Four consequences of the Detroit Lions new level of physicality
By Ash Thompson
Preparation meets opportunity
According to Malcolm Gladwell, it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Teams get 30 minutes of game time on average. A player would have to play 20,000 games to master any skill under a system that doesn’t let them practice it.
Jim Caldwell did not let the team tackle during practices. We may be seeing a very easily explained reason for the struggles that the Lions defense had during the Caldwell era. There is one thing that is sure on 95% of all NFL plays. Someone is going to get tackled.
This article in Psychological Science states that the deliberate practice of skills results in a 12% difference in performance in skills across the board. Sports, in particular, are an area in which a greater net effect of deliberate practice is more noticeable. An 18% increase in performance is listed in sports-related skills.
“Deliberate practice” as the phrase is used in this study, means practice designed to push the boundaries of the individual’s skill level. Playing two-hand touch in practice does not qualify as Deliberate practice.
Much smarter and better-educated people than me have effectively told us that the Lions will be 18% better at tackling in 2018 than they were in 2007. That means the team should have fewer yards after the catch, more plays stuffed in the backfield, and fewer splash plays for long gains in general.
Whether you buy Gladwell’s 10,000-hour theory or not, the idea that practice makes perfect is not new. It is the idea that you can master something without actually practicing it that has gained inexplicable traction in recent years.
“I think when you go to the ground in certain situations there is just a professional way to try to do it,” Patricia said, clearly downplaying the idea that his practices were going to resemble the Thunderdome. “The other part of it is, at some point, you have to go live. You have to be able to experience that both offensively and defensively because you don’t want to do it the first time in a game. You have to be able to get in good position.”
Matt Patricia is a defensive coach who comes from a coaching tree that has been winning Superbowls since the mid-1980s. Jim Caldwell is an offensive coach whose teams usually miss the playoffs due to their poor defensive play. That’s not going to pass peer review, but it makes sense that Patricia is the authority on how a team should practice tackling.