The "Hard" count

[Jets31]

A few years back they changes the "offsides" penalty to make it easier to draw a flag for whatever reason. It use to be as long as you got back before the snap or didn't touch anyone you were fine. In fact many did it to get lineman to move and cause false starts (possible reason for rule change).

Now if the a defender jumps he can get penalized for "drawing" the Olineman to move. This is something that I believe most teams coach. If a defender jumps, move quick in response and get easy yards.

So getting to my point, I've seen Aaron Rodgers and Brady a few times over the years take advantage of this by getting a "free play" and taking a shot down the field. Rodgers has had a lot of success with it especially this year, I believe 3 tds so far.

Question is why don't more teams try this, especially the Jets? What can it hurt? Either way you get the yards. Fitz seems to be really good at the hard count so why not use this method?

 

[Atljet60]

Believe it or not all teams use a hard count. The difference between teams plan to take advantage of it varies. Teams use it the most on short yardage plays. However, it can also draw off your offensive linemen. That's something that has to be incorporated off-season. That being to use it the way we saw last night. Linemen have to hold their water, and the receivers have to be aware of it too, so they break off the designed route and run deep. It also helps to have a cagey quarterback that has full authority to change plays, not just the kill play called into their headset.

When it comes to the Jets one thing that sticks out is the amount of changes to our coaching staff, particularly how many OC's existed since '09. Add to that the amount of starting QB's we had under center. Teams that qualify for post season every year keep their coordinators, and quarterbacks for that matter. Those teams have the advantage to add things that improve their scoring, while other teams focus more on personnel in the off-season.

Maybe a better answer to your question has to do with our philosophy. We're a team that has to run the ball to minimize errors and extend drives. We'll run on early downs to set up our pass. If we were more of a passing team we could pull it off. The DL would try to get a good jump on the snap and would be inclined to get anxious anticipating the snap.