2024 the best nfl team this year review

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(as of Dec 09, 2024 21:24:09 UTC - Details)

The definitive portrait of day-to-day life in the NFL, as told by the writer who was there.

We watch football every Sunday, but we don't really see it. By spending a year with the New York Jets, Nicholas Dawidoff explored the game in such an intimate way that he can now put you right inside the NFL. Collision Low Crossers is a story that is part Paper Lion and part Moneyball, part Friday Night Lights and part The Office. In this absorbing, funny, and vividly written narrative, he describes the Combine, the draft, the practices, the strategy meetings, all while thinking deeply about such fundamental truths and the nature of success and disappointment in a massive and stressful collective endeavor.

Most of what happens in today's NFL takes place at team facilities, walled off from fans and, until now, from writers. The New York Jets issued Dawidoff a security code, a locker, and a desk in the scouting department: for an entire year he lived with the team, from early-morning quarterback meetings to edgy late-night conversations. Dawidoff makes an emblematic NFL season come alive for fans and nonfans alike.

Most of what happens in today's NFL takes place at team facilities, walled off from fans and, until now, from writers. The New York Jets issued Dawidoff a security code, a locker, and a desk in the scouting department: for an entire year he lived with the team, from early-morning quarterback meetings to edgy late-night conversations. Dawidoff makes an emblematic NFL season come alive for fans and nonfans alike.

Dawidoff has written the book of depth and feeling that football has long deserved, one that will forever change the way people watch and think about the sport.

"Collision low crossers" is a phrase defensive coaches use for the act of making legal contact with any potential pass receiver within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Beyond five yards, "collisioning" someone becomes a penalty. The term also evokes the most fundamental elements of the game - speed, aggression, the interplay between space and time, and meticulously planned events that likely will not come to fruition.

Reviewer: C. Baker
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An Excellent Inside Look at What It is Like to Coach in the NFL
Review: This is an excellent book about what it’s like to be a coach in the National Football League. While the author was embedded with one team for the 2011 NFL season, the New York Jets, it still provides some great insights into the world of the NFL and its coaches. While there may be some nuances and differences across teams, the major themes are likely very consistent across the league.Even better, the book is extremely well written and entertaining as well. It does a great job of not only providing thematic examples of what it’s like to be a coach in the NFL, but brining the personalities of the players and coaches to life as well.The main theme of the book is just how hard coaches work and what gruesomely long hours all coaches put into their profession. This is nearly a 24 hour a day job during the start of training camp through the end of the season, and there’s not much rest in-between either. Being a coach in the NFL is a major commitment and a sacrifice for not only the coaches but their families as well. They literally live football and often wind up sleeping in the facilities. From player evaluation, game planning for the next opponent, installing the game plan during the week, dealing with player injuries and personalities, it is simply an all-consuming job. You have to really love football to adopt this lifestyle.Add to the long hours the pressure of winning is tremendous. The NFL is a win now league and losing teams generally have quick turnover of head coaches and their assistants. Winning is a tonic that brings joy, but short-lived, while losing it torturous.Another significant theme of the book is the schism between the defensive and offensive sides of the balls, even between coaches. So much goes into the offensive and defensive game plans and installing them with the players that the coaches of these squads do not interact that often. Sometimes it can even get a little heated if one unit is performing significantly better than the other, which often happens with the Jets who have a great defense but at best a mediocre offense. That tension certainly existed for the Jets to some degree, and I have heard it existing on other teams as well. It is not entirely surprising that this schism exists on teams but it is intriguing.A third theme, and I am sure this is where it probably varies more widely depending on the personality and approach of the head coach, is how much control or involved a head coach might exert on any specific aspect of game planning. The head coach is supposed to be a big picture game planner and let his coordinators do most of the intricate work on the game plan for their units. Rex, being a defensive coach, has his particularly defensive philosophy and might be more hands on there, but on the offensive side, while having a ground and pound approach, leaves more in the hands of the coordinator. Of course there are some coaches who essentially are their own offensive coordinator and call the plays. It is all a matter of what a head coach wants to take control of and what he is comfortable delegating. For the Jets, the offense did not perform so well, eventually lead to the ouster of Brian Schottenheimer, the offensive coordinator.Another theme is just tension on the team generally between players. Again, this is probably something that exists at different degrees on other teams. For example, we know there was some tension between quarterback Mark Sanchez and receiver Santonio Holmes that eventually blew up into the public sphere, which is alluded to here. And older players trying to adapt to new roles is also an underlying theme.Another interesting aspect of this book was simply reading about the personalities of the players. The intelligence and studious nature of Darrell Revis goes a long way in explaining why he is so great at his position, and the sometimes slovenly approach of an Antonio Cromartie explains why such a great athletic talent is sometimes so inconsistent. Having a serious minded winner like Revis can have a positive influence on those less inclined to be such students of the game and why they often bring not only talent but leadership and a positive example to the team as well. These types of players can be as valued by what they bring to the team off the field as by what they do on it.Much is also made of how immature Mark Sanchez is and how frustrated the coaches were with his inconsistent play and turnovers. Again, it seems like the immaturity factor has a lot to do with the sloppy, inconsistent play and underperforming on the field.Yet another major theme is the pain of losing. The rollercoaster ride of winning and losing and the difficultly of keeping coaches and players positive and not letting a string of losses knock the wheels completely off is an important function of the head coach and his staff. The Jets did not make the playoffs after the 2011 season and being used to winning that is hard to take. And it puts coaches’ jobs at jeopardy. And as we have seen since this book was written, as of 2015 all the coaches and the GMs are gone because they never turned the team back around.Finally the General Manger’s role is discussed. Tannebaum is an interesting case. Of course he is responsible for player personnel and contract negotiations but he also has to work well with his coaches and scouts and be a problem solver during the season. All GMs are going to have their own philosophy’s and style and Tannebaum tried to fit in and help where help was needed during the season while dealing with player issues and personnel as they came up.Overall I found this to be a well written and fascinating look at coaching in the NFL through the prism of the personalities and quirks of the New York Jets and recommend it to any serious NFL fan.

Reviewer: Louie
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great read for NFL fans!!
Review: Actually, I'd give this a 4.5 rating. This was an excellent insight into the relationships assistant coaches at the NFL level have with their players and each other.While "Nicky" spent most of his embedded time with the defense, he offered a few gems with regard to the other side of the ball.The author obviously became "one of the guys" to the staff and his style of writing was full of great humor and put me right in the middle of meetings, practices and games. I really enjoyed the sequence when Nicky was actually making the D calls during their last preseason game and the Jets executed a "pick six". Also, I was amazed that head coach Ryan used his last draft pick to select a buddy of Mark Sanchez--As a "fan", I am certainly aware of the time NFL coaches spend looking at, discussing and discecting tape. I was not, however, aware of the EXTENT of it! Wow! These guys have no life outside of football, and it is a commitment few of would make.I'd recommend this to any fan of the NFL, casual to serious. A great read!

Reviewer: Emily Bazelon
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: great read
Review: I read this book fast because I was completely absorbed in the world Nicky Dawidoff created and the characters who inhabit it, especially the coaches. I really don't know much about football, but I'm a big Friday Night Lights fan, and this book reminded me why. loved the organizational intimacy and the grind of it all. And wow is it a grind to be an NFL coach. For the players, there's the pain and difficulty, but also the amazing moments of lift off. Dawidoff manages to be both humane and honest about people he spent a huge amount of time with and clearly cares about.

Reviewer: Thomas
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Outstanding look behind half the curtain
Review: This is probably the best look at the EXECUTIVE level of a NFL team on the market today. It describes one of America's most interesting coaches and his interactions with the staff that works for him, the players that take the field for him, and the executive that tries to keep the whole thing moving forward.The biggest gap in the book is that the 53 players that actually make up the team are presented as fairly shallow, one dimensional caricatures. Dawidoff spends some time with superstars, such as the All-Universe cornerback Revis, and delves a bit into the lives of the players that the coaches seem most attached to, such as linebacker Bart Scott. He sprinkles in details from rookie backup McElroy, and touches on snippets of Marck Sanchez, the starting QB's background. But he never goes into what their life is like during the season, what do they do on an off week, on a long weekend, how does the short week of Sunday - Thursday affect them? All these topics would provide tremendous additional depth and information to the book.Dawidoff spends the entire season, from off-season preparation for the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, through the draft, the lockout, and the 16 games with the Jets coaching staff, primarily the defense. He does a great job chronicling how Rex Ryan motivates his team, how he arrived at being a head coach, and dives into his deepest failure. Rex is a coaching savant, and he suffers from the flaw of expecting the same from others. Repeatedly the author points out how the head coach feels betrayed when people don't live up to his expectations, despite those people not having the football analytical tools he has, or having been given any support by him to actually achieve.The outstanding running back Shonn Greene is a bit player, mentioned once or twice. The signing of Plaxico Burress after his release from prison gets attention early on, but how he links into the team, how he interacts with the volatile receiver Santonio Holmes, and what it means for him to be on the OTHER NY team after winning a Superbowl with the Giants is never discussed. Instead, the reader is treated to a full, in depth, detailed narrative of the never ending meetings, film review, profane descriptions of plays, and the mind and soul crushing pain of losing. The Jets do not make the playoffs, and the book ends with the same sort of sudden finality, building towards a crescendo of demands from the coaches, and players either no longer physically able to, or mentally willing to comply.What one is left with is an inside view behind the curtain of what life as an NFL assistant coach and coordinator is like, the challenges they face, and the impact it has on their families. This side is addressed tangentially, along with things such as race relations, homophobia, and HGH.Overall, if you are a fan of the NFL, this book is not to be missed. It deserves its 4 star rating. If it would have included more about the players, I would have easily given it 5.

Reviewer: Glenn Bass
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I have read hundreds of american football books, and this was one of my favourites. It is extremely well written, I am not a Jets fan at all, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story telling. The inside knowledge that Nick gained from spending a year alongside the coaching staff made everything that little bit more real and life like.

Reviewer: Augustus
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A very personal & insightful look into NFL football & the insatiable need of coaches to achieve perfection. A must read for any NFL fan. Speaks volumes on the fine line between being supportive of the players & the need to be clear on expectations & hold players accountable.

Reviewer: Scott Radom
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good stuff!

Reviewer: Jill Angela Slater
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Everything good !

Reviewer: Jim Herd
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A fantastic book for football guys with excellent insight. Dawidoff earlier in the book, when he gets carried away can be irritating : a worshipper of Rex Ryan to a truly sycophantic extent and also at times a bit of a pseudo - intellectual: comparing team co-ordinators with great painters at one point is tres pretentious, no? However as the writer settles into his subject and the characters and events are developed the book is compelling and unputdownable. I like that Ryan is sympathetically drawn though (he has been an easy target for ridicule) and that the author has not abused his trust and access to the Jets. Really felt sorry to be leaving my friends in the Jets when the story ended... Brilliant