Observations of this past week of Pro Football

What a crazy pro football season this 2025! This last week has been no exception. I wanted to share some high level observations that you can take into considerations to help you win more games! Things to do and things NOT to do.

Such a sloppy season so far. Very few teams are playing on all cylinders in all three phases of the game. Missed field goals. Botched Kick Offs. Penalties. Turn Overs. Injuries. Sacks. Missed tackles and more!

Lets explore!

1: Inconsistency in all three phases of the game. You can not win football games if you are not executing in all three phases of the game. That missed field goal or PAT could be the difference of winning or losing. If your D or O is not executing it puts undue pressure on one or the other to pick up the slack. Yes, sometimes your D will out perform or your offense will just execute like they are dialed in. But if you are not being consistent...in a good way, in all three phases, you have somethings to work on.

2: Missed tackles. Man, how many teams are tackling poorly. I can not stress enough how important blocking and tackling is. I am shocked that pro players are still not wrapping or tackling high. Crazy! Players need to be remediated on wrapping and tackling low. It truly is a thing of beauty when a DB makes an open field tackle and wraps or there are 3,4,5,6 guys on a tackle. Focus on the fundamentals!

3: Blocking! Still so many O linemen are not blocking to the whistle, holding their block, proper footwork, getting beat, standing and watching the QB get sacked or your running back getting stuffed 5 yards behind the LOS. No acceptable in the NFL football. Especially when you are getting paid millions to play a game. The least you can do is do your job! Today's O/D lineman are athletes. That means both sides of the ball needs to step up to that level of play. Block and pick up the block!

4: QB's not going through their reads with their heads down or looking exactly where they are throwing. That is youth and HS crap. Crazy! You can give a little slack for the rookie players due to the speed of the game, but this is a fundamental QB skill. Needs to be coached up! No excuse for the seasoned vets. I have seen some very lazy play this season or just dumb ass decisions by "elite" QB's.

5: Poor offensive play calling. Probably the hardest coaching job in my humble opinion. But to many teams are calling some bat shit crazy calls. Especially when it counts! 3rd and long with the box packed and you run a draw or inside zone play into traffic. WTH! Not sure what they are thinking. Either they are brilliantly setting something up for the future or just plain crazy and dumb calls.

6: Imitation. While there is a lot to be said of tight bunch, Tight or wide formations, motion, orbits to swings, etc. Split backs or I with a FB still produces results. Hell, coaches are still running the T! It seems ONE team does something and every team copies. Which is fine if it works and you have personnel. However, many coaches miss the reason why Coach Shanahan or Coach McDaniels do they do. Imitation for imitation sake wont work. Think outside of the box and execute. There is an art to formations and motion.

7: Missed PAT's and FG. This is inexcusable when inside the 30. So many teams are struggling with their kickers and yet there are studs kicking 54+ yard field goals! So missing anything inside the 30 is problematic. Yes, field conditions, bad snaps or holds all play a role, but come one! This should be completely dialed in before the season starts.

8: Poor communication. While I have seen some elite level communication on the D and O lines this season, it is lacking in the secondary. Nothing drives me crazy faster than DB's or Safeties with their hands up in the air after the offense just scored as if it was someone else's fault. DO YOUR JOB! Communicate. Pre Snap Read. See what is in front of you! Don't blame others or put your hands up as if it wasn't your fault you got burned by the WR who got behind you.

9: What happened to the RB's. A lot of teams this season just can't seem to run the ball. Either the RB is stuffed or the O Line is not opening holes. A team that can't run and set up plays is 1 dimensional offensively and that is problematic. The O line needs to adjust, communicate better, or simply get better. RB's need to see the holes. Be patient and get down hill. A lot of teams haven't seemed to put this together yet. Its getting late in the season to dial in. Surprisingly teams that are not considered elite are doing better running the ball than many of those that are supposedly contenders. Crazy.

10: Penalties. Man! I have seen a lot of teams pick up 30 yards in penalties in one series! 90% of these penalties are a lack of discipline and focus. The other 5% are just dumb and the remaining 5% is poor reffing calls. Of course these percentages can fluctuate, but jeez! You can't win football games if you go backwards on the field, chew up precious time on the clock, etc. The amount of penalties is just stagering. Again, I understand the rules have changed in some areas, but come on. Many if not most are just fundamental and discipline issues. Not rule changes.

I could go on and on. For sure, there is some great playing goin on. But holy smokes. This season seems really sloppy. Maybe its just me. Maybe its the lack of fundamentals in pre-season, the lack of practice time, conditioning, or all of the above. I also understand each year, players get faster, stronger, offensive and defensive schemes get more complicated and yes, its easier said than done. And yes, I have not played or coach NFL on field team football all of these things come down to some basic issues that apply to mighty might, pee wee, youth, high school, college and NFL level football.

I will say what I have said for years. Football comes down to blocking, tackling, execution and discipline. Executing in all three phases of the game. Whether its youth football or the NFL. If you don't do these things it becomes really hard to win and easy to lose. That is the magic formula.

Go Pats and Go Rams! Who's House!

Coach David Frederick