A Lion Can't Tackle a Bear!

The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions today, 34-22.  They put the game out of reach early in the second quarter when rookie wide receiver Anthony Miller (#17) slipped free of a Lion defender and scampered into the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown reception.  Check out the start of the play (click on image for a larger view).

The Bears had 2nd and 5 on the Lions 45-yard line.  Note the three-receiver set on the right side of the Bears line.  Miller is on the inside, as I've indicated.  Now do a little counting.  You'll count 11 Bears, but you'll only get to 10 when counting the Lions.  Where is the 11th Lion?  Free safety Glover Quin (#27) can't be seen in the above screen capture.  He's playing deep coverage.

Just after the snap, confusion reigned supreme in the Lions secondary.  In the screen capture below, Lions strong safety Quandre Diggs (#28) had just let Miller go by him.  And yet he was pointing toward the line of scrimmage!

You can also see Diggs pointing toward Miller, which I assume was meant for his teammate, Glover Quin.  Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky (#10), who enjoyed great protection from his offensive line, had to like seeing Miller break free.  He threw the ball from the Bears 47-yard line (click on image for a larger view).

Now check out all the open space around Miller when he caught the ball at the Lions 27-yard line (click on image for a larger view).

You can see that Miller had to turn around after he makes the catch.  Note that Glover Quin is still not visible in the screen capture.  I had to wait for the instant replay to see where Quin was when Miller caught the ball (click on image for a larger view).

You can see Quin on the far right of the screen capture.  And now comes the decisive physics!  The key concept here is relative velocity.  When you're sitting in a car going 60 mph on the highway, you look out the window and see the world going in the opposite direction at 60 mph.  Your windows protect you from the oncoming air and, ignoring the bumps in the road and other things that give you an occasional acceleration, you feel at rest in your car's frame of reference.  If a car passes you going 70 mph, you see that car passing you at 10 mph.  It's a person on the ground that would see you going 60 mph and the other car going 70 mph.  It's more complicated when all the motion isn't along a single direction.  I put velocity vectors on Quin and Miller as they headed toward each other (click on image for a larger view).

Quin's vector is more into the screen, so it appears shorter.  In Quin's reference frame, he doesn't see Miller moving at the same speed and direction as someone standing on the sidelines would see Miller moving.  That blue velocity vector in the above image has to be subtracted from all velocity vectors if one wishes to see the world from Quin's reference frame.  The problem for Quin is that he aimed too close to where Miller was in the above image, instead of aiming closer to where Miller would be at the point of collision.  Check out the near miss (click on image for a larger view).

A view from another angle shows just how close Quin missed Miller (click on image for a larger view).

Quin is too far behind Miller because Miller's center of mass is to the left of Quin.  The best Quin could have hoped for was an arm tackle while his linear momentum continued to send him behind Miller.  Note that Miller lowered his center of mass to increase his stability.  It's far easier to turn a refrigerator over when it's standing upright than it is when it's on its side.  Check out what happened to Quin (click on image for a larger view).

Quin could only receive a little torque from Miller and get twisted as he fell.  Miller needed only to get to about 16 mph to reach the end zone without getting tackled (click on image for a larger view).

I am in no way claiming that it's easy to calculate a relative velocity in a split second on an NFL gridiron!  It's challenging enough for high school students to add vectors, and they have a lot more time and the use of calculators!  Professional athletes get quite good at adding velocities, even though most probably don't realize that's what they're doing.  Thousands of plays in practice and in games help athletes add velocities as if doing so were second nature.  Quarterbacks do it all the time when they throw to a spot where a receiver will be by the time the ball nears the turf.

This was a fun play to analyze for today's Check Down piece Chuck Nice (of Playing with Science) and I did for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for the audio link.

Over 100 Yards on a Double Toss!

The Carolina Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today, 42-28.   Probably the best play of the game took place inside of 12 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter.  The Panthers had 1st and 10 at the Bucs' 33-yard line.  Check out the starting formation (click on image for a larger view).

I had to circle and identify several Panthers for what was about to unfold.  Panthers running back Alexander Armah (#40) moved to his left prior to the snap (click on image for a larger view).

Once the play got going, look at the initial motions of wide receivers D. J. Moore (#12) and Curtis Samuel (#10) (click on image for a larger view).

Both wide receivers are headed toward the backfield!  Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (#1) took the snap and faked a hand-off to running back Christian McCaffrey (#22).  After the fake, Newton tossed to D. J. Moore (click on image for a larger view).

But the fun had just started because Curtis Samuel is racing back to receive the second toss (click on image for a larger view).

Samuel's momentum actually took him to the 46-yard line before he turned on the jets toward the left sideline.  He made three positively sick cuts on the play.  Check out the first one, which was to his right (click on image for a larger view).

His teammates were blocking in front of him, but there was little space, so Samuel cut hard to his right.  Note how close to the left sideline he is, and remember that he began between the numbers on the 35-yard line, closer to the right sideline.  Now check out his second hard cut, which was to his left (click on image for a larger view).

Bucs outside linebacker Lavonte David (#54) was barreling down on Samuel when the third cut was needed, which was to his left.  This cut left David with his legs cut out from under him (click on image for a larger view).

You can see David going down.  Samuel managed to squeak out of harm's way and then ran across the field to the far right of the end zone (click on image for a larger view).

The play took 14.2 seconds to complete.  I estimate that Curtis Samuel ran 103 yards on the play, though he only got credit for a 33-yard run.  His average speed was 14.8 mph, but he did hit 18 mph at one point.  It was the three sick cuts that got Samuel into the end zone!

I looked at the cuts more closely, specifically when Curtis Samuel turns about 45 degrees in only a step or two.  The inward force needed to change his velocity so quickly is over four times his weight.  At 200 pounds, plus pads, helmet, etc, his legs could have felt peak forces close to 900 pounds!  No wonder there are so many ACL injuries in football.

Gary O'Reilly of Playing with Science joined me on today's Check Down piece we did for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for the audio link.

A Powder Keg Explodes Through a Screen!

The Bears beats the Jets today, 24-10.  What got the scoring started for the Bears was a great sprint from their running back, Tarik Cohen (#29), with 5:35 to go in the first quarter.  The Bears had 2nd and 10 on their own 30-yard line.  Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky (#10) was in the shotgun with Cohen to his left.  Check out the screen capture I took of the formation (click on image for a larger view).

This was the perfect screen play.  Trubisky backpedaled after the snap, allowing the Bears offensive line to set up the perfect blocking scheme for a screen pass.  Center Cody Whitehair (#65) shoved his man to his right, and rookie left guard James Daniels (#68) shoved his man to his left (click on image for a larger view).

The entire Bears offensive line did a great job, but I had to highlight Whitehair and Daniels.  Look at that hole Cohen was running into!  The only man in the hole is Jets inside linebacker, Avery Williamson (#54).  But he let Cohen go while rushing the quarterback.  Trubisky threw the screen pass from the Bears 21-yard line (click on image for a larger view).

Cohen caught the 10-yard screen pass from Trubisky at the Bears 31-yard line, just past the line of scrimmage (click on image for a larger view). 

Note where Jets cornerback, Darryl Roberts (#27), was when Cohen caught the pass.  Roberts was close to the Bears 46-yard line, near the right sideline, and had his back to the play!  You'll see why I point out where Roberts was in a moment.

Cohen had daylight in front of him as he sprinted down the left side of the field toward the goal line.  He ran just over 70 yards on the play, averaging 18 mph.  He kicked his speed up to over 19 mph when he saw Roberts flying toward him from the opposite side of the field.  In pursuing Cohen, Roberts hit a top speed of just over 23 mph on the play.  Now that's fast!  Check out Cohen scoring as Roberts, who knew he couldn't catch Cohen, ran out of bounds at the Jets 3-yard line (click on image for a larger view).

Tarik Cohen is listed at 5 feet, 6 inches tall.  He needed 37 steps to cover 70 yards, averaging about 4.7 steps per second.  Darryl Roberts is listed at 6 feet tall.  He needed 2 fewer steps to cover essentially the same distance that Cohen ran.  Had 6 feet, 3 inches tall Titans running back, Derrick Henry, run that screen play, he would have needed only 33 steps, 4 fewer than Cohen.

I analyzed Mitch Trubisky's crazy run last week (click here for that analysis).  He ran 72 yards, but only got credit for 8 of them.  Despite being 6 feet, 3 inches tall, Trubisky needed 50 steps for his wild run.  He had some starts and stops.  Not so for Cohen as he busted out of that screen play and was all business while sprinting to the end zone.

Chuck Nice of Playing with Science joined me to discuss Cohen's great run on today's Check Down segment of TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for the audio of our appearance.

Trubisky SCRAMBLES the Patriots!

The New England Patriots held on to beat the Chicago Bears today, 38-31.  Though the home fans left the game disappointed, they did have reason to cheer like crazy near the end of the 1st quarter.  The Bears had 3rd and 6 at the Pats' 8-yard line.  Bears QB Mitch Trubisky (#10) was lined up in the shotgun (click on image for a larger view).

The Patriots had a defender on every Bears receiver.  You can see Trubisky at the 13-yard line on the right hash mark, ready for the snap.  After the play began, the Patriots' end-zone coverage was great, and the Bears' pocket eventually broke down.  Trubisky scrambled backwards and to his right.  By the time he got to the 25-yard line, Pats' defensive end Adrian Clayborn (#94) nearly grabbed Trubisky (click on image for a larger view).

But Trubisky wasn't finished distancing himself from the end zone.  He actually ran just past the Pats' 30-yard line (click on image for a larger view).

At this point, about 5.27 seconds had elapsed since Trubisky received the snap, and the play wasn't even half over!  You can see that Trubisky had set his sights on the left side of the field.  He kept angling left, nearly stopping at one point as he surveyed the field.  By the time he got just past the 25-yard line, Trubisky knew he was going for the end zone.  He turned on the jets, hitting a maximum speed of about 18 mph.  He finally scored 11.8 seconds after the play began.  He had run a total distance of about 72 yards, which means his average speeds was 12.5 mph.  Compare that to the measly 1.4 mph someone could have walked the 8 yards to the end zone in 11.8 seconds.  Check out the score (click on image for a larger view).

Though he didn't output this much energy during his mad scramble, Mitch Trubisky had an internal energy burn of about 7 Calories.  That's roughly the same as the two tablespoons of mustard on a couple of Chicago-style hot dogs.  It was too bad Trubisky couldn't burn off the two interceptions he threw on the day.

The best block on the play took place right as Trubisky scored.  310-lb Bears center Cody Whitehair (#65) was running over 14 mph when he slammed into 205-lb Pats safety Duron Harmon (#21).  You can see them together in the above image, but look at the initial collision (click on image for a larger view).

With pads and helmets on those guys, the collision involved a combined weight of about 565 pounds.  Harmon was hit at school zone speed and got squashed! (click on image for a larger view)

Gary O'Reilly of Playing with Science joined me on today's Check Down piece we did for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for the audio link.

Devin Funchess MOSSES Quinton Dunbar!

The Carolina Panthers fell on the road today to the Washington Redskins, 23-17.  But the Panthers did provide a wonderful highlight deep into the second quarter when they were down 17-0.  Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (#1) lined up in the shotgun for a 2nd and 10 at the Redskins' 23-yard line.  On the far left of the formation stood 6' 4" wide receiver Devin Funchess (#17).  Opposite him was the 6' 2" Redskins cornerback Quinton Dunbar (#23).  Check out the formation (click on image for a larger view).

I don't need to dress up the above screen capture.  You can see Newton in the shotgun, and you can see Funchess and Dunbar at the top of the image.  After the snap, Newton backpedaled to the 31-yard line, where he threw his pass (click on image for a larger view).

Newton released the ball at 46.5 mph and at an angle of 27.2 degrees above the horizontal.  The image below shows the trajectory of the pass, with an air resistance force that was nearly 15% of the ball's weight after Newton released it (click on image for a larger view).

As much fun as it is for me to write and talk about football aerodynamics, let me now turn my attention to the touchdown catch.  Newton’s pass arrived at the 1-yard line, hitting Funchess’s gloved hands at 42 mph (click on image for a larger view).

Funchess leaped before Dunbar, allowing his forward momentum to carry him into the end zone.  Funchess managed to leap over 1.3 feet into the air when he caught the ball.  His leap kept him above the turf more than twice as long as Dunbar’s leap.  Funchess’s gloved hands stopped the ball using a lot of friction.  When Funchess landed on the turf with his left shoe, he was holding the ball in his right hand, well out of Dunbar’s reach.  The best Dunbar could do was yank on Funchess’s facemask with his left hand (click on image for a larger view).

Hang time is a wonderful thing!  For any of us who leap into the air, we spend nearly 71% of our time above Earth in the top half of our motion.  Do as Funchess did to Dunbar and you’ll have more time to "hang" at the top of your flight.  Funchess used his hang time to MOSS Devin Dunbar!

I had to echo the "verb" on social media, MOSS.  Who can forget Randy Moss doing that to defensive backs?  The newly minted Hall of Famer was, like Funchess, 6' 4" tall.  I'm writing this blog post in Huntington, West Virginia while visiting Marshall University for a couple invited talks I'm giving tomorrow (Monday, 15 October 2018).  Marshall is where REAL Mossing began!

Chuck Nice of Playing with Science joined me on today's Check Down piece we did for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for the audio link.

A Giant of a Trick Play!

After being down to the Carolina Panthers for most of the game, the New York Giants came back to take a one-point lead with just over a minute left.  But Graham Gano, the Panthers' placekicker, nailed a 63-yard field goal to win the game, 33-31.  Before Gano's heroics came a great trick play in the second quarter that had the Panthers completely fooled.

Check out the start of the trick play (click on image for a larger view).

The Giants faced a 2nd and 18 from their own 43-yard line.  All the action looks to be to the left of the Giants' line.  Two wide receivers were lined up to the far left, including Odell Beckham Jr (#13).  Giants' tight end Scott Simonson (#82) was in motion to the left.  Saquon Barkley (#26) was the lone running back.  When Giants' quarterback Eli Manning (#10) took the snap, tight end Rhett Ellison (#85) ran straight down the field.

Look at how the play developed in the next screen capture (click on image for a larger view).

Manning is firing to his left, toward Beckham.  Barkley is headed toward the right.  But Odell Beckham Jr is like a black hole on a football field.  When we think of a black hole in the cosmos, we think of an object that sucks everything in, and doesn't let go.  Normally, if a pass goes toward Beckham, the defense gets sucked in his direction, and he's not going to let go of the football.  That's what got the Panthers fooled!

Look at the attention Beckham is getting (click on image for a larger view).

Ellison has done his job in keeping the attention of Panthers' safety Mike Adams (#29).  Panthers' defensive end Mario Addison (#97) was getting sucked toward Beckham!  That allowed Barkley to sneak behind Addison like a stealthy Nittany Lion.  Beckham wasn't going to run; he was going to throw (click on image for a larger view).

Look how far to the left Beckham is when he let go of the pass.  Because Panthers' cornerback James Bradberry (#24) was flying at him, Beckham had to give his pass a little extra loft.  Another view helps show why Beckham had to loft his pass a bit (click on image for a larger view).

Look where Barkley caught the ball (click on image for a larger view).

He's all the way on the other side of the field!  Beckham threw the ball 31 yards down the field, and just over that same distance across the field.  He threw the ball over 45 yards in the air!  His pass left his hand at nearly 49 mph and at a lofty angle of 37 degrees above the horizontal.  The ball took 2.6 seconds to reach Barkley.  I found the trajectory.  Present was, of course, air resistance, which was about one-sixth of the ball's weight acting on the ball when thrown (click on image for a larger view).

The only Panthers' defender with a chance to catch Barkley was linebacker Jermain Carter Jr (#56).  But Barkley turned on the jets, hit 19 mph top speed, and left Carter in his wake.  The touchdown was a given (click on image for a larger view).

Odell Beckham acted first like a black hole in sucking all the attention of the Panthers in his direction.  He then acted like a pro quarterback with a nearly perfect pass to his rookie running back.  What a great trick play!

Gary O'Reilly of Playing with Science joined me on today's Check-Down piece for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for the audio.

Ridley Jukes His Way to an Easy Score!

The Atlanta Falcons lost a nail-biter to the Cincinnati Bengals today, 37-36.  Among the thrills in the game was the play of Falcons rookie wide receiver, Calvin Ridley (#17).  Just after the start of the 4th quarter, Ridley showed off one of his moves, letting everyone know that he's got a great shot at long NFL career.  The Falcons had 1st and 10 on the Bengals' 30-yard line.  Ridley was lined up on the far right side of the Falcons' line, just inside the big 30 on the turf (click on image for a larger view).

You can see Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (#2) about to take the snap.  Lined up across from Ridley is Bengals' cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (#27).

After the snap, Ridley ran about 3.5 yards, and then initiated motion toward the right sideline.  The screen capture below shows Ridley a little further along in his juke (click on image for a larger view).

You can see Ridley's back as he's facing the right sideline.  Kirkpatrick has taken the bait!  The screen capture below shows that it's all over for Kirkpatrick (click on image for a larger view).

In the upper left of the image, you see Ridley already running toward the end zone.  Matt Ryan is enjoying perfect pocket protection and has a great view of his receiver getting open.  Kirkpatrick not only got schooled by Ridley, he got schooled by Isaac Newton!  When he bit on the juke, his linear momentum was toward the sideline.  He needed a big net, external force to stop that linear momentum and turn him back toward Ridley.

Timing was perfect as Ryan fired the all at about 50 mph, nearly 30 degrees above the horizontal (click on the image below).

Ryan threw from the 36-yard line at the right hash mark.  The ball went about 7 yards above the turf at its maximum height.  Look where Ridley was when Ryan threw the ball (click on the image for a larger view).

Ridley was just crossing the 20-yard line, about to hit a speed of 18 mph.  He didn't have to reach his top speed because he was so wide open, and because the pass was perfectly thrown.  You can see that Kirkpatrick is already badly beat.  Ridley caught the pass on the fly at the 5-yard line (click on the image for a larger view).

Think about the timing on the play.  Ryan aimed for a spot 15 yards ahead of Ridley.  Ryan knew his receiver's speed.  No Bengal was within 6 yards of Ridley when he made the catch, so he could waltz into the end zone (click on the image for a larger view).

It was Ridley's second touchdown of the day.  Unfortunately for the Falcons, they failed to make the two-point conversion, and lost by one.

Isaac Newton helped us understand how planets like Mars and Venus -- and Earth! -- go around the sun.  He also helped us understand how Ridley ran around Kirkpatrick on his way to the end zone.  Perfect timing in the NFL and juking physics are a joy to watch!

Chuck Nice of Playing with Science joined me on today's Check-Down piece for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for our segment.

Mahomes Scrambles the 49ers!

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 38-27, in today's NFL action.  Nearly midway into the 2nd quarter, Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes (#15) put on quite a display in racking up a 4-yard TD pass.  Check out the shotgun formation on 3rd and goal at the 49ers' 4-yard line (click on image for a larger view).

Note that wide receiver Chris Conley (#17) is lined up on the far right side of the Chiefs' formation.  I circled 49ers' defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (#99) and defensive end Arik Armstead (#91), both lined up across the right side of the Chiefs' offensive line.  I also circled 49ers' defensive end Cassius Marsh (#54) lined up across the left side of the Chiefs' offensive line.

At the snap, the Chiefs' pass rush used lots of linear momentum and a great swim move from Marsh to bust through the 49ers pocket protection.  By the time Mahomes backpedaled to the 13-yard line, he knew he had to improvise, and began to spin backwards (click on image for a larger view).

Just look at what Mahomes saw coming at him when he knew that a score would only come via his athleticism and talent (click on image for a larger view).

Marsh was in hot pursuit and chased Mahomes all the way back to the 49ers' 24-yard line (click on image for a larger view).

Mahomes then turned on the jets and ran toward the right side of the field.  Conley followed his quarterback and ran for the right corner of the end zone.  Mahomes let go of the ball on the run at the 19-yard line and found Conley in the back, right corner of the end zone.  Check out the throw (click on image for a larger view).

Mahomes's mind had to add his velocity to the ball's velocity.  My introductory physics students have to work problems with adding velocity vectors all the time!  Look at the throw from the back (click on image for a larger view).

You can see Conley running to the right in the back of the end zone.  Check out where he caught the TD pass (click on image for a larger view).

It’ll go into the record books as a 4-yard TD pass, but Mahomes took 7.2 seconds as he scrambled a total distance of about 32 yards before releasing his pass, which actually traveled roughly 29 yards.  He threw off his right foot, running nearly 20 mph when he released the ball.  He was able to throw the ball around 53 mph.  Conley got credit for a 4-yard TD reception, but after he ran nearly the width of the field, he had run about 60 yards before catching the ball.

The 4-yard TD pass entry in the box score doesn’t reveal how much running and how much wonderful physics went into the play.  Patrick Mahomes turned 23 just 6 days ago.  I think we’re in for many more jaw-dropping plays from that kid!

This was the first play of the new NFL seasons that I analyzed for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Gary O'Reilly of Playing with Science joined me on the show.  Click here for our segment.