In this week’s preperation for facing the Falcons, it’s unlikely the Giants had Jared Lorenzen play the part of Michael Vick. They’ve probably not read the pregame notes from the New York Sun’s Sean Lahman, either, but some papers aren’t so easy to find in East Rutherford.
The Falcons have adopted the spreadoption offense, a system popularized by Urban Meyer at the University of Florida. They don’t run it on every down, but when they do, quarterback Michael Vick lines up in the shotgun formation with one of the running backs along side him. Both players break to the same side, and if Vick sees the defensive end providing containment on the outside, he’ll hand it off to the back to cut inside and run through the line. If the defensive end crashes and fills the running lane, Vick keeps the ball and runs outside himself. It sounds simple, but it’s hard to defend.
Vick hasn’t thrown the ball much this year and when he has, the results haven’t been pretty. He has been sacked 11 times in four games with just three touchdown passes and a mediocre 69.8 passer rating.
As the Cardinals get ready for a brutal beating at the hands of Da Bears, Arizona’s Kurt Warner is reportedly considering retirement. Which sounds crazy to me, Brenda’s got several more years of effective prayer left.