ESPN NFL

A Day for the Long Ball
It was the last day of baseball's regular season, but the NFL showcased its own version of the home run derby. From game to game, receivers were burning cornerbacks for big plays and touchdowns. Cornerback is the most difficult position to play on defense, and it is thus the position most lacking in talent right now. A cornerback must react to the wide receiver's moves, stay with him while he changes directions, be aware of where the ball is in the air, and be able to prevent the receiver from making the catch, all without touching the receiver until after the ball arrives. What makes it more difficult is the height advantage receivers have on cornerbacks thanks to biased high school and college coaches. For decades now, fast players who were also tall were taught how to play wide receiver while the shorter speedsters were placed on defense, regardless of their ability to catch a football.

The perfect example of this mismatch was Randy Moss scoring three long touchdowns on Sunday, with a fourth called back by a penalty. Each touchdown was scored simply by Moss running down the field and out leaping the defender for the ball. There were no complex pass plays or patterns run. It was nothing but shear athleticism, and the height advantage he had over the 49er defenders. Moss is 6-4, and has played minor league basketball. Of the three 49er defensive backs he beat for touchdowns, Ahmed Plummer was 6-0, Tony Parrish 6-0, and Zach Bronson 6-1. All three are taller than the average defensive back, but still 3-4 inches shorter than Moss. Throw in having to turn and find the ball in a split second, then out leap Moss to make a deflection and you have three easy Minnesota touchdowns.

The inability of defensive backs to play the ball in the air correctly was shown in just about every game around the league. The Steelers' Chad Scott was burned twice by the Tennessee Titans, the first by Drew Bennett, the second by Justin McCariens. The Lions' Dre Bly jumped too soon to try to deflect a pass to Ashley Lelie and took himself out of the play, giving up an easy touchdown. The Broncos gave seven points right back to Detroit when cornerback Deltha O'Neal misplayed a ball headed to Charles Rogers and was heading to the ground before the ball was even caught. The Saints' defensive backs gave up so many big plays that it is rather a moot point to count them all. The Browns' Daylon McCutcheon was beaten bad by Peter Warrick in the end zone and just decided to tackle the wide receiver well before the ball got there rather than automatically give up the score.

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