SI article: Art of the Pass

[SenorGato]

Cool article about the modern NFL offense and it's emphasis on the pass:

This is just page one...Phil Rivers is awesome btw:

The explanation is stuck somewhere between Philip Rivers's brain and his mouth, instinct once again failing to find words. Rivers is standing in the middle of a grass practice field at Chargers headquarters, gesturing with a football gripped in his right hand. It is an autumn afternoon, breezy and clear in Southern California, 48 hours before Sunday's kickoff.

All of Rivers's teammates are gone, and he's 20 minutes deep into a description of what is required to throw an accurate pass in an NFL game. He has talked meticulously as he pantomimed his routine, from snap to grip to drop-back to setup. He has demonstrated his wacky shoulder-push delivery—the result, he says, of throwing regulation-sized footballs with tiny hands at age six while watching practices of the high school team his father coached in Athens, Ala.—and now he has reached the point at which he releases the ball.

So Rivers is asked: How does he know where the pass will go, and how does he ensure it goes there? And here is the pause. Rivers wiggles the ball in his right hand, fingers across the laces as if ready to throw. He purses his lips, because this isn't easy to articulate. "You always want to pick a target," he says. "Like the chin [of the receiver]. But on some routes I'm throwing at the back of the helmet. A lot of it is just a natural feel."

Rivers strides forward with his left leg, brings the ball up to his right ear and then pauses in midthrow. "There are times," he says, "when I'm seeing how I'm going to throw it as I'm moving my arm. There's a lot happening at the time. Exactly where you're going to put it is still being determined."

Even as it's leaving the fingertips? More head-shaking and silence. Finally: "I don't know," says Rivers. "Like I said, there's a lot going on."

The forward pass is, along with the pitch, the most significant game action in American sport. Made legal in the rules of football just after the turn of the last century (while historians continue to debate its origins, they all agree that the first completion was not from Notre Dame's Gus Dorias to Knute Rockne in 1913, as suggested in cinema, and that it was probably some seven years earlier), it is the centerpiece of the most popular sport in the country, the play that determines the direction and outcome of most games and makes the NFL quarterback the most important of all team athletes.

Pro football has evolved from a run-based to a pass-based game. In 1977, the last year before rules changes that limited contact by defensive backs and vastly expanded receivers' freedom, teams averaged 37.4 running plays and 25.0 passing plays while completing just 51.3% of their passes. In 2009 teams ran the ball just 27.5 plays per game and threw passes on 33.3 plays, while completing 60.9% of passes. The number of passes per game was up to 34.0 through the first eight weeks of the 2010 season. The change has been steady and distinct.

But the act of passing itself is far more resistant to quantification. It is just as much art as science, because its lab is a kinetic (and dangerous) environment. "Early in my career I spent a lot of time studying," says former NFL quarterback Trent Green. "Then [coach] Norv Turner explained to me, your main priority has to be finding a way to do your job even though you're going to get hit right after you do it. Making a throw accurately and repeatedly despite getting blown up, that's what separates great guys from good guys."

From 1992 to '95 Steve Mariucci was the Packers' quarterbacks coach under Mike Holmgren; their chief pupil at the time was Brett Favre. "I had spent a lot of time drilling quarterbacks on fundamentals," says Mariucci, now an analyst with the NFL Network. "Drop back five [steps], hitch and throw. So my first year, Mike tells me to chart how often we actually throw that way, right on rhythm. At the end of the year I came to him and said, 'Mike, it was only 24 percent.' And Mike says to me, 'That's pretty good. My last year at San Francisco it was only 19 percent.' The point is, that fundamental throw, like the pitcher throwing off the mound or a golfer hitting a nine-iron, it just doesn't happen all that often. There has to be a variety of ways of getting the ball to the target."

As Rivers said, there's a lot going on.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1176714/1/index.htm#ixzz151NK2NBS

Some highlights:

"Accuracy at a certain level cannot be taught," says Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. "It's something where your fingertips are directly connected to your brain. Your mind tells you where to send the ball, and your arm follows. There are a lot of guys—a lot of guys—who can watch tape and see what kind of throw they have to make. But they can't actually make that throw, because it's just not their gift. They can rep themselves to be better and play at a high level. But they can't make that throw."

I think a decent case in point is Kellen Clemens, a guy who can make all the throws but not really with the touch and certain...grace I guess is the word...that passing, especially in the NFL, requires.

As the quarterback pulls away from the center, he seeks an economy of movement. "Stay connected," says former NFL quarterback and longtime tutor Zeke Bratkowski. "By that I mean, keep everything tight, close to your chest. Not a lot of extra movement."

This is where I see the most improvement from Sanchez this year. He's insanely better mechanically than last year. Funny thing about mechanics right here:

From 1992 to '95 Steve Mariucci was the Packers' quarterbacks coach under Mike Holmgren; their chief pupil at the time was Brett Favre. "I had spent a lot of time drilling quarterbacks on fundamentals," says Mariucci, now an analyst with the NFL Network. "Drop back five [steps], hitch and throw. So my first year, Mike tells me to chart how often we actually throw that way, right on rhythm. At the end of the year I came to him and said, 'Mike, it was only 24 percent.' And Mike says to me, 'That's pretty good. My last year at San Francisco it was only 19 percent.'

Sanchez last year was probably below 10%, but I don't chart these kind of things.

Scouts call passers who get the ball into open spaces before receivers arrive "anticipatory" throwers. That skill is fundamental to accuracy at the highest level. "If you ever watched Dan Marino on end zone tape, he just had amazing anticipation," says Young. "He [wasn't mobile], so the ball had to come out. You could watch the view from behind and you'd think, Where is that going? He was throwing into nothing. Then, boom—a guy arrives.

This was what I really like about Sanchez's game. His arm isn't all that great or anything, but he's always had the reputation of a guy who knows where to throw the ball on any given route. It hasn't shown up in the pros yet, but it was his bread and butter in college. That is the reason I think he'll be extreeeemely accurate once he settles in as an NFL passer.

Couple other notes:

- I like and don't like Romo's idea of practicing throwing the ball from many different arm angles. I've always noticed this about Romo's game (that he throws comfortably from many arm slots), but I can't say I'm a true fan of it. I think it's part of a reason for his inconsistency.

- It's said often that in the end it's just a "natural feel." As someone who enjoyed the art of throwing sh*t at stuff, I agree with this full heartedly.

- Good choice of young QBs to quote for the article...they should have gotten Rodgers too but Schaub and Rivers are two of the most impressive touch passers in the league.

[T0mShane]

Brian Schottenheimer MADE Phillips Rivers.

[SenorGato]

Brian Schottenheimer MADE Phillips Rivers.

His work with Brees is/was the moneymaker. Brees was a mess mechanically when he first got into the league.

Does this mean...Schotty thread? YIPPEE SKIPPY!

Brian Schottenheimer = Great man.

[T0mShane]

His work with Brees is/was the moneymaker. Brees was a mess mechanically when he first got into the league.

Does this mean...Schotty thread? YIPPEE SKIPPY!

Brian Schottenheimer = Great man.

I will not be blamed for a Schotty thread, damn you!

[stoicsentry]

Passing sucks. Too bad the NFL is becoming a pansy league.

[THE ILK]

I will not be blamed for a Schotty thread, damn you!

[SenorGato]

I will not be blamed for a Schotty thread, damn you!

Oh but you fell for me trap.

[THE ILK]

[SenorGato]

Got me again! Darn! Here I was trying to bait the board into another Schottenheimer thread....Woulda gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids!

[Jetsfan80]

This thread had promise then died quickly. Can there be a single thread on this board that doesn't descend into Brian Schottenheimer ramblings and cat pictures?

[THE ILK]

Thanks T0m!

[Larz]

seems like" impact of the rule change" would have been a better title

[slats]

I read the whole article and the gist of it seems to be that some people can throw a pass in the NFL, but most people can't.

[THE ILK]

I read the whole article and the gist of it seems to be that some people can throw a pass in the NFL, but most people can't.

And the OC has nothing to do with it.

That was the point of the thread right?

[#27TheDominator]

Passing sucks. Too bad the NFL is becoming a pansy league.

It's becoming a pansy world.

seems like" impact of the rule change" would have been a better title

I think that the "Namath doesn't have HOF stats" weenies should be forced to read the bolded paragraph aloud ten times every night before they go to sleep. I'm talking to you Falcon.

[villain_the_foe]

Now take that article, digest it, and then ask yourself is Darrelle Revis worth the money.

F'ing beast.

[SenorGato]

And the OC has nothing to do with it.

That was the point of the thread right?

I can honestly say I posted it with no such intentions. I just thought it was a cool story bro. I understand the idea that maybe secretly that crazy egotistical mind of mine posted it so it would eventually lead to Schotty so that I would lure my enemies into battle again.

[THE ILK]

I can honestly say I posted it with no such intentions. I just thought it was a cool story bro. I understand the idea that maybe secretly that crazy egotistical mind of mine posted it so it would eventually lead to Schotty so that I would lure my enemies into battle again.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[SenorGato]

Thanks for clearing that up.

You're welcome PT. Your thread bomb was a success.

[THE ILK]

You're welcome PT. Your thread bomb was a success.

[T0mShane]

Now take that article, digest it, and then ask yourself is Darrelle Revis worth the money.

F'ing beast.

Let him rot drew Coleman **** mevi$!!!!!