09-30-2015, 01:51 PM
I was thinking about this, mostly in context of some analysis of some NFL team's ability to generate takeaways (I think it was the Jets, who are something stupid like +9 so far on the season). Generating takeaway opportunities is a skill (though the takeaways themselves are somewhat random, especially fumble recovery), and it seems like generating those opportunities could come at a cost. For instance, against OSU I kept wondering why we weren't jumping those slants that seemed to be the only thing they could throw, and I can only assume that there reason is we were betting that playing sound man-on-man coverage and using the extra defenders to commit to stuffing the run was a better option. If we went aggressively for interceptions and screwed up it could easily lead to a fast TD.
Someone who's better at understanding these tradeoffs might have more, but that's my take on it. It's possible that as trust in the secondary improves we'll move away from that. It's also possible that we'll start generating more pressure and creating better opportunities for INTs.
Someone who's better at understanding these tradeoffs might have more, but that's my take on it. It's possible that as trust in the secondary improves we'll move away from that. It's also possible that we'll start generating more pressure and creating better opportunities for INTs.