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AFM Magazine


Takeaway! More and More Teams are Using The Strip To Create Turnovers

by: Steve Dorsey
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Stripping the football from an opposing running back or receiver is not a new concept. Some players, such as former Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, included it their defensive tactics long before the NFL owners made the strip legal in 2002.
More than ever though, defensive players are being coached about stripping the ball and successfully implementing it in game situations. Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon’s strip of safety Ed Reed following a Peyton Manning interception in the AFC Divisional playoffs in January was the defining play in the Colts’ 20-3 win against the Ravens. The Saints produced a highlight reel of the art of the strip in their victory against the Vikings in the NFC Championship game, literally “punching” their ticket to the Super Bowl.
The strip no longer is a desperation tactic used only late in a game by the team that is trailing. It has its critics and drawbacks, but the strip is fast becoming an art form that is being coached at football practices at every level from high schools to the NFL.
The Saints, in fact, practice stripping the football at every practice. Saints safety Darren Sharper said during the week leading up to the Super Bowl that they’re “taught to attack the football” and that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ philosophy is that “when you win the turnover battle, a lot of times you’re going to win the game.”
That certainly was true in the NFC title game. The Saints constantly were trying to rip the ball from Minnesota’s running backs and receivers, and forced six fumbles, three of which New Orleans recovered. The game was decided in overtime, but had it not been for those turnovers, the Saints might not have beaten the Vikings to earn the trip to Miami and their first Super Bowl.
Likewise for the Colts, who were leading the Ravens 17-3 in their divisional playoff game when Reed intercepted Manning with six minutes remaining in the third quarter. Reed had returned the interception deep into Colts territory when Garcon, for whom the pass was intended, chased him down from behind and punched the ball out of his arm. Dallas Clark recovered the fumble near the 25-yard line, giving the ball back to Indianapolis and denying the Ravens a good opportunity to make it a one-touchdown game. Instead, the Colts converted that dramatic turn of events into a field goal and won the game to reach the AFC title game en route to the Super Bowl.
There are four primary ways of jarring the football loose from an opposing player’s grasp. The first is putting a helmet on the ball. The other three involve stripping the ball, either by punching the ball loose with a move similar to an upper cut in boxing such as what Garcon used against Reed, the tomahawk chop in which a defender’s arm comes from over the top and rips the ball loose or the reach-and-pull-technique.
The drills to teach this are fairly simple. Executing them in game situations is more complex. No matter how much time is spent teaching the techniques, the bottom line is that instincts supersede the chalkboard.
Bobby Sifrit, the DC at 2009 Class 4A Florida state champion William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens has been teaching the strip to his players since 1996. Sifrit said he pencils fundamental tackling and stripping drills into the first 15 minutes of practices every day. Sifrit said he also stresses the strip with his defensive backs in 7-on-7 drills.
“It’s something that if you don’t work on it, they won’t do it. It has to be a habit,” Sifrit said. “We’ve been emphasizing it for years.”
Sifrit said that he combines the strip drills with his fundamental tackling drills. He teaches his players to “secure the tackle first, then go for the strip.” However, he said that the best opportunity for successfully stripping the ball from an opponent’s grasp is from behind, which creates a surprise attack. If the tackle is made straight ahead, the defensive player making the initial contact should concentrate on wrapping up the tackle and letting a teammate or secondary tackler go for the strip.
If a receiver or running back is holding the football away from his body, the tomahawk chop or upper-cut punch often will dislodge the ball. But if the ball is being held close to the body, as offensive players are taught, the reach-and-pull technique is the best way to create a fumble.
In the reach-and-pull drill, a receiver stands stationary with his back to the defender and holds the ball in either arm. The defender reaches out – using his left arm if the ball is in the ball carrier’s left arm or right arm if the ball is being held on the right side – and pulls the arm holding the football in a downward direction to dislodge the ball. This will give the defender a feel for stripping the ball.
The next drill, an angle step drill, should be executed at about three-fourths speed. On the coach’s whistle, the receiver starts running directly toward the sideline. The defender, standing about 10 yards away to one side, takes off angling toward the point where he will intersect with the receiver as the ball arrives. Once the receiver has run a few yards, the coach throws the football to him. At that point, the defender should be arriving at the point of attack. Using his attack arm, the defensive back or linebacker should reach out and pull the ball-carrying arm down to dislodge the football. The defender should be hitting the receiver in the back with his other forearm and grabbing the receiver’s jersey. That way, if the defender is unable to dislodge the ball, he still is in position to make the tackle.
Repeat this drill by throwing the ball to the receiver at different positions – behind the receiver, high, low and to both the left and right of the receiver – to give the defender training on all the angles passes are caught. Again, as Sifrit reiterates, repetition on a daily basis is important so the strip eventually becomes a habit. The bottom line is that stripping the football is not all luck. It takes time and practice.
Sifrit does not limit his ball-stripping drills exclusively to defensive backs and linebackers. He also teaches his defensive linemen the reach-and-pull technique against running backs.
“A lot of people think defensive linemen don’t have the opportunity to strip the ball, but we actually get a lot of fumbles with them,” Sifrit said. “Turnovers are a huge factor and often times are the difference in close games.”
The most significant drawback to the growing popularity of ball-stripping is missed tackles. If the ball carrier is able to hold onto the ball, he might be able to gain a few extra yards because the defender was concentrating too much on stripping the ball instead of making the tackle.
Count Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson as one who believes that the art of fundamental tackling has dissipated in recent years because of the penchant of so many defenders going for the strip.
“I’m ashamed of what I’ve seen in the last four or five years of tackling and the way these guys play,” Woodson said in an interview with The New York Times the week of the Super Bowl. “If somebody did a study of players trying to make a strip before tackling, I bet a couple of miles is being had in yards-after for trying to get the strip. That would bring to light how silly it is to always try to get the strip. I was always taught since 1987, tackle-strip, tackle-strip. Now it seems like it’s strip-tackle. That’s the reason we see a lot of big plays.”
Scott Farison, the DC at Robert Morris University, agrees with Woodson.
“He’s right,” Farison said. “Kids watch NFL games and they see players going for the knockout blow. We already have a hard time teaching them proper tackling. They all want the highlight hit. If a ball carrier has both hands on the ball, what’s the point (of going for the strip)?”
Farison said he and his defensive coaches spend only about 5-10 percent of their practice week working on ball-stripping drills. But he and his staff also teach their defensive linemen to be aware of possibly making a strip when they are rushing the quarterback. That usually means using the tomahawk chop technique to slap the ball out of the quarterback’s hand. “Only if you have a clear shot at stipping the ball,” said Farison. “You only have a split second sometimes to make the decision.”
With running backs, however, Farison emphasizes to his linemen to concentrate on making the tackle first. “Turnovers are great, but if you don’t get the strip, the running back most times is going to get more yards,” said Farison.
“If we’re not creating turnovers, we’ll incorporate (strip drills) into our other tackling drills,” Farison said. “But I’m an old-school guy. It’s all about the tackle. There’s only so many stripping drills you can do. We talk about situations, times in a game when you might want to go for it. But we teach tacklers to tackle first, then go for the strip. I think if you don’t emphasize securing the tackle first, the less good tacklers you’ll have.”





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