Goal-line drills during training camp have always been some of the most physical times of the summer. Players really get after it during that period of practice, the pad-popping usually heard clear across any field.
Well, it used to be that way. With roster limitations for teams at 80 this summer, and injuries mandating that on many days the number of practicing players was in the low 70s and even high 60s for teams, those sweet symphonic sounds of pads cracking weren't heard all that much.
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| How's that scoreboard looking, Tony Sparano? (Getty Images) |
"We just don't have the bodies," Sparano said that day. "To bring it all out with 75 bodies is tough to do. You have to be careful. It doesn't have same feel and noise as when it was live."
That silence could lead to loud scoring numbers.
Since tackling doesn't happen all that much in camp anymore, and contact was at an all-time low this summer, we might get some of the most exciting early-season games we've seen in a long time, featuring plenty of points. The scoreboard operators might be wise to practice up.
The conventional early-season thinking over the years has been that offenses take time to jell, which means defenses are ahead and the scoring will be low in the first month.
That could change. In addition to the contact being down this summer, injuries caused teams to practice with limited players, which meant more reps for the healthy ones.
"You looked at the film and saws a guy taking 13 hits on 20 plays," Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden said. "That's too many."
That, in turn, could lead to more problems in the first month. I asked Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian if he thought scoring would be up, and his reply backed up my thinking that points would be higher.
"I don't think there is any question about that because you've going to have more teams nicked up going into the opening game," Polian said.
With more and more teams spreading out defenses, those short pass plays against man coverage can turn into long touchdowns with one missed tackle. Tackling in the secondary is vital now, maybe more than ever.
Being a good tackler in the secondary is about angles as much as it is about being physical. Colts safety Bob Sanders is one of the best tacklers in the league. He packs a punch when he gets to a runner or a receiver, but he is quick to say it's more than just running to the ball carrier.
