It is no small thing to make a substitution on the field of play.  At the pro level, offensives have been known to watch for slow, lumbering defensive tackles to head to the sideline, at which time the offensive to quickly races to scrimmage to catch the defense with an extra man on the field.

Offenses like to prey on defensive lines by hitting them with run blocks and calling no huddle plays to keep big defensemen worn down.  And even without an offense focused on wearing down the DL, those big guys on the defense are going to be hurting as the game goes on.

How do defenses counter these threats, and what goes into defensive substitutions?  Well, I'm glad you asked.  This week's University story is all about how defenses counter the offense's attempts to wear them down.  More after the jump...

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MHR University - Individual Roles on the Offensive Line

(and QB Adjustments)

Denver Broncos fans have a lot to chew on for this upcoming season.  In terms of the offensive line, there are many considerations to talk about.  Consider:

1. Denver drafted several OLmen in the 2010 draft.
2. Denver continues the move away from the zone block into the gap block (sometimes mistakenly called "man block").
3. A prominent first round pick (Tim Tebow) is left handed.
4. Denver will likely continue towards the singleback formations, eschewing the need for a FB on the roster.

Let's talk a little bit about the roles of individual OLmen, and how they change (or don't) under the expected program for 2010.  See you after the jump!

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A weighted formation is an offensive formation that has two TEs on the same side, or two WRs on the same side.  Often, these formations are called "twins", such as "twin TEs" or "twin WRs".

These formations are designed to do several things, and we'll take a look at each.  Among the things that weighted formations do:

• They give the illusion to the defense that one side of the field is more likely to be the offensive target,
• They attempt to confuse the defense (since defenses are almost always symetricalin an attempt to cover both sides of the field),
• They can lead to motion shifts that can further confuse the defense,
• And they can exploit mis-matches against particular players.

Let's take a more in-depth look at these four points, as well as defensive counters.

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As part of a speaker's bureau, I was once asked to give a presentation to a group of businessmen about coaching, and I was asked to discuss the ingredients required to make a good coach.  I came up with the following five traits required (in my opinion) to make a good coach.

Different coaches will have different traits in different quantities, and those differences will define the type of coach that a person is.  But it is my opinion that each of these traits are required at least in some small measure.

Read on...

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There was a time in football where FBs played on every team, but every team had single-back formations as well.  There was a division of formations on such teams.  Now however, the trend in football is to commit to FB or single-back formations to such a degree that teams are now overwhelmingly geared one way or the other.

The Broncos have signaled a hard move to the singleback forms, following in the footsteps of the Patriots.  (The Patriots, in fact, prefer to not use the term "FB", instead classifying all backs as RBs).  In the Super Bowl this Sunday, fans will see one of the more committed single-back teams going - the Indianapolis Colts.

What is the difference between the two approaches (besides the obvious), and is one better?  Let's take a deeper look after the jump below...

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Not much good comes from missing the playoffs.  Well, okay.  There ARE some good things.  For one, we get higher draft picks.  And for another, we get back to MHR University (Yeah, I'd rather be in the playoffs, too).

Readers and trolls (and may it please the court): Comes now before the court a question of antitrust  and intellectual property law involving the National Football League.  This Wednesday a case will be heard before the Supreme Court of the United States (hereafter referred to by the common acronym SCOTUS) that may have some interesting ramifications for the pro football world (and even other leagues).  Here's a small tidbit on what to watch for.

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How good are the Ravens?  Don't be fooled by the 3-3 record.  They've beat the teams they should have (KC and CLE), and won against a tough SD team.  Their losses came to teams that are pretty good (NE, CIN, and MIN).  Don't sell this team short.

On the other hand, many folks are more likely to sell Denver short.  Vegas has them down by 3 points at the time of this writing, despite a 6-0 record.  Denver beat two teams that beat BAL (NE and CIN), as well as CLE, SD, OAK, and DAL.  How good is Denver?

Special Teams - Sep and Oct players of the month (Kicker Matt Prater and Returner Eddie Royal).

Offense - Kyle Orton, who played the first four games with a protective glove has thrown only one INT (a bomb throw to end a half with no time left) and holds a 100+ QB rating.

Defense - Keeping opponents to an average 11 points a game.

But how do the teams match up?  Both teams come off of a bye week, and have had ample time to draw up superior game plans.  Who wins in each aspect of the game, and how should they plan the game?  Let's look at some possibilities....

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I get a lot of questions regarding three formations.  The first is the 5-2 variant of the 3-4 (such as employed by the Denver Broncos).  My last MHR-U was on this topic, and several members and staff have written on this issue.  Since Denver uses it, you can expect MHR to be on top of it.

I also get a lot of e-mails about the wildhorses formation.  I've told several members that I would write on this, but many members have stepped into the gap and written excellent posts about the formations and how they are used.  For my part, I am going to put together a reference guide so that the inquiring scholar may look up all of the information he or she needs in one, easy to find place (below).

The 4-4 is a common formation at many smaller HS programs, and a great number of middle school programs.  It isn't really seen at the pro level, but an understanding of this formation is a building block for anybody's knowledge of a good defense.  I'll discuss the two main variants of this formation, and how the formation was used at one middle school program that I was associated with.

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