skycake10B
How do you hold them accountable? It’s an impossible job and they’re still the best in the world at it. There’s no one better to replace them with, and if you try to replace everyone who fucks up you’ll immediately run out of qualified officials.
It’s hard to summarize it briefly, but yeah, it has to do with either following all the way across (usually means man, or at least some form of man), or watching the way they shift to hopefully learn something about the zone they’re playing.
How to handle motion while still disguising coverage is just another move in the game of chess for the defense.
I think this is going to be the next big debate in NFL statistics/gameplanning. The problem is that even the worst passing teams average as much/more yards per pass attempt than the best rushing teams average per rush. A team like the Panthers is only averaging 4.2 NY/A passing, but they’re also only 3.8 YPC rushing.
You do absolutely need to be able and willing to run the ball, but I think right now it’s hard for teams to figure out the right balance between the inherent inefficiency of running the ball with the need to keep the defensive line honest.
The only thing I think is missing from this is that defenses have gotten even better in recent years about disguising looks pre-snap and rotating into different looks at the snap. Coaches that aren’t using a good amount of motion to try to reveal coverages pre-snap are doing their QBs a huge disservice.