0 comments Peter King Followup

Remember in his MMQB on Monday Peter King said he had written an article in Sports Illustrated about Derrick Brooks and how to defend Adrian Peterson?

I'll have a story in Sports Illustrated this week, delving into the mind of one of the game's smartest players, Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks. He let me into his study sessions before Bucs-Vikes, and his video analysis postgame last Monday. It's a cool look -- with the deconstruction of one very important play from the game -- as Brooks and the Bucs try to stop the most electric player in football.

I won't give you any real spoilers here, but I will say Brooks and the Bucs did a good job on Peterson, and when I called Peterson Wednesday to explain the Tampa Bay defensive plan for stopping him, he was pretty forthcoming.

The article focused on one play and how Derrick Brooks chased down a pass to Adrian Peterson, not a running play, on fourth-and-one in the 3rd quarter. Peter King described this as the play of the game. The Tampa Bay defensive plan to stop Peterson overall was to stay in there gaps and tackle his outside leg, which seems logical because Peterson likes to bounce it to the outside. On this one play though, the play of the game, King describes how Brooks chased down Peterson when he was going out for a pass and managed to prevent Peterson from getting the ball using a technique Brooks had learned as a veteran linebacker. That technique?

Pass interference.

Brooks grabbed Peterson's left arm a split second before he caught the ball and managed to break up the pass from there. Yes, there was a whole article about how to pass interfere correctly and also how to get away with it, by Derrick Brooks. The tip? Don't look at the ref after you have pass interfered. There are even pictures of this play to prove the pass interference. Committing penalties and getting away with them is now considered a "veteran move." This stuff goes on all the time but I am not sure we should be writing articles crediting those who get away with it.

Next week maybe we can focus on how to hold defensive players without getting caught or how Mike Vick seemed to be able to run all over the field without a holding penalty or ineligible receiver called downfield on his offensive lineman. I would like to know how the Falcons always did that.