Boston Writer Calls Steelers "Pathetic"
Seahawk Power
It's a joke. The pathetic Steelers, who never could come to grips with the
fact that the Pats were better, are now using "Cheatgate" as an excuse for
blowing the AFC Championship game at home in 2002. It'll never end now.
Getting caught in this stupid stunt has emboldened all those who were
legitimately flattened by the Patriots in the last seven years. And it's
never going to go away.
"When you look back in the past and we played them in the championship
games, you wonder," Ward said Wednesday. "It seemed like they were a step
ahead of us at all times."
Lark
This might sound like a troll, but you Steeler fans know that your
team doesn't change its gameplan much, right? I mean, I figured it
was sort of a matter of pride. Everyone knows what the Steelers are
going to do, and most teams still can't stop them. Whereas the
Patriots, for most of the Belichick era, have been at the opposite end
of the spectrum. Particularly in past seasons, most opposing teams
would comment that they had no idea what the Patriots were going to do
because they change everything week-to-week. But to say that the
Patriots knew what the Steelers were going to do... well, of course
they did. Everybody does. That's the beauty of the Steelers
franchise of the past 10 years, their strategy doesn't involve
tricking the opponent, it requires them to match the Steelers
physically, which few can do.
GraveDigger
"Seahawk Power" <seah...@arrow93fm.com> wrote in message
news:13ltsqf...@corp.supernews.com...
Rick Rockett
"Seahawk Power" <seah...@arrow93fm.com> wrote in message
news:13ltsqf...@corp.supernews.com...
> http://www.blitzburghreport.com/boston-writer-calls-steelers-pathetic/
>
Huh?
ri...@home.com
Is Ward talking about 2002 or last Sunday? :{
Big Daddy
"Lark" <jelar...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:364af2ac-0ffd-4518...@18g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
You're right about the Steelers offense (with the exception of gadget
plays), but the "cheatgate" thing was more related to the opposing teams
defense rather than offense (and our defensive blitzes/adjustments are
certainly as complex and changing as anyone elses in the league).
Supposedly they were filming the defensive signals which lets them know what
defense the team is running, thus putting them in a better position
offensively. So imagine if you will the following scenario
1) They film our defensive coaches sending in signals to the team from the
sidelines
2) at halftime they take the photos they already have of each play
before/after snap and match it up with the video showing the handsignals.
It wouldn't take too long to decipher which handsignals equated to which
defensive formations/blitzes/coverage schemes/etc.
3) Coming out after half they then recognize a signal that indicates an
overloaded blitz...Brady checks the blocking scheme to protect the overload
side, he knows where he's got man coverage, and he then turns it into a big
play.
They wouldn't have to know every single play the defense is running to get
an advantage...just recognize it and create 2 or 3 big plays, and that can
certainly affect the outcome of the game.
So this is definitely what Bellicheck was doing (and what so many football
insiders have issues with), but the bigger questions come in
1) how many other teams already do similar (probably more than a few, but
maybe not to the dramatic extent that Bill did)
2 ) how long has this been going on (at least the past 2 years because the
reason Mangini knew to report it was they obviously did it when he was
there)
MZ
news:2WG7j.5537$Dt4....@newssvr19.news.prodigy.net...
<snip>
> 1) They film our defensive coaches sending in signals to the team from the
> sidelines
> 2) at halftime they take the photos they already have of each play
> before/after snap and match it up with the video showing the handsignals.
> It wouldn't take too long to decipher which handsignals equated to which
> defensive formations/blitzes/coverage schemes/etc.
Do you think they could decode the tape during halftime?
> 3) Coming out after half they then recognize a signal that indicates an
> overloaded blitz...Brady checks the blocking scheme to protect the
> overload side, he knows where he's got man coverage, and he then turns it
> into a big play.
So Brady would be looking over at the defensive coaches prior to the play to
decipher the calls? Or is this being radio'd in to him?
Steeler...@gmail.com
encore after that.
Wow - major issues if they're just waiting around the corner for any
Steeler loss. Thought they were a little above the usual fare of
shmucks.
I guess Seattle would've done any better? Good one.
Big Daddy
"MZ" <ma...@void.nospam> wrote in message
news:5a-dndb2I-ia3cLa...@giganews.com...
> "Big Daddy" <nos...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:2WG7j.5537$Dt4....@newssvr19.news.prodigy.net...
> <snip>
>> 1) They film our defensive coaches sending in signals to the team from
>> the sidelines
>> 2) at halftime they take the photos they already have of each play
>> before/after snap and match it up with the video showing the handsignals.
>> It wouldn't take too long to decipher which handsignals equated to which
>> defensive formations/blitzes/coverage schemes/etc.
>
> Do you think they could decode the tape during halftime?
Yes, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it (signals are changed each game, so
they would have no reason to record them unless it was for that specific
game)
> So Brady would be looking over at the defensive coaches prior to the play
> to decipher the calls? Or is this being radio'd in to him?
Radio most likely.
GraveDigger
I believe they still cut the radio at a certain point on the play clock. At
least they used to... Maybe Belicheat found a way to get around that too!
MZ
>
> "MZ" <ma...@void.nospam> wrote in message
> news:5a-dndb2I-ia3cLa...@giganews.com...
>> "Big Daddy" <nos...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:2WG7j.5537$Dt4....@newssvr19.news.prodigy.net...
>> <snip>
>>> 1) They film our defensive coaches sending in signals to the team from
>>> the sidelines
>>> 2) at halftime they take the photos they already have of each play
>>> before/after snap and match it up with the video showing the
>>> handsignals. It wouldn't take too long to decipher which handsignals
>>> equated to which defensive formations/blitzes/coverage schemes/etc.
>>
>> Do you think they could decode the tape during halftime?
>
> Yes, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it (signals are changed each game,
> so they would have no reason to record them unless it was for that
> specific game)
I just don't see how that's possible. And why would it be easier to do it
that way than to dedicate a guy to do it with pad and pen if they were going
to be used immediately? Also, why would they save the tapes if they're of
no use to them (or other teams) in future games?
I really don't think defensive signals are changed that substantially in
every game.
Rick Rockett
"GraveDigger" <Anon...@Anon.com> wrote in message
news:tRT7j.29667$JD.1...@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net...
>
>
> I believe they still cut the radio at a certain point on the play clock.
> At least they used to... Maybe Belicheat found a way to get around that
> too!
GraveDigger
"Rick Rockett" <roc...@maine.rr.com> wrote in message
news:47600c07$0$2537$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
I had heard stories about huge mounds of birdshit outside of his office but
I thought that was just another smear campaign.
Big Daddy
"MZ" <ma...@void.nospam> wrote in message
> I just don't see how that's possible. And why would it be easier to do it
> that way than to dedicate a guy to do it with pad and pen if they were
> going to be used immediately?
How would a guy with pad/pen be able to document hand signals? I guess the
note would say something like:
" Hold up arm like flexing muscle, then flash the number 10 then 5 with
fingers, then point to hat, then wipe sleeve, then brush brow, then tap
belly 3 times"
I'm not sure anyone could write that fast given that there's probably 20
streams of signals for any given play (and usually 3 different guys doing it
so 2 of them are actually "fake" signals).
With a camera you would record all of that, then like I mention, compare all
of that to photos of before/after snap during halftime. It wouldn't take to
many comparisons to see that "hey, everytime the guy points to his hat then
wipes his sleeve they run cover 1 with man coverage on the backside". Or
they could break down all plays that the defense blitzed and say "OK, lets
look at the signals for these 10 plays and see if we can find any common
indicator on the tape".
>Also, why would they save the tapes if they're of no use to them (or other
>teams) in future games?
I'm sure they can leverage some of it, but signals would certainly change
between games (ours did in college). But regardless, if they COULD be used
for future games then that makes this scandal much worse because it really
would taint all of their previous victories as no telling how many games
they would have gained an advantage before the ball was even snapped. I
don't think it's to that extreme though, as I said I think as it stands now
it's just a rather complex way to get an advantage in the 2nd half of games
(still cheating, but nevertheless)
MZ
>
> "MZ" <ma...@void.nospam> wrote in message
> news:puudnYemy_g0l_3a...@giganews.com...
>> I just don't see how that's possible. And why would it be easier to do
>> it that way than to dedicate a guy to do it with pad and pen if they were
>> going to be used immediately?
>
> How would a guy with pad/pen be able to document hand signals? I guess
> the note would say something like:
> " Hold up arm like flexing muscle, then flash the number 10 then 5 with
> fingers, then point to hat, then wipe sleeve, then brush brow, then tap
> belly 3 times"
> I'm not sure anyone could write that fast given that there's probably 20
> streams of signals for any given play (and usually 3 different guys doing
> it so 2 of them are actually "fake" signals).
I meant in concert with the videotape. They also record down, distance, and
clock on tape, presumably to sync up the hand signals with the play in the
game, so they can look later on to see what the defense did on that
particular play. If they were going to use that information during
halftime, then it would be far more efficient to tape the coordinator while
at the same time writing down notes on what the D did. Without doing that,
they'd have to analyze two video tapes instead of one.
I think it's unlikely that they were able to do either of those things
during halftime. There simply isn't enough time to pour through an entire
half worth of videotape and then break the "code" (several teams, including
the Steelers, use decoy signals) to have something meaningful to go on.
It's just not feasible over halftime, especially when you consider that the
coaches have other things to tend to in that time.
No, I think the videotapes were to capture tendencies of certain coaching
signals for future games. That's why they record and KEEP those tapes.
Even if the team changes signals in the next meeting (something I'm not sure
is necessarily a given), it could still be useful to understand what types
of gestures are used and what kinds of decoy methods they had.
The point has also been raised that teams may trade this information to
other teams. The Patriots reportedly recorded and kept certain tapes
against teams they knew they wouldn't face again (Packers, Lions).
Obviously, you would need video evidence and not text descriptions like "he
sticks his thumb up his nose and does this funny thing with his elbow to
signal a weak side blitz" to trade to other teams. Of course, this is mere
speculation, but the fact that the Dolphins admitted they obtained audio
tapes from somewhere else indicates that there may be a great deal of
underground information-trading in the league, both legal and illegal.