Offensive Analogies

I was tweeting back and forth with @warpathia responding to @washpostlive about whether or not our beloved Redskins should draft Auburn QB and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton in the 2011 NFL Draft. My response was that I was indifferent because there were several other things that needed to be in place before anyone took snaps. Doesn't matter who is the QB if there's no protection, people are dropping passes, and/or making bad blitz pickups. Consequently, when all these things go wrong and the team is losing, who gets the blame? Of course, the QB. Was it all the QB's fault? No. It's possible that the fearless leader could have made some bad calls/passes, but it doesn't matter... if the battleship goes down, you blame the captain.

So anyway, the analogy came into play when comparing them to a flight crew.  Then I got curious and began to look up definitions of the flight crew positions.  Then compared them to textbook definitions of offensive positions. Very interesting similarities. If you remember the reading section from your SAT's, you'll understand how this blog is written. (DISCLAIMER: I am an engineer by trade. If the content of this blog is too technical, I'm sorry, this is what I do.)

(i.e. Leaf :: Tree -- Arm :: Body or Leaf is to Tree as Arm is to Body)

Flight Crew :: Offense -- Pilot in Command :: Quarterback

Quarterback -  leader of the offense and calls the plays that are signaled to him from the sidelines. Also responsible for calling the team's offensive plays based on the defense's formation, or game situation.

Pilot in Command - 1. (from FAA) (a) The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft; (b) In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency; (c) Each pilot in command who deviates from a rule under paragraph (b) of this section shall, upon the request of the Administrator, send a written report of that deviation to the Administrator. 2. (from ICAO) The pilot-in-command of an aircraft shall, whether manipulating the controls or not, be responsible for the operation of the aircraft in accordance with the rules of the air, except that the pilot-in-command may depart from these rules in circumstances that render such departure absolutely necessary in the interests of safety. The pilot-in-command of an aircraft shall have final authority as to the disposition of the aircraft while in command."


Flight Crew :: Offense -- First Officer (Co-Pilot) :: Running Back

Co-Pilot - second-in-command of the aircraft. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of the aircraft. Sometimes the co-pilot operates as the PNF, or Pilot Not Flying -- or Pilot Monitoring.

Running Back - one who lines up behind or beside the QB and specialize in running with the ball. They also block, catch passes and, on rare occasions, pass the ball to others or even receive the snap.




Flight Crew :: Offense -- Second Officer :: Fullback

Second Officer - Third in command on a flight; Second Officer is a flight engineer who is also a licensed pilot. A Second Officer on some airlines is part of a relief crew.

Fullback -  Usually lines up in front of the RB/HB, although a FB is technically a running back. However fullbacks are primarily valued for their blocking in most modern day offenses (both pass protection and clearing the way for the RB). In many offensive schemes, the fullback is used as a receiver, especially when the defense blitzes.

Flight Crew :: Offense -- Third Officer :: Tight End

Third Officer - serves as a relief pilot and aircrew member and can move between pilot, co-pilot, radio officer, and flight engineer positions to provide a rest period for the primary crews.

Tight End - one who lines up outside the offensive line. They can either play like wide receivers (catch passes) or like offensive linemen (protect the QB or create spaces for runners). Sometimes an offensive lineman takes the tight end position and is referred to as a tackle eligible.

Flight Crew :: Offense -- Flight Engineer :: Wide Receiver

Flight Engineer - member of an aircrew that operates and monitors various aircraft systems; required to diagnose and where possible rectify or eliminate any faults that may arise. During an emergency, protocol is as follows: the Captain hands over the actual flying of the aircraft to the Copilot, then the Captain and Flight Engineer together review and carry out the necessary actions required to contain and rectify the problem. Flight Engineer reads the check-lists and executes actions required under the auspices of the Captain (First Officer - PNF). Because a flight engineer is so skilled in several areas, many commercial airlines will not hire pilots that do not have a flight engineer's license.

Wide Receiver - the pass-catching specialists. Usually among the fastest and most agile players in the game. WRs are key component in hurry up offense (i.e. 2 Minute Drill) to be able to quickly gain yards and get out of bounds to stop the clock. They are also required to block downfield for running plays or when another eligible receiver requires protection. On errant passes, receivers must frequently play a defensive role by attempting to prevent an interception. If a pass is intercepted, receivers must use their speed to chase down and tackle the ball carrier to prevent him from returning the ball for a long gain or a touchdown.




Flight Crew :: Offense -- Purser (Chief Flight Attendant) :: Center

Purser - the person responsible for the handling of money on board; In charge of supplies such as food and drink, etc. In charge of providing direction to cabin crew.

Center - the innermost offensive lineman responsible for snapping the ball to the quarterback and neutralizing the nose tackle. Also responsible for calling blocking assignments to the other offensive linemen. 




Flight Crew :: Offense -- Flight Attendants (Cabin Crew) :: Guards/Tackles

Cabin Crew - members of the flight crew that primarily ensure the safety and comfort of people on board.


Offensive Linemen - five players whose job is to protect the passer and clear the way for runners.


I know it was just a simple listing of definitions and duties, but I found it interesting and learned a lil' bit too! Even though all these flight crew positions are critical to the safety and operation of a commercial airline flight, the Pilot in Command always gets first blame. He still depends on everyone behind him to do their jobs so he can do his, but if the plane goes down, he still takes all the blame.

Conversely, if the RB/FB are not reading defenses correctly on pass plays and miss picking up blitzes, WRs/TEs drop passes, and/or there is little or no protection from the offensive line, the loss still gets blamed on the QB... simply because, he's in charge. If you break down the reasons behind the QB's failure, you can probably trace it back to another person (or a number of other people), but at the end of the day, the finger isn't pointed at them, it's pointed at the quarterback.

Strangely familiar, isn't it?

#HTTR

Silent Success

So today, the NFL announced the roster for the 2010 Pro Bowl. I was excited until I saw the roster and only one Redskin was listed. Don't get me wrong... DeAngelo Hall earned it. 6 interceptions, including the 4 in one half against Chicago (that IS a sole NFL record, no one has gotten 4 in a half). He also had 2 forced fumbles/recoveries, 2 TDs that pushed the Skins over the top in two games, and through 15 games is in 4th place in the league among other cornerbacks in tackles with 89 tackles (career high). Great job sir... congratulations on your trip to Hawaii... you've earned it.

Outside of D-Hall, many people are saying, "...if they weren't 6-9, the others would get noticed." And it's probably true. Regardless of the record, or how the season ends this Sunday, here's a list of the guys I'm most proud of, and why. Some of them are on here not for how they played, but other things that they've done that deserved attention.  Here we go...

Donovan McNabb. No, he hasn't had his best season. But despite how he has been treated by the organization, he managed to carry on that same composure and not go Chi-Town on Shanford and Son.  If you looked up professionalism in the dictionary, his name would come up. Regardless of how things went down, thank you for being an example.

Santana Moss (The Cowboy Killer). He's also having a career year, as quiet as it's kept. Through 15 games, he has 1,041 receiving yards (10th in the league and giving him 6,068 yds as a Redskin), helping him move into 5th place on the franchise's record books past Ricky Sanders. Not to mention, he has already tied his career high with 84 receptions on the year, and recently moved into 4th place on the franchise's books. On top of all this, no other receiver in the history of the NFL has more yards against Dallas than this guy, which will always make any Skins fan happy. He's even left Kyle Shanahan saying, "I never knew he was THAT good."

Chris Coooooooley. Yep, he's had more drops than usual this season, but a solid season none the less. 72 catches this year (2nd in the NFL amongst tight ends) for 796 yards, averaging just over 11.1 yds/catch. He's also 9th all time on the Skins list in receiving yards with 4,585. His fourth quarter heroics have kept the team in a number of games this year. And even on days when he hasn't done as well as he had hoped, he still came on his show on 106.7 The Fan, and was openly critical about himself: character move.

Brandon Banks. This guy was cut from the practice squad, then re-signed (thank God) in week 4. Ever since then, he's been nothing short of great. So great, that other teams have been limiting his opportunities by kicking away from him. Still, in just 12 games, he has had 1,085 kick return yards (10th in the NFL), 358 punt return yards (3rd in the NFL), and a 271 combined return yard game against the Lions, a new franchise record. That's one heck of a rookie season.

Anthony Armstrong. Another practice squad standout. In the 14 games he has played (12 starts), he's racked up nearly 800 yards (2nd among all rookie receivers in the league). He's also managed to average 18.7 yards per catch (15th in the NFL), including several games at 20 yds/catch or better. He's come quite a ways from playing arena football games for $200 an outing. Give this man a raise! He's earned it.

LaRon Landry. This guy played like a maniac until the achillies injury got the best of him. He led the league in unassisted tackles and had been a game changer for the Skins all year. Through 9 games, he had 66 unassisted tackles (85 total), 1 sack, 1 interception and a forced fumble/recovery. He deserved to be the leader in votes for the Pro Bowl NFC strong safety. Congratulations anyway, LaRon.

Clinton Portis. He had the worst statistical year of his career due to roster shuffling and injuries, but I'm proud of him for doing what he promised before the season started, and that was to be "a better teammate." Many people in the DMV (or all over for that matter) have classified this guy in the past as a team-of-me prima donna who can't keep his mouth shut. But when he went down from the groin/abdominal tear injuries, he showed everyone how great a teammate he was and coached the guys under him on the sidelines. Who knows, he may have a great future as a RB coach. With his 6th sense for picking up the blitz and outstanding blocking ability, it's a shame a lot of people can tell just how smart a player he really is... forget what he does off the field. Anyway, I'm proud of you, CP. You definitely get my Citizenship Award.

Ryan Torain. Haven't seen a downhill runner like this guy since Stephen Davis. In 9 games, he's racked up 681 yds (almost 76 per game and 4.7 yds/carry) and 6 TDs. His most memorable performance came against the Bucs when he rushed for 173 yds including 121 in the first quarter (the most in the NFL since Marshall Faulk went bucknoodles on the Rams in 2001). And this game was coming off being out for 5 weeks with a nagging hamstring injury. Despite the knicks and bruises, you've done a great job, sir. Please stay healthy!!!

London Fletcher. I think this guy was robbed. Aside from "The Streak," through 15 games he is 8th in the league in tackles with 127 total 2.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles/recoveries, and an interception. So many players have complimented him on how hard of a hitter he is. That's his play on the field. Off the field, he's a class guy who never complains -- just works harder. Every team should have a London Fletcher... but there's no duplicating a guy like this. Thank you for all that you do, Fletch.

Brian Orakpo. 52 tackles in 14 games and 8.5 sacks. If he wasn't held so much, he'd have way more than that. Still, he's moved into 17th on the franchise books in career sacks... and by the end of his 5 year contract, he should comfortably be in 3rd place with this pace of nearly 10 sacks a year. Sad to see him drop in sacks since last year, but if the only way other teams can "stop" O-Sack-Po, then that may be a huge compliment. Great job regardless, sir!

Lorenzo Alexander: OMG (One-Man-Gang). He came to the Skins as an offensive tackle, but his play on special teams is where he has shined. He has also stepped in when other linebackers have gotten injured this year and collected 53 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Some of the biggest hits he's had this year include the hit on Jorrick Calvin (Philly)... TWICE. The hit in the first game on October 3 was my favorite. I heard that one two rooms away from the TV... lol. Lorenzo, great job man.

I'm sure more will come, just all I can think of for the moment. 

Lunch Hour -- An Epic Tale of Turkey Triumph

It was a bright and windy day in Olde Towne Gaithersburg, MD. A little chilly, but not too bad.  I had been closing the blinds at my desk window for the past month or so because at this time of year the sun seems to want to make a grand appearance in my eyes around 10:00 AM while I’m drafting mechanical piping on my hi-def monitor. I was waiting to be called up to a conference call about a project that I didn’t want to attend in the first place for fear of spending two thirds of my day on a phone call with someone who doesn’t really know how my equipment works telling me where I should move it to.

11:45 AM I still had not been summoned to the electric chair in the conference room. So I figured that I was either going to be called in during the afternoon or they were going to break for lunch and start up later. I wasn’t hungry yet, so I figured I’d hang around and keep drafting and pick up the unanswered phone calls during the time our receptionist goes to lunch.  Around 12:15, I noticed that the little black light next to the phone line of death had gone out so everyone must have gone to lunch to revive themselves from the 2 ½ hour eulogy that began around 9:45 AM.

So I kept drafting. Then like a flash of lightening, an massive hunger sensation rushed through my body, topped off with an furious growl of the stomach. So I gathered myself at about 12:50 PM to walk across the street to the lunch stop, affectionately called The Train Station, for a turkey sandwich garnished with crisp lettuce and tomato and two slices of bacon and a bottle of Nantucket Nectars Cranberry Juice to wash it all down. I make my way back up to my cubicle, a white-walled ecosystem plastered with Dilbert cartoon strips and complete with desktops covered in unused plans from someone else’s desk where they weren’t necessary, I prepare myself for my late afternoon feast. A quick rush to the kitchenette sink for a hand washing and I’m ready to dive right into my cold-cut fowl paradise.

At 1:05 PM, I take the first bite of my sandwich masterpiece, the perturbing sound of my desk phone overshadowed the sound of 106.7 FM, the local sports radio station, blaring through my headphones. I nervously reach my hand over to the receiver to find out who would have recklessly interrupted my mid-day nourishment, and I find out that it is the same architect who had already eulogized two other people about the locations of the electrical equipment on the drawings for 150 minutes this morning. Of course, NOW he wants to talk about my mechanical equipment. F*#K!

To my surprise, he was informed that I alone was going to be around at this time to field questions about a project that I have not fully seen or worked on in nearly a calendar year, because my comrade had another appointment at 1:00 PM. Since we all had been expecting to talk about these issues earlier, I felt it was my duty as the only other Mechanical Engineer in the office working on this job to defend our work, even if I had to apprehensively tell the architect, “I don’t know, I’ll get back to you.”

This was easily the most enduring 45 minutes of my life as my chilled poultry perfection seductively stared in my face while this degreed space planner is trying to tell me where to move my piping risers and how I should change the size of the ductwork supplying cooling units in the rooms that his co-worker designed. Every five minutes felt like an era had passed as I watched my lunch morph into a room temperature dish. I felt style trends changing and paint peeling off the walls as the dark brown hairs in my head were being replaced by long, silvery strands. My mind was torn between three different thoughts at this moment: 1. Remembering information from the project I didn’t felt like talking about; 2. Why I couldn’t have been notified about this phone call earlier so I would have eaten at 12 and 3. I’m REALLY hungry looking at this food!

Finally, at 1:55 PM, I hear the heartwarming words on the other end of the phone I had been waiting to hear since 1:10: “I THINK THAT’S IT!” A feeling of relief came over me and large exhale of comfort was released from my lungs. The dark raincloud that had been covering Olde Towne for nearly an hour had broken up and the sunlight began to pour back through my venetian blinds as I celebrated victory over my unexpected phone call and relief from the anger of not being notified of it. A small group of skater kids from Gaithersburg High School began rejoicing on the corner across the street from my window and birds soared across the blue sky in unison. I let out a cry of “THANK YOU GOD!” as I transferred the call to my co-worker to talk about lavatories and water closets and proceeded to triumphantly finish my turkey sandwich and cranberry juice.