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda…
Each week in this section, I’ll take a “what if” look at something happening in the world of football. This week I’ll start with the New York Giants and injuries.
Tom Coughlin has always held a physical training camp, believing it would better prepare his team for the rigors of the 20-week-plus marathon that is the NFL season. This year it may have handicapped his team before the leaves start to turn. A quick look at the Giants’ injury list should help explain:
Antonio Pierce
David Diehl
Kenny Phillips
Aaron Ross
Danny Ware
David Tyree
Chris Canty
Guy Whimper
Brandon Jacobs
Andrew Carnahan

Wow… And I’m probably missing a few. Coughlin has a veteran squad that knows what it takes to win. In fact, I believe they put together a nice Super Bowl run not too long ago. The Giants have a roster of studs at offensive and defensive line... Solid linebacking corp… Leadership at QB… Depth at runningback. Not to mention, few battles for playing time outside of the receiver position.
Point being, there’s no reason to force these players to physical exhaustion in August. It seemed the Giants had rid themselves of a couple of bad apples in Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress. There’s no reason to upset the locker room chemistry with overly physical practices.
Well, it seems Coughlin and new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan have done just that. Defensive leader and sack specialist Osi Umenyiora has reportedly gone AWOL – leaving practice Monday without warning or reason. I think you could make an argument that Coughlin would like a few of those hard-hitting practices back.

Monday Obits
There are 32 NFL teams. Only 12 will make the postseason. That means 20 teams will see their play off hopes die between now and week 17. Each week, I’ll point out teams that are DOA.
It should be no surprise that the first team on the chopping block is none other than Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders.
You may have noticed the preseason shellacking the Raiders received at the hands of the Saints this weekend. And what’s worse, is that Tom Cable considers Sean Peyton a close friend. God help them when teams start playing for keeps.
Without their top two RB, the Saints rushed for over 230 yards. And while Drew Brees was tabbed to play into the third quarter, he took a seat 16 minutes into the game. Yikes… Sorry Raiders fans. On the bright side, you can look forward to reaching for another WR in the top ten of next year’s draft.

Debo’s Xs and Os
Here I’ll take an old school chalk board look at a team, a specific scheme, or an individual play in football.
This season two teams will incorporate the two TE, singleback formation into their offense. The Dallas Cowboys (with Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett) and the Baltimore Ravens (with Todd Heap and LJ Smith). Both teams lack depth at the WR position, but feature strong runningbacks and exceptional TEs.
Here I’ll focus on the scheme and ignore personnel. Using a double TE formation has two appealing advantages.
1. Flexibility: A capable TE is a blocking and receiving threat rolled into one. In a double TE set, a team can pass the ball, run the ball, and work play action without tipping their hand with personal changes or formation shifts. The formations are typically symmetrical and therefore force the defense to typically set the strong side based on the wide side of the field. But as narrow as the hash marks are in the NFL, that’s not much of an indicator. Nearly every blitz (whether run or pass) hinges on putting more bodies at the point of attack than an offense can reasonably block. A balanced formation only makes this more difficult.
2. Spreading the line: Adding a TE to each side of the offensive line forces pass rushers further away from your franchise QB and edge setters (run stuffing ends) away from the tackle-to-tackle gaps of interior rushing lanes. This is the same tactic employed by college football’s popular spread offense. Force the defense to spread the field and cover more ground to make plays. Now just get the ball in the hands of your play-makers and allow them to take advantage of that extra space.

So now you can impress your friends and explain why the ‘Boys double TE set is about more than keeping the ball out of Patrick Crayton’s not so sure hands.