MidPennSkin Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 It looks to me like Joe Gibbs is about the only play caller in the NFL that doesn't cover his mouth when he sends in signals. I recall him saying, earlier this year, that he doesn't think it's necessary. However, it seems like all our opponents have a good idea what plays we are going to run before we run them. Their defense is usually in position to stop most of our plays. Is it possible that other teams have figured out how to read Joe's lips, or are using those parabolic dish microphones you see on the sidelines during every game to steal our signals? What do you guys think? Is there anyone on the board that can read lips? If so, how easy is it to tell what plays Joe is calling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Dave Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 That's got to be it. It's the only logical explaination. Hey, I have an idea! How about the coaching staff starts wearing tin foil around their heads during team meetings. That way the opponent can't listen to their thoughts. Come on, it might be a possibility that they're trying to read his lips, but just watch the games. We have bigger problems than this. As a few others have said, plenty of offenses are predictable. Philly's, New England's, etc. The difference is, they execute. We could have the water boy run over to the opposing sideline and tell them the play we're running; if we execute, it doesn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 we need these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Originally posted by Chopper Dave That's got to be it. It's the only logical explaination. Hey, I have an idea! How about the coaching staff starts wearing tin foil around their heads during team meetings. That way the opponent can't listen to their thoughts. Come on, it might be a possibility that they're trying to read his lips, but just watch the games. We have bigger problems than this. As a few others have said, plenty of offenses are predictable. Philly's, New England's, etc. The difference is, they execute. We could have the water boy run over to the opposing sideline and tell them the play we're running; if we execute, it doesn't matter. Bingo. Although I mentioned this in preseason. A few times when the camera zoomed in on Gibbs I could see him saying "50 gut" (which means run up the middle) or "26 draw" (draw play that goes to the outside on the right side) But I do not think opposing D players can actually see him saying what he is saying. They are more concerned with getting their calls, and lining up correctly then looking at Gibbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_33 Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Well....Chopper Dave....As I'm not sure what think about this particular topic.... We all know that Peyton Manning wears an armband of Plays on it and calls his own....He's sure kinda hard to stop...! Didn't Elway do that same thing...? Doesn't Tom Brady do this as well? Go figure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afparent Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Something aint working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 I think they knew what plays were coming because we only run 9 different plays. Just guess one and you are going to be right a lot of the time. 50 Gut 40 Gut Counter Trey WR Screen WR Slant Zone Stretch Left Zone Stretch Right QB Sneak for loss Punt Dont worry though, I heard Coach Gibbs is installing 2 more plays for next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidPennSkin Posted November 22, 2004 Author Share Posted November 22, 2004 Originally posted by SkinsHokieFan Bingo. Although I mentioned this in preseason. A few times when the camera zoomed in on Gibbs I could see him saying "50 gut" (which means run up the middle) or "26 draw" (draw play that goes to the outside on the right side) But I do not think opposing D players can actually see him saying what he is saying. They are more concerned with getting their calls, and lining up correctly then looking at Gibbs The way it would work is for the opposing team to have a lip-reader/parabolic mike guy on the sidelines trying to steal our signals. Then that guy would communicate with the defensive play caller on the sidelines to signal in the proper defense to the team. The defensive players only need to look at their play caller for signals, not at the opposing coach. And probably, only the key defensive player on the field needs to get the defensive signals from the sidelines, then he tells the rest of the team. They would have at least 10 seconds to do this. Seems like it could be done. Why else would all the offensive play callers cover their mouth when sending in plays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Dave Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 First of all, teams wouldn't risk getting caught doing that. It's not worth it, especially when half the time they can figure out what kind of play it is based on the extensive research done the previous week. Secondly, you talk about Peyton Manning and Elway. Well guess what? They're MANNING and ELWAY. Also, Manning doesn't just call plays at the line. Tom Moore gives him 3 plays: a pass, a right run, and a left run. He calls which one out of the three. Based on formation and situation and the aforementioned research, they have a good idea of what's coming. They just can't stop it. Additionally, I think the main reason that they cover their mouths isn't to stop other teams from reading their lips, but to shield the mics from crowd noise. Philly and New England are more predictable than we are. They execute, and that's why they win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cphil006 Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Originally posted by PleaseBlitz I think they knew what plays were coming because we only run 9 different plays. Just guess one and you are going to be right a lot of the time. 50 Gut 40 Gut Counter Trey WR Screen WR Slant Zone Stretch Left Zone Stretch Right QB Sneak for loss Punt Dont worry though, I heard Coach Gibbs is installing 2 more plays for next week. any chance it will be a downfield pass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstahl Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 So lets assume they are reading Joe's lips and that we actually have enough plays to confuse the defense, and that the play comes in in time to get to the line... How about the arm band. Just number every play, change the numbers every week and call something like "number 10". Heck even change it at the half. QB simply reads the number given and reads from the arm band. Works well for crowd noise for the QB also. You can't tell me that having a simple encryption like this is too complicated, can you??? =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidPennSkin Posted November 22, 2004 Author Share Posted November 22, 2004 Originally posted by gstahl So lets assume they are reading Joe's lips and that we actually have enough plays to confuse the defense, and that the play comes in in time to get to the line... How about the arm band. Just number every play, change the numbers every week and call something like "number 10". Heck even change it at the half. QB simply reads the number given and reads from the arm band. Works well for crowd noise for the QB also. You can't tell me that having a simple encryption like this is too complicated, can you??? =) Yes, we could easily foil signal stealers. Gibbs could reverse signals with Patrick. When he says "50 gut" it means run play action off of 50 gut, etc. Or he could just cover his mouth when calling signals. Encoding or changing the signal calls would even stop the opposing team from hacking into the play-calling electronics. The problem is, if Gibbs & co. don't think it matters, then we are vulnerable to signal stealing. All it takes is a lip-reader with high-powered gyro-stabilized binoculars in the other team's sky box next to the defensive coordinator. He reads Joe's lips and then tells the DC what the play is going to be and the DC calls the defensive signals down to the field. Very hard to catch them doing it unless somebody rats. As a minimum I think Joe should try to set them up by occasionally calling a dummy play and then somehow having Pat call a play that takes advantage of a defense set up to stop the dummy play. That would show Gibbs pretty quick if his signals are being stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 why do they need to steal our signals, given our predictability one would think they could chart us on a computer and script their defenses accordingly :laugh: :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCRoughrider Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Originally posted by cphil006 any chance it will be a downfield pass? Surely you jest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 downfield passing with the Skins has been like getting a Game 7 playoff win from the Capitals :cry: :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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