Conference Championship weekend (NFL)

For those of you who watch the National Football League playoffs, you are aware that Conference Championship weekend is behind us and in the books.  I will resist the temptation to comment on the outcomes themselves.  Nevertheless, this is the cream of the crop we see on the field for any given NFL game.  Anybody who has grown up in the United States knows just how huge American Football is in high schools.  I reckon it would be particularly huge in places like the South and the Midwest.  Imagine how many thousands of boys play football and make their way through their respective high school teams.  Each year thousands upon thousands of football players graduate and just about every one is replaced by a crop of new faces every year.  Now consider that the NFL probably has only about 1500 players on active rosters.  To skew it even further, this particular weekend generally involves the teams most heavily loaded with talent, as if the NFL isn't already heavily skewed with extreme talent.

But this talent still comes in many forms.  Defensive coaches constantly move players around according to what kind of play they anticipate their opponent to run.  Who covers which receiver?  Who covers the tight ends?  Do we drop linebackers into coverage?  Do we bring the secondary forward toward the line of scrimmage?  Do we play zone or man?  Do we play inside/underneath on an anticipated pass play to severely limit yardage (while risking giving up a big play) or do we play over the top to prevent the big play (while potentially giving up a first down on shorter yardage plays).  Offensive coaches try to run or change where they put players based upon where they are on the field, how they're doing on downs, and on yardage remaining for the next first down, as well as certain formations they either are seeing or have been seeing from the opposing defense.  In other words, in spite of them all being the elite amongst the elite, different players could have very different characteristics.  Different strengths, different specialties, different roles.  But those on the same team are all working toward one common goal - the championship.

1 Corinthians 12: 4-11