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There has been plenty of that to go around.

Signs of the lines

Thanks in large part to their line, the Colts rank first in the NFL in yards per play. They also compare favorably in other key categories to some offenses that have highly regarded lines.

Signs of the lines

Thanks in large part to their line, the Colts rank first in the NFL in
yards per play. They also compare favorably in other key categories to
some offenses that have highly regarded lines.

                                    Rushing   Passing   Total
                           Pass      yards     yards    yards    Yards
               Sacxks    attempts     per      per       per      per
Team           allowed   per sack    game      game     game     play

Indianapolis      6       59.3      126.9     291.2#    418.1#   7.0#
Kansas City      24       15.5      150.2     261.3     411.5    6.3
* Green Bay       5#      76.4#     125.5     281.5     407.0    6.1
Denver            7       50.6      138.8     245.6     384.5    5.9
Seattle          20       18.7      136.5     212.2     349.4    5.5
Pittsburagh      26        9.5      156.7#    158.8     315.5    5.1

Leagure best in red

* Does not include Monday night game. League best in red

Note: Best in leagure are indicated with #.

RELATED ARTICLE: Borrowing from the NBA.

Howard Mudd loves the NBA. When he was the Seahawks' offensive line coach from 1978-82, Mudd watched closely as Lenny Wilkens coached the SuperSonics to the 1979 NBA championship. Mudd was especially attentive to the way the Sonics and Dennis Johnson, in particular, played defense. At the time, hand-checking was legal in the NBA, and Mudd saw a link between the way an NBA player used his hands and an offensive lineman's technique.

And he saw a connection with the feet, too. The basketball players didn't keep their feet parallel; they angled them toward the outside.

"People who have to make adjustments and move--move laterally--don't have their feet parallel to one another," says Mudd.

This NBA-gleaned footwork--and the balance and mobility that come from it--is vital to a Mudd line's success.--K.Y.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning