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UPI
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
On This Day, July 1: Canada becomes self-governing
1 of 7 | On July 1, 1867, Canada became a self-governing state within the British Empire File Photo by Paul Hanna/UPI | License Photo July 1 (UPI) -- On this date in history: In 1847, the first U.S. postage stamps were issued. In 1859, the first intercollegiate baseball game was played in Pittsfield, Mass., and it was a high-scoring contest. Amherst beat Williams, 66-32. In 1867, Canada became a self-governing state within the British Empire, setting the stage to become fully independent in 1931. Today, Canadians celebrate July 1 as Canada Day. In 1874, the Philadelphia Zoological Society, the first U.S. zoo, opened to the public. In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders led a charge up Cuba's heavily fortified San Juan Hill in a key Spanish-American War battle. In 1908, more than a thousand suffragettes in London attempted to rescue 28 of their fellow protesters who were arrested by police following a demonstration in Parliament Square. In 1916, in the worst single day of casualties in British military history, 20,000 soldiers were killed and 40,000 injured in a massive offense against German forces in France's Somme River region during World War I. In 1932, Democrats nominated Franklin Delano Roosevelt for president. FDR was elected to four consecutive terms. In 1941, NBC broadcast the first FCC-sanctioned TV commercial, a spot for Bulova watches shown during a Dodgers-Phillies game. It cost Bulova $9. In 1941, Mammoth Cave National Park was established in Kentucky, protecting 52,830 acres of caverns and a diverse group of animal and plant species. The park is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. In 1946, the United States conducted its first post-war test of the atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. In 1961, Haleakalā National Park was split off from Hawai'i National Park to become its own park. In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, known as the Soundabout, in U.S. stores. It sold for about $200. In 1984, the Motion Picture Association of America introduced the PG-13 rating to warn parents that a film may be too violent for children under the age of 13. A top U.S. Catholic Conference official said the move was just another way to exploit young people. In 1990, the West and East German economies were united, with the Deutsche Mark replacing the mark as currency in East Germany. In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China after 156 years as a British territory. Britain's Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. Secretary Madeleine Albright attended the ceremony. Britain first occupied Hong Kong in the 1840s amid the First Opium War. In 2002, in a rare high-altitude accident, a passenger airliner collided with a cargo plane over Germany, killing all 71 people on the two planes -- 69 on the airliner and two on the cargo aircraft. In 2013, Croatia became the 28th member state of the European Union. In 2013, a year after Mohamed Morsi became president of Egypt, hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in cities across the country, calling for him to step down. Morsi was ousted by the military two days later and died in June 2019. File Photo by Ahmed Jomaa/UPI In 2019, Japan resumed commercial whaling for the first time in 31 years. In 2023, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands acknowledged and apologized for the Dutch role in the historical slave trade in a speech marking the 150th anniversary of the end of slavery in Dutch Suriname. In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump has partial immunity for official acts while he was president in a case tied to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI


New York Post
4 days ago
- New York Post
How the sons of Teddy Roosevelt discovered the mythical Giant Panda
Among the great hunters and adventurers of the Roaring 1920s were the two eldest sons of Teddy Roosevelt, America's 26th president, former New York governor and one of the country's most energetic and famous figures. The Roosevelt family had funded museums to fill their halls with exhibits of virtually every large animal known to man, but for one — the elusive and legendary creature, the giant black and white panda. 7 Ted and Kermit Roosevelt in 1926 during their ambitions and unprecedented journey across the Himalayas to find the mythical Giant Panda. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Emboldened by their legendary lineage, Ted Jr. and Kermit Roosevelt decided to follow in the footsteps of their big-game-hunting father who had brought back kills of lions, tigers, elephants and bears — often exhibited in New York City's American Museum of Natural History, which the boys' grandfather had co-founded in 1869. Pursuing fame and glory — as well as hoping to escape the shadow of their father — the brothers set out for remote, and inhospitable Himalayan mountains in Asia, which had yet to be explored by Westerners. Their goal was to find the panda thought to be some kind of polar bear — but a beast that many believed did not exist. And the brothers faced a punishing route up a 16,000-foot peak with howling winter storms. As Nathalia Holt writes in her deeply researched nonfiction account, 'The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda' )One Signal Publishers): 'The animal the brothers coveted looked like no other species in the world . . . a black and white bear so rare that many people did not believe it was real. 7 The brother's legendary, swashbuckling father, Pres. Teddy Roosevelt, the pioneering naturalists who inspired his sons' search for the Giant Panda Getty Images 'Not even naturalists who had worked in China all their lives would say precisely where the creature lived, what it ate, or how it behaved . . . The Roosevelts desired this one animal so acutely that they could barely speak about it with each other, much less anyone else,' the author observes. Few people in the Republic of China had ever seen the panda, but there was a probable reference to it in Chinese literature in the early Third Century, according to the author. And proof of its existence arose when Joseph Milner, a missionary, donated the skin he had purchased of a giant panda to the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 1919. A French missionary, Armand David, had hired hunters in the Chinese province of Sichuan in 1869 to collect interesting specimens. They returned with a lifeless body of an unidentified animal, possibly the panda. David skinned it and shipped the pelt to Paris to be identified by experts. But scientists would not confirm it was authentic. 7 The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the distance, one of the many jew-dropping backdrops to the brothers' East Asian Panda quest in 1929. Photograph by Herbert Stevens In 1929, the determined Roosevelt siblings began an expedition to finally find this elusive bear, more legend than fact, in the inhospitable bamboo forests of the Tibetan Plateau in the high Himalayas. The brothers were accompanied by naturalists, trackers, guides, interpreters and scientists, and funded by Chicago's Field Museum and a wealthy donor. The Roosevelts were unprepared for what they faced: treacherous glacier crossings of the Himalayas, raiders ready to attack travelers, and air so thin that it was easy to die of oxygen deprivation. But they were driven by their ambitions to find a beast in the clouds that was considered the most challenging trophy on earth. The trail that crossed China and Tibet was desolate and forbidding with its intense wind, snow and ice, writes Holt. Indeed, there was 'no tent strong enough' to withstand the mountain squalls, and no fire hot enough to warm the explorers. 'These were the Roosevelts. They bore an air of invulnerability that had carried the entire group forward into this treacherous environment,' writes Holt — even when passing through a region called the Valley of Death, located in what is today the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, that was said to be full of evil spirits that haunted people while they slept — never to awaken. During the trek, forest walls closed in on all sides, and the extremely high mountain elevation made it difficult to breathe. There were bandits — including a 'band of eight hundred Tibetan marauders' — who roamed the rugged terrain. 7 Ted and Kermit Roosevelt in 1926 along with local associates who helped them with their quest to find the mythical Giant Panda. Courtesy of the Library of Congress One night, their team of mules mysteriously disappeared and starvation became a stark possibility with few provisions left beyond dried green peas and rice. A Tibetan lamasery provided nourishment before the crew moved on in blizzard-like storms. While the elusive panda remained little more than a fantasy, the scientists captured birds, broke their necks and skinned them. Capturing as many specimens as they could for natural history museums, an entire family of nine golden snub-nosed monkeys — the last of their kind — was killed in the name of science. After rugged days and nights, the expedition was finally on the panda's trail when reports of a white bear sighting came from a nearby village. The natives considered this beast a 'supernatural being, a sort of demi-god,' writes Holt. The villagers never tried to capture it and only agreed to take the white hunters in search of it — for money. At the base of a tree trunk, panda scat was discovered with bamboo in it, known to be the daily diet of the panda, along with its coarse white hair. 7 Today Giant Pandas still remain among the Earth's rarest creatures — often presented by the Chinese government to foreign nations as gifts of international diplomacy. Getty Images A trail of paw prints in the snow and half-munched bamboo quickly led them to their ultimate target. He was shot and killed on sight — a panda! 'For the explorers, it felt like the end,' writes Holt. 'In the five months of their expedition, the party had collected five thousand bird skins, two thousand small mammals, and forty big mammals,' but not the great bear. 'It was only here, at the end, that the brothers realized they had been wrong and the panda wasn't the wild, bellicose predator they had expected,' writes Holt. The gentleness of 'the panda had permanently altered their sense of purpose — and immediately following the panda hunt they were struck by illness.' A cut on Ted's leg became infected with bacteria spreading up his torso. News coming in revealed that Kermit's shipping business was headed to bankruptcy, and he had to return to New York. As soon as Kermit left, Ted felt himself emotionally and physically unraveling, according to Holt. 'His body ached from months of sleeping on the ground, repeated illness, and hard climbing,' Holt writes. 'Together we had shivered in the bitter winter cold of the high mountains and sweltered in the damp heat of the semi-tropics. Together we had passed through troubles ranging from lost mules to bandits. Now in all probability we would never meet again,' Ted later wrote. He came down with malaria and was admitted to a Saigon hospital where doctors found he had dysentery, caused by bacteria or parasites. The two brothers had always depended on each and now they were separated and barely speaking. 7 Author Nathalia Holt. Credit Larkin Holt Kermit's company was bleeding money and, worse, he had become an alcoholic. With his marriage unravelling, he started having affairs. In June 1943, he placed a revolver under his chin and pulled the trigger. Ted lived a year longer. They had awakened a pandamonium with pandas now being hunted for excessive sums becoming one of the rarest mammals on earth. 'A dark shadow had fallen across their lives the moment the brothers had simultaneously pulled their triggers,' writes the author. 'The panda hunt had forever altered his life,' writes Holt, and they had awakened a 'panda-monium' with pandas now being hunted for excessive sums becoming one of the rarest mammals on earth.


New York Times
10-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Yosemite Bans Large Flags From El Capitan, Criminalizing Protests
It is one of America's most majestic and recognizable landmarks, having beckoned Teddy Roosevelt, Ansel Adams and, more recently, protesters. From the granite walls of El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park, demonstrators have draped large flags and banners several times in the past year in protest of a number of issues, including the Israel-Hamas war and various Trump administration policies. There was one symbolizing transgender pride, another saying 'Stop the Genocide' and an upside-down American flag, which represents distress. Now, the federal government seemingly wants to keep the famous rock formation a blank slate. It has outlawed large flags, banners and signs from El Capitan and most of the park altogether. The ban appears to have been formalized last month by Yosemite's acting superintendent, Raymond McPadden, in a Park Service compendium of regulations dated May 20. The rule tracks with a series of punitive actions by the Trump administration against some critics of its immigration policies and Palestinian sympathizers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NFL is the ultimate 'copycat league.' So what trends will we see in 2025?
All data via TruMedia unless otherwise stated. 'Copycat league' is the common refrain when a trend starts appearing enough in the NFL to invoke the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, whether it be a coaching hire, a personnel preference, a scheme quirk. These things catch on quickly in the ever-evolving and ever-changing world of NFL teams that are constantly studying themselves, their rivals, and their collegiate and high school peers. Advertisement What takes the league by storm in September will be imitated, dominated, and even improved upon by the time the holiday season rolls around (ask the recent Dolphins offenses). Sometimes there are schemes that have fallen out of favor that have been dusted off, redesigned or distilled and found new ways — or sometimes just the classic ways — to be used. Even as just a change-up to whatever has become the norm. Straight dropback passing is making a comeback One type of play that I think will start gaining more favor, even if it's just a slightly bigger blip on the radar, is a tried-and-true play that you could say John Heisman and Teddy Roosevelt helped invent. That's the straight dropback pass from under center. Advertisement Throwing the ball without any play action (a play fake to the running back) is one of the main food groups of football concepts. But what was once the staple of this diet, throwing the ball from under center, has instead been substituted with a lean into the pass-centric nature of modern offenses. There's been more shotgun or even pistol as the base set of offenses, which helps create space and read elements in the run game for more athletic quarterbacks and allows them to see more of the field. Under center plays have morphed into a clear signal of either a run play to a back, or play action off faking it. It's removed scissors in the constant game of rock, paper, scissor that offenses and defenses throw at each other. Basing out of shotgun absolutely has benefits in attacking a defense, including certain RPOs and in quick game, along with varying motion quirks you can throw in. But I think the NFL hit its nadir in using straight dropback passing, which was once a Day 1 installation for offensive football. Advertisement NFL offenses threw the ball from under center on early downs 11,367 times in 2002, over 22 times a game. In 2024 that number was 2,855, or 5.3 times per game. And that's including play action. Without play action, that number dropped to 1.1 in 2023 before having a slight increase this past season. I think we'll see an upswing in usage as teams see the benefits of giving defenses another thing to think about. All while hunting explosive plays on early downs and having some old-school soundness in protection and play design. (The classics are the classics for a reason. Even if they aren't cool at the moment.) The offensive play-callers that are the main practitioners of this ancient art of passing are actually the coaches that were recently labeled as the wunderkinds of the league. The 49ers under Kyle Shanahan led the way with 2.6 under center dropbacks without play action on early downs per game in 2024, averaging over nine yards per play. The Saints under Klint Kubiak (of the same Shanahan-Kubiak coaching tree) were in second. Kubiak's 2021 offense, meanwhile, ran more than five per game, and his father Gary's offenses in Minnesota topped the leaderboard since 2019. Other offenses from the same tree rounded out the top five of straight dropback passing in 2024, including the Texans, Vikings and Lions. Brock Purdy and the 49ers led the NFL in under center dropbacks with no play action on early downs in 2024. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) (Thearon W. Henderson via Getty Images) There are numbers past the eye test that indicate that these plays are more than just a football version of an eephus pitch. I think NFL teams will add it to their arsenal in the coming years. On dropback passes featuring no play action since 2019, under center concepts have a higher success rate (49.3%), net yards per attempt (6.6), and EPA per play (.05) than their shotgun (45.4%, 6.3, 45.4%) and pistol (46.1%, 6.5, .02) compatriots. Advertisement There are tradeoffs for operating under center, most notably with inside pressure and the lack of space (relatively) to the line of scrimmage for the quarterback (which is dangerous against modern interior defensive lineman). But as defenses have become more complex and have better access to opponent scouting and tendency data than ever, offenses have to find ways to keep them on their toes. Indicating clear run or clear pass just by where the quarterback is aligned already puts the offense behind the 8-ball. Sprinkling in a few more old dropbacks will help keep the cue stick in the offense's hands. Third and fourth downs are a whole new ballgame now thanks in part to shorter fields Rule changes can have other effects on the game outside of just the plays they are intended to impact. The NFL's kickoff rule changes, which first moved the ball up to the 25 after touchbacks in 2018 and then turned into the new "dynamic kickoff" implemented last season, had ramifications on other aspects of the sport as well. NFL offenses averaged 62.2 plays per game in 2024. That was the lowest league-wide mark since 2008 and the second-lowest since 2002, when the NFL expanded to 32 teams and eight divisions. NFL offenses also averaged 10.7 drives per game in 2024, the lowest league-wide number over the same time period. Why? Well, the ball being spotted further down the field after touchbacks (which will bump even further this season to the 35-yard line following another rule change) means, just by sheer math, less yards offenses have to gain to score on a given drive. NFL teams are also going for it on fourth down more than ever, and plays per drive has gone up as well. Advertisement The NFL is so situational and now that the math has changed, offenses are also adjusting how they go about situations like third and fourth down. Teams are not only going for it more on fourth down, they're getting better at it, too. NFL offenses converted 56.4% of their fourth down attempts last season, the highest league-wide conversion rate since at least 2002. They are treating third down differently, too. Particularly third-and-long situations, commonly defined as third down and seven or more yards to go. Three of the four worst league-wide conversion rates on third-and-long have happened since 2022, the same time that fourth down aggression has become more normalized. Offenses are realizing that third down no longer requires an all-or-nothing play call with a long-developing dropback pass or a shrug of the shoulder white flag screen or draw play that has a fanbase calling for their offensive coordinator's job. Instead, fourth down aggression has opened the playbook for offenses on third down. Screens are now an easy button that can put you in strike range on fourth down. Checkdowns are no longer groan-worthy, but instead a viable option that can put the offense in a better position for the next down. NFL offenses are even running the ball more frequently on third-and-long now to catch exotic, blitz-happy defenses by surprise and out of position; 10.7% of third-and-longs in 2024 featured a designed run play, the highest league-wide rate the NFL has seen since 2009, when two-high coverages and the Ravens/Rex Ryan's blitz-happy ways were in vogue. It's not a coincidence that the numbers are more similar to the late 2000s than something five years ago. It was a similar environment back then to what current NFL offenses have to deal with, after a decade of single-high defenses trying to emulate the Legion of Boom. Albeit current offenses have to deal with even more aggressive and dynamic looks and an onslaught of pass rushers on a weekly basis. Advertisement NFL defenses are getting even better and better at disguising and providing window dressing on their defensive looks. And this is on top of the depth of pass rushers that every team is seemingly armed with these days. But NFL offenses have started to figure out some things on late downs. While their third-and-long rates have dropped, they have actually racked up strong overall third down conversion rates (fourth-highest since 2002), and NFL offenses recorded a 52.6% conversion rate on third-and-six or less in 2024, which was a top-five conversion rate since 2002. It's a nice indication of the current upswing in play-calling and quarterback play league-wide. (Yes, really, don't let anyone scream at you differently.) Road grating run games taking advantage of lighter defenders Ball carriers are also gaining more yards after contact than ever before, too. Running backs gained an average of 3.02 yards after contact per designed run attempt in 2024. That's the highest since 2006 (the furthest TruMedia's data goes back for this statistic) and the first time that number has ever cracked three yards. While yards before contact still remain relatively low (1.35 yards, fourth-lowest since 2006), which I think is a fair reflection of the talent disparity between NFL offensive lines and defensive fronts, I also think this reflects the tradeoff of size for speed that NFL defenses have undergone over the last five to 10 years. In 2024, the average playing weight among NFL defensive linemen and linebackers that played 200 or more snaps was 271.2 pounds. In 2018, that number was 272.5 pounds. In 2013, it was 276.5 pounds. NFL front seven defenders have become lighter and faster, a reaction to a more pass-heavy NFL that requires better pass rushers and coverage defenders to throw at these talented quarterbacks, pass catchers, and passing games. Defenses are going lighter as defenders' position labels start to merge. A player listed as a safety could line up in the box like a linebacker or in the slot more frequently than they do as a deep coverage player. Sub-230-pound linebackers are becoming more the norm than a curiosity. Edge defenders are asked to align inside on passing downs to attack mismatches against guards (who are becoming more skilled in their own right). But this has opened up avenues for offenses to attack. Namely, just being big up front and road grating jittery defenses with downhill gap runs. Offenses leaning into their more athletic quarterbacks and their running ability has also changed the math of how defenses have to attack, with more plays featuring a read element out of the shotgun changing the angles and forcing defenses to rally and tackle in space and swarm with numbers. NFL offenses have benefitted when defenses don't have good eyes on these plays; the NFL's 8.3% explosive run rate on early downs was the second-highest league-wide number since 2002. Tight ends creating mismatches that trickle down throughout offenses Another way offenses are creating more advantages is by using the classic mismatch staple: tight ends. Just as defensive body types start to merge, pass catchers, blockers and ball carriers are starting to blend as well. Big-bodied wide receivers who can't consistently win on the outside are moving inside as power slots, becoming de facto tight ends inserting as blockers at the point of attack on run plays. (Or as runners — the five highest rates of WR runs league-wide since 2002 have been over the last five seasons.) Advertisement Receiving ability is a prerequisite to be a modern NFL running back. Quarterbacks run more than ever, with scramble rates rising every year (and not slowing down with the likes of Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and Bo Nix establishing themselves). Athletic tight ends that used to get squeezed off the field because of their lack of blocking ability are starting to find a role again. NFL offensive play-callers are no longer asking receiving-first tight ends to down block an oversized defensive end. They're putting players in motion to build momentum and alter angles of blocks on the defense right at the snap of the ball. RPOs allow tight ends to not even have to block, but instead run a simple route instead. Play-callers are aligning them all over the field. Offenses are moving these guys around and creating two-back and full house backfields with tight ends (and even receivers). It changes up the strength of the run and the gaps the defenders have to account for after the snap of the football. And it gives defenses even more to prepare for out of certain personnel groups. The Ravens have weaponized these looks to open up their run game menu with Lamar Jackson. But other teams are starting to use more formational variety with their skill players on other type of concepts as well. Particularly teams like the Bengals, Packers, Cardinals and Falcons. The Rams appear to be planning on "replacing" Cooper Kupp, who performed many tight end roles in their offense, with rookie Terrance Ferguson (pictured) and the rest of their tight end room. (Photo by David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images) (MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images via Getty Images) And while defenses are now more comfortable using nickel (five defensive backs) and even dime (six defensive backs) to counter multi-tight end looks and hold up against the run, offenses are also starting to find ways to use their natural size advantage. Since there are more safeties in the box and linebackers are no longer 260-pound rhinos steamrolling blockers, tight ends can now be asked to insert and lead block on the second level. That opens up the menu to feature even more two-back-type runs (think fullback-type plays), but from a more spread look. This is on top of the other plays that feature motion at the snap. Advertisement Narratives about how tight ends create mismatches or how there's a new tight end wave are old hat. But there was an increase of multi-tight end personnel groupings in 2024 that matches the eye test: NFL offenses used 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) at the highest rate since 2013, which is the furthest that TruMedia's data goes back. Offenses used two or more tight ends on 7.6% of plays in 2024, the highest rate since at least 2002. Viable tight ends are always going to be hard to find because of the sheer athletic threshold for playing the position. But the ease of entry as a blocker has lowered, along with the increased athleticism and skills of a younger generation, has opened up roles for these players. There are teams, like the Rams and really the entire NFC West, that are tipping back their personnel usage to featuring more size with tight ends than the three-wide receiver meta of recent years. The Rams are seemingly 'replacing' Cooper Kupp, who often performed many tight end-esque roles in that offense, with their tight end room of Tyler Higbee, Terrance Ferguson, Colby Parkinson, and Davis Allen. With more talented tight ends entering the NFL in the recent draft, it'll be fun to see more and more teams inverting the role of their skill players.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NFL is the ultimate 'copycat league.' So what trends will we see in 2025?
All data via TruMedia unless otherwise stated. 'Copycat league' is the common refrain when a trend starts appearing enough in the NFL to invoke the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, whether it be a coaching hire, a personnel preference, a scheme quirk. These things catch on quickly in the ever-evolving and ever-changing world of NFL teams that are constantly studying themselves, their rivals, and their collegiate and high school peers. What takes the league by storm in September will be imitated, dominated, and even improved upon by the time the holiday season rolls around (ask the recent Dolphins offenses). Sometimes there are schemes that have fallen out of favor that have been dusted off, redesigned or distilled and found new ways — or sometimes just the classic ways — to be used. Even as just a change-up to whatever has become the norm. One type of play that I think will start gaining more favor, even if it's just a slightly bigger blip on the radar, is a tried-and-true play that you could say John Heisman and Teddy Roosevelt helped invent. That's the straight dropback pass from under center. Throwing the ball without any play action (a play fake to the running back) is one of the main food groups of football concepts. But what was once the staple of this diet, throwing the ball from under center, has instead been substituted with a lean into the pass-centric nature of modern offenses. There's been more shotgun or even pistol as the base set of offenses, which helps create space and read elements in the run game for more athletic quarterbacks and allows them to see more of the field. Under center plays have morphed into a clear signal of either a run play to a back, or play action off faking it. It's removed scissors in the constant game of rock, paper, scissor that offenses and defenses throw at each other. Basing out of shotgun absolutely has benefits in attacking a defense, including certain RPOs and in quick game, along with varying motion quirks you can throw in. But I think the NFL hit its nadir in using straight dropback passing, which was once a Day 1 installation for offensive football. NFL offenses threw the ball from under center on early downs 11,367 times in 2002, over 22 times a game. In 2024 that number was 2,855, or 5.3 times per game. And that's including play action. Without play action, that number dropped to 1.1 in 2023 before having a slight increase this past season. I think we'll see an upswing in usage as teams see the benefits of giving defenses another thing to think about. All while hunting explosive plays on early downs and having some old-school soundness in protection and play design. (The classics are the classics for a reason. Even if they aren't cool at the moment.) The offensive play-callers that are the main practitioners of this ancient art of passing are actually the coaches that were recently labeled as the wunderkinds of the league. The 49ers under Kyle Shanahan led the way with 2.6 under center dropbacks without play action on early downs per game in 2024, averaging over nine yards per play. The Saints under Klint Kubiak (of the same Shanahan-Kubiak coaching tree) were in second. Kubiak's 2021 offense, meanwhile, ran more than five per game, and his father Gary's offenses in Minnesota topped the leaderboard since 2019. Other offenses from the same tree rounded out the top five of straight dropback passing in 2024, including the Texans, Vikings and Lions. There are numbers past the eye test that indicate that these plays are more than just a football version of an eephus pitch. I think NFL teams will add it to their arsenal in the coming years. On dropback passes featuring no play action since 2019, under center concepts have a higher success rate (49.3%), net yards per attempt (6.6), and EPA per play (.05) than their shotgun (45.4%, 6.3, 45.4%) and pistol (46.1%, 6.5, .02) compatriots. There are tradeoffs for operating under center, most notably with inside pressure and the lack of space (relatively) to the line of scrimmage for the quarterback (which is dangerous against modern interior defensive lineman). But as defenses have become more complex and have better access to opponent scouting and tendency data than ever, offenses have to find ways to keep them on their toes. Indicating clear run or clear pass just by where the quarterback is aligned already puts the offense behind the 8-ball. Sprinkling in a few more old dropbacks will help keep the cue stick in the offense's hands. Rule changes can have other effects on the game outside of just the plays they are intended to impact. The NFL's kickoff rule changes, which first moved the ball up to the 25 after touchbacks in 2018 and then turned into the new "dynamic kickoff" implemented last season, had ramifications on other aspects of the sport as well. NFL offenses averaged 62.2 plays per game in 2024. That was the lowest league-wide mark since 2008 and the second-lowest since 2002, when the NFL expanded to 32 teams and eight divisions. NFL offenses also averaged 10.7 drives per game in 2024, the lowest league-wide number over the same time period. Why? Well, the ball being spotted further down the field after touchbacks (which will bump even further this season to the 35-yard line following another rule change) means, just by sheer math, less yards offenses have to gain to score on a given drive. NFL teams are also going for it on fourth down more than ever, and plays per drive has gone up as well. The NFL is so situational and now that the math has changed, offenses are also adjusting how they go about situations like third and fourth down. Teams are not only going for it more on fourth down, they're getting better at it, too. NFL offenses converted 56.4% of their fourth down attempts last season, the highest league-wide conversion rate since at least 2002. They are treating third down differently, too. Particularly third-and-long situations, commonly defined as third down and seven or more yards to go. Three of the four worst league-wide conversion rates on third-and-long have happened since 2022, the same time that fourth down aggression has become more normalized. Offenses are realizing that third down no longer requires an all-or-nothing play call with a long-developing dropback pass or a shrug of the shoulder white flag screen or draw play that has a fanbase calling for their offensive coordinator's job. Instead, fourth down aggression has opened the playbook for offenses on third down. Screens are now an easy button that can put you in strike range on fourth down. Checkdowns are no longer groan-worthy, but instead a viable option that can put the offense in a better position for the next down. NFL offenses are even running the ball more frequently on third-and-long now to catch exotic, blitz-happy defenses by surprise and out of position; 10.7% of third-and-longs in 2024 featured a designed run play, the highest league-wide rate the NFL has seen since 2009, when two-high coverages and the Ravens/Rex Ryan's blitz-happy ways were in vogue. It's not a coincidence that the numbers are more similar to the late 2000s than something five years ago. It was a similar environment back then to what current NFL offenses have to deal with, after a decade of single-high defenses trying to emulate the Legion of Boom. Albeit current offenses have to deal with even more aggressive and dynamic looks and an onslaught of pass rushers on a weekly basis. NFL defenses are getting even better and better at disguising and providing window dressing on their defensive looks. And this is on top of the depth of pass rushers that every team is seemingly armed with these days. But NFL offenses have started to figure out some things on late downs. While their third-and-long rates have dropped, they have actually racked up strong overall third down conversion rates (fourth-highest since 2002), and NFL offenses recorded a 52.6% conversion rate on third-and-six or less in 2024, which was a top-five conversion rate since 2002. It's a nice indication of the current upswing in play-calling and quarterback play league-wide. (Yes, really, don't let anyone scream at you differently.) Ball carriers are also gaining more yards after contact than ever before, too. Running backs gained an average of 3.02 yards after contact per designed run attempt in 2024. That's the highest since 2006 (the furthest TruMedia's data goes back for this statistic) and the first time that number has ever cracked three yards. While yards before contact still remain relatively low (1.35 yards, fourth-lowest since 2006), which I think is a fair reflection of the talent disparity between NFL offensive lines and defensive fronts, I also think this reflects the tradeoff of size for speed that NFL defenses have undergone over the last five to 10 years. In 2024, the average playing weight among NFL defensive linemen and linebackers that played 200 or more snaps was 271.2 pounds. In 2018, that number was 272.5 pounds. In 2013, it was 276.5 pounds. NFL front seven defenders have become lighter and faster, a reaction to a more pass-heavy NFL that requires better pass rushers and coverage defenders to throw at these talented quarterbacks, pass catchers, and passing games. Defenses are going lighter as defenders' position labels start to merge. A player listed as a safety could line up in the box like a linebacker or in the slot more frequently than they do as a deep coverage player. Sub-230-pound linebackers are becoming more the norm than a curiosity. Edge defenders are asked to align inside on passing downs to attack mismatches against guards (who are becoming more skilled in their own right). But this has opened up avenues for offenses to attack. Namely, just being big up front and road grating jittery defenses with downhill gap runs. Offenses leaning into their more athletic quarterbacks and their running ability has also changed the math of how defenses have to attack, with more plays featuring a read element out of the shotgun changing the angles and forcing defenses to rally and tackle in space and swarm with numbers. NFL offenses have benefitted when defenses don't have good eyes on these plays; the NFL's 8.3% explosive run rate on early downs was the second-highest league-wide number since 2002. Another way offenses are creating more advantages is by using the classic mismatch staple: tight ends. Just as defensive body types start to merge, pass catchers, blockers and ball carriers are starting to blend as well. Big-bodied wide receivers who can't consistently win on the outside are moving inside as power slots, becoming de facto tight ends inserting as blockers at the point of attack on run plays. (Or as runners — the five highest rates of WR runs league-wide since 2002 have been over the last five seasons.) Receiving ability is a prerequisite to be a modern NFL running back. Quarterbacks run more than ever, with scramble rates rising every year (and not slowing down with the likes of Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and Bo Nix establishing themselves). Athletic tight ends that used to get squeezed off the field because of their lack of blocking ability are starting to find a role again. NFL offensive play-callers are no longer asking receiving-first tight ends to down block an oversized defensive end. They're putting players in motion to build momentum and alter angles of blocks on the defense right at the snap of the ball. RPOs allow tight ends to not even have to block, but instead run a simple route instead. Play-callers are aligning them all over the field. Offenses are moving these guys around and creating two-back and full house backfields with tight ends (and even receivers). It changes up the strength of the run and the gaps the defenders have to account for after the snap of the football. And it gives defenses even more to prepare for out of certain personnel groups. The Ravens have weaponized these looks to open up their run game menu with Lamar Jackson. But other teams are starting to use more formational variety with their skill players on other type of concepts as well. Particularly teams like the Bengals, Packers, Cardinals and Falcons. And while defenses are now more comfortable using nickel (five defensive backs) and even dime (six defensive backs) to counter multi-tight end looks and hold up against the run, offenses are also starting to find ways to use their natural size advantage. Since there are more safeties in the box and linebackers are no longer 260-pound rhinos steamrolling blockers, tight ends can now be asked to insert and lead block on the second level. That opens up the menu to feature even more two-back-type runs (think fullback-type plays), but from a more spread look. This is on top of the other plays that feature motion at the snap. Narratives about how tight ends create mismatches or how there's a new tight end wave are old hat. But there was an increase of multi-tight end personnel groupings in 2024 that matches the eye test: NFL offenses used 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) at the highest rate since 2013, which is the furthest that TruMedia's data goes back. Offenses used two or more tight ends on 7.6% of plays in 2024, the highest rate since at least 2002. Viable tight ends are always going to be hard to find because of the sheer athletic threshold for playing the position. But the ease of entry as a blocker has lowered, along with the increased athleticism and skills of a younger generation, has opened up roles for these players. There are teams, like the Rams and really the entire NFC West, that are tipping back their personnel usage to featuring more size with tight ends than the three-wide receiver meta of recent years. The Rams are seemingly 'replacing' Cooper Kupp, who often performed many tight end-esque roles in that offense, with their tight end room of Tyler Higbee, Terrance Ferguson, Colby Parkinson, and Davis Allen. With more talented tight ends entering the NFL in the recent draft, it'll be fun to see more and more teams inverting the role of their skill players.