Can Anyone Confirm This?

by marroncito on Sep 10, 2008 4:49 PM CDT in News

Gregg Easterbrook of Tuesday Morning Quarterback writes:

Scouts Notes: Houston's Matt Schaub throws pretty well to his left -- but man does he telegraph passes when he throws right. The Steelers have obviously noticed this -- how long until every team does?

Can anyone confirm this? I'm going to go back to my DVR and see if I can find this in the Pittsburgh game.

Please check it out and post if this is at all the case.

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Not sure about that specific game...

but FO 2008 notes: “Houston threw only 31 percent of passes to the right side, the lowest percentage in the league, and 33 percent of passes up the middle, more than any other offense except Green Bay.”

Yay, sports.

by MDC on Sep 10, 2008 6:46 PM CDT reply actions

obvious

When he throws to his right, he tips his curveball, and defenses feast on it.

Personally, I’d like to see a specific example of what he’s talking about. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of beans carter.

by bigfatdrunk on Sep 10, 2008 9:59 PM CDT reply actions

Is this all that odd?

If Schaub does this, I bet a lot of quarterbacks do this. I’m right-handed and I’ve always felt it was easier to throw to my left than my right. I can get more zip on it; to the right it feels more like a “touch” pass. Try it, as if you have just taken a snap. Your body is in a better position to throw to the left, I think. The throw to the left feels a little tighter; to the right, it feels more “open”. I bet there’s a desire to place your front (left) foot towards the direction you want to throw in, and after the drop-back it’s likely in a good position to throw to the left, not to the right. For a throw to the right, it takes an extra split-second to place your front foot towards the target.

But what I’ve proposed seems like something a lot of QBs would have to deal with. Maybe Schaub takes a longer-than-average time to get that front foot in place?

I won’t believe it until I see proof of it. Definitely something I’ll be looking for now, though – in all quarterbacks.

by socctty on Sep 10, 2008 11:23 PM CDT reply actions

I agree

And it’s even harder to throw to your right when you’re rolling out to your left.

I think Easterbrook is one of the better football writers out there (he wrote a piece on going for it on 4th down a year or two ago that was really thought provoking) but I’m not sure he’s on to something here.

But just in case, I hope Kubes/Shanny have checked everything out.

by tehGrindCrusher on Sep 11, 2008 7:54 AM CDT up reply actions

I can in fact confirm

that Easterbrook is an idiot.

As far as his writing on going for it on 4th down, that was not an original thought. Two Duke statistics professors performed the research based on the expected return on points by going for it on 4th down based on down and distance and field position. Their results show that you should in fact go for it on 4th down more often than most coaches do, but there are certain game scenarios that call for a different strategy.

I don’t recall if Easterbrook gave credit to this paper or not.

by Vega on Sep 11, 2008 8:03 AM CDT reply actions

And before that...

the guys who wrote The Hidden Game of Football (which was the impetus for the Football Outsiders project) devoted an entire chapter of the book to this discussion and came away with the conclusion that, save for a few circumstances, you should almost never punt.

Yay, sports.

by MDC on Sep 11, 2008 8:08 AM CDT up reply actions

IIRC

Easterbrook didn’t claim that it was his idea.

by tehGrindCrusher on Sep 11, 2008 9:09 AM CDT up reply actions

the what is he citing?

I mean, I can state something as fact without support, too.

by bigfatdrunk on Sep 11, 2008 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions

then what is he citing?

Nice spelling.

by bigfatdrunk on Sep 11, 2008 10:33 AM CDT up reply actions

BFD was once a Peruvian porn star.

I have no support for this.

Yay, sports.

by MDC on Sep 11, 2008 10:53 AM CDT up reply actions

So

Those are his nads in the picture then?

FWIW I just looked up the article and he cited this paper by a guy at Berkeley.

by tehGrindCrusher on Sep 11, 2008 11:00 AM CDT up reply actions

For the record

I didn’t suggest that he tried to pass the idea off as his own, I’m just saying that he didn’t come up with it. I stand by my opinion that he’s a douche bag. That opinion is based on his continual bashing of the Texans o-line (after it had become clear that there was more at work than the o-line) and the Mario Williams pick (for a long, long time).

I also disagree with his opinions on the blitz where he points out moments that support his statement, but never moments that dispute it. He also disregards any notion on personnel, game situation, style of play, etc. His scientific/political statements, despite having no place in a sports column, also seem to be severely one sided and he never mentions opposing arguments even to refute them.

Plus, I hate people who refer to themselves in the third person. And by his column name no less. It’s like if Tim started saying, “BRB disagrees with that decision.” “BRB was less than shocked to hear Ahman was hurt.” “Somebody get BRB a beer!”

by Vega on Sep 11, 2008 2:48 PM CDT up reply actions

BRB believes

that it would be awesome if Tim started doing that.

So you're saying that now I have to think of some witty Sig that will be applicable across all the SBN sites? Go Texan Horn Stros!

by Shake on Sep 11, 2008 3:06 PM CDT up reply actions

Done and Done

1. Start speaking as BRB instead of self.
2. Get national column.
3. Profit!

Looking forward to a day when being a Texans fan doesn't mean that April is the highlight of my season...

by Tim on Sep 11, 2008 4:50 PM CDT up reply actions

Re: #3

Solis is right there with you

Got Texans? Visit BattleRedBlog.com for the latest on your Houston Texans!

by SOLIS on Sep 11, 2008 7:50 PM CDT up reply actions

Fair enough

Maybe it’s because retards like Dr. Z and Peter King set the bar so low that I think he is ok in comparison. And truth be told, I don’t read him all that much so I’ve never seen him write something that egregious.

by tehGrindCrusher on Sep 11, 2008 3:16 PM CDT up reply actions