Thursday, February 4, 2010

Poke, Punch, Pull ... Fumble!

In the article "Poke, Punch, Pull ... Fumble" Judy Battista reports on the issue of the strip move used in football and how the New Orleans Saints have emphasized it into their defense.

Fumbles have been a big part of the Saints success. The Saints defense is taught to punch and poke at the ball whenever they get a chance. With this poke and punch mind set the Saints have managed to cause 15 strip fumbles and recovered 13 of them. Lawrence Taylor, a Giants Linebacker from back in the day says that the game today is more about stripping the ball instead of being fundamentally sound and secure the tackle.

In case you didn't know besides actually scoring, turnovers play the second biggest part in determining who will win the game. The team that wins the turnover battle is usually the winner. So in saying that, when it comes to going for the strip first then securing the tackle second I am all for it. But on the other hand if you go for the strip and you don't succeed it could mess up the tackle and the offensive player gets extra yards or ultimately a touchdown. So for the topic of stripping the ball first and then securing the tackle second I would have to say I am pretty much stuck in the middle haha.

1 comment:

  1. Well it looks like this worked out for the Saints now doesn't it!

    ReplyDelete