Strategic Tradeoff: Go short or Go long !?

The results from a recent NY Jets game where they went from a "safe" WCO offense to a "vertical first"WCO system.

Bottom line: The longer the QB hold the ball, the more of a target they become.

The secret of "good play calling" is to balance the following attributes:
* Take what they give you;
* Set them up for the big play; and
* Maintain ball control while eating up the clock.

The problem is most offensive play callers can't concurrently think in terms of these three factors.

A good strategic play-caller can perform the following:
* Develop good plays (Set a basic framework of plays and then develop variations off it);
* Call them; and
* Manage the players on and off the field.


My approach: Use the "Short game" to setup the "Long game" then vice-versa.
Focus on getting a fast lead, then forcing the opposition to play catchup by making them implement [risk-driven long plays]. By pressing the opposition into making emotional errors, the results is obvious.

Pragmatic Summary Line: Secure the pole position and maintain it.


M


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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/sports/football/26jets.html

September 26, 2005
Jets Jarred by Injuries to Pennington and Fiedler
By KAREN CROUSE

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Sept. 25 - If a single image can sum up a game or, for that matter, September - it was that of the Jets backup quarterback Jay Fiedler being brought to his knees from the pain searing his right shoulder after throwing a 16-yard pass to Justin McCareins in the fourth quarter on Sunday.

In the Jets' new offense, progress and pathos seem as interconnected as passing and running; every gain seems offset by losses of momentum, of personnel and, on Sunday, of the game itself, a 26-20 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Fiedler found himself on the field at the Meadowlands because the offensive line could not keep the starter, Chad Pennington, safe. Pennington left the game grabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder and grimacing after being sacked on successive plays in the Jets' opening drive of the second half.

The third quarterback, Brooks Bollinger, was ready to play when Fiedler was injured, but Pennington went back in, telling Coach Herman Edwards through gritted teeth that he was O.K. "I just felt like I could go back out there, give us some kind of spark, get us going and try to win the ballgame," Pennington said.

Trying his best to ignore the pain the way his teammate Curtis Martin has taught him, Pennington would come within a juggled catch by Wayne Chrebet of leading the Jets to a victory that would have camouflaged, for the second consecutive week, the offense's flaws.

The pass, which Pennington delivered to Chrebet in the back of the end zone with 1 minute 18 seconds left in regulation, was initially ruled a touchdown. An officials review determined that Chrebet never had possession, and the pass was ruled incomplete.

"The guy made a nice play," Chrebet said, referring to strong safety Deke Cooper, who got a hand on the ball as Chrebet was squeezing it to his chest. "But there's no doubt I had to make that play."

Pennington, who threw two interceptions and fumbled twice (the Jets recovering both), said: "That was the highest of the high and the lowest of the low. We went through a bunch of adversity and at the end of the game it looked for a minute like we had won."

The Jets settled for a 25-yard field goal by Mike Nugent that sent the game into overtime, at 20-20.

On their second possession of the overtime period, the Jaguars took advantage of a short field that they had received courtesy of the Jets' backpedaling offense (the Jets started on their own 12 and lost 11 yards as a result of two penalties by linemen and a sack).

After Fred Taylor rushed twice, losing 2 yards, Byron Leftwich threw a 36-yard strike to Jimmy Smith, who faked out David Barrett and tiptoed down the sideline for the winning score. Officials originally ruled that Smith had been forced out at the 1, but a replay showed that his foot was inbounds and that the ball had crossed the goal line.

"Offensively, I think we're all searching for answers right now," Pennington said with a soft voice and a long face. "We're not a very good football team offensively. We're not playing together. It starts with me. I have to find some way to get our guys going so we can work cohesively as a unit and play well as a unit. We're just all taking turns messing a play up."

The Jets' next opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, may not have Pennington to knock around. He will have a magnetic resonance imaging exam Monday. Fiedler will also have an M.R.I., but he said that he was definitely out.

Pennington completed 3 of 8 passes after returning. Asked how his arm felt, he said glumly, "Similar to last year."

Those were chilling words considering that last season Pennington played with a torn rotator cuff. He had surgery on Feb. 8 and did not resume throwing until training camp.

"I worked really hard to get back to playing, putting in all the extra hours and trying to come back on the field," he said.

It's "frustrating and demoralizing," he said, to be facing another M.R.I. and more uncertainty. "It really tests you. It tests your willpower, your mind and your confidence."

Even before the injuries to Pennington and Fiedler, the Jets were having trouble finding rhythm on offense. They had held the ball only 6:29 when the Jaguars put together a second-quarter scoring drive that consumed almost that long - 6:17 - and culminated with a 21-yard pass from Leftwich to Ernest Wilford.

Pennington reinjured his shoulder when he was sacked at the Jets' 19 by Paul Spicer while throwing. Fullback Jerald Sowell recovered the loose ball. Pennington was sacked again on the next play and the ball was jarred loose, though he recovered it.

On the Jaguars' first possession of the second half, defensive end John Abraham sacked Leftwich and stripped the ball. It was recovered by tackle James Reed, who motored 33 yards for the score that gave the Jets their only lead, at 14-10.

Abraham finished with 10 tackles, 8 unassisted. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma led the defense with 13 tackles.

Late in the third, the Jets rookie Justin Miller fumbled a punt by Chris Hanson at the Jets' 27. Safety Gerald Sensabaugh scooped it up, and the Jaguars, starting on the Jets' 16, wound up scoring on a 3-yard run by the indefatigable Taylor to take a 20-14 lead. Taylor ended the day with 37 rushes for 98 yards.

The Jets are 1-2 because they made too many mistakes and had too few offensive possessions. The Jaguars ended up with nearly a 15-minute edge in time of possession, 40:31 to 25:34. The Jets also had poor field position, with an average starting position of their own 25-yard line. The Jaguars' average starting field position was their own 39.

"The defense was playing their butt off the whole game," said Martin, who gained 67 yards on 18 carries despite sitting out one practice last week with a strained right knee. "As an offense we are not, in my opinion, holding up our end."

No one argued with him.

EXTRA POINTS

Left tackle JASON FABINI left the game in the fourth quarter with an injured right knee. Linebacker ERIC BARTON sprained his ankle.