In praise of the Spread

I hope you all were watching the NFL Network yesterday evening. Around 6:00pm they were showing the NFL's Top 10 Innovations. I had seen the documentary last year, but this was the first time since then. I found it intensely annoying. It's not that it was a bad piece. It's not that the list was out of whack. It's not the guest commentators on the show. Rather, I was pissed at the tremendous two-faced duplicity of the many voices we hear on the NFL Network. This documentary exposed the tremendous Janus face of the commentators on the NFL Network.

Let's begin the case for conviction with the list of the top 10 innovations:

1. The Zone Blitz
2. The West Coast Offense
3. The 4-3 defense
4. The Shotgun formation
5. The 46 defense
6. The No-Huddle Offense
7. The 3-4 Defense
8. The Run-N-Shoot offense
9. The Tampa-2 defense
10. The Wildcat formation

The innovations are evenly split between offense and defense, five each. If we remove the defensive innovations, what does this list look like.

1. The West Coast Offense
2. The Shotgun
3. The No-Huddle
4. The Run-N-Shoot
5. The Wildcat

When you put them all together, what do you have? The Spread-Option offense Flordia has been running for 4 years. Tim Tebow has been the exclusive premier pilot of this scheme for the past 3 seasons. Some would say all four.

I won't have to explain that statement to anyone who knows football. A knowledgeable football fan might already know this. Other knowledgeable football fans might suddenly have the "AH-HA!" experience and put it all together for the first time. For the sake of those who do not understand, allow me to illuminate you further.

What is the key hallmark of each of these innovations?

1. The West Coast Offense: Dink-n-dunk, nickle-n-dime short passes. It is a ball-control passing attack. The emphasis is on the short pass substituting for the run. You don't run through the brick wall. You let your running backs take 4 or 5 strides, catch the ball and run with it. There is a strong tendency to script play sequences and for receivers to run adaptive routes.
2. The Shotgun: The quarterback lines up 5-7 yards behind the center and takes a long snap. This avoids the drop back, and gives the QB better immediate view of the defense.
3. The No-Huddle: The offense runs without a huddle, calling plays at the line of scrimmage, largely predicated on the defensive formations. The offense moves at double-time or faster. The defense is not allowed to make situational substitutions.
4. The Run-N-Shoot: The quarterback lines up under center most of the time with one back behind him. He has 4 WR in a balanced formation, and no TE. The receivers run flexible and adaptive routs based on what coverage they see. The notion is to stretch the defense vertically and horizontally and make them defense a 60 yard box.
5. The Wildcat: A running back lines up in the shotgun behind the center with two running backs lined up on the wings of the OL. One RB goes in motion across the field. The RB who takes the snap has the option to run the ball himself, or hand off to the motion RB, or the jet RB. This is the old single-wing formation with an option running attack.

There is just one bit of confusion that needs to be cleared up: The classic Run-N-Shoot was executed with Warren Moon under center at almost all times. The Oilers also called plays in the huddle. It became the RedGun when Jerry Glanville decided Chris Miller should line up in the shotgun most of the time, run without a huddle, and call plays at the line.

The commentators were absolutely clear that the Run-N-Shoot is still in the league. They even tagged the Patriots with running this offense. Clear associations exist with the Bengals of 1988, the Bills of the 1990s, the Patriots of today, the Colts of today, the Steelers of today, the Cardinals of yesterday, and current world champion Saints. I would tell you that all these teams are using the Spread, but they simply substitute a Tight End for 1 receiver with much greater frequency. They use the TE to chip the blind-side DE. The Florida Gators did that also.

So where is the duplicity? All of these things are labeled the NFL's Top 10 innovations. It is reasonable to say this because they are in use every Sunday by nearly every team. All of these things have become ubiquitous. They also happen to be the components out of which the Spread is assembled. The Spread is allegedly a college offense, not a legitimate pro offense, and one which causes great difficulties for young quarterbacks coming into the NFL. The Shotgun Zebra is everywhere you look in the NFL. Everybody is doing it, but because you mask it in West Coast terminology, nobody accepts the fact that this is a slightly modified Spread.

Spread kids have been using the NFL's Top 10 innovations for years! They are using the same elements of offense we see every Sunday in the NFL! They have run offenses very similar to those run by the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Cardinals, and Saints!?!?!?! These are a bunch of our recent Super Bowl teams.

Just the other day, I heard Petros and Money complaining, with respect to the overtime rules, that the NFL likes to posture itself in a highly elitist stance. They do not wish to adopt the college rules for overtime because that may bust the 3 hour window, but more importantly, they do not want to be seen as copying the innovation of the NCAA rules committee. This could potentially damage the NFL's elitist posture.

I want to tell all the voices on the NFL Network the following: You can't have it both ways. If the list above constitutes the NFL's Top 10 innovations, then Spread QBs are using your offensive innovations, and they are a lot more NFL ready than you say they are. They are using a fully-authentic NFL offensive scheme. You just don't want to admit it because of your elitist posture.

On the other hand, if the list above does not contain the NFL's Top 10 Innovations, you better shoot Steve Sabol and burn the digital masters of that documentary.

I want to throw a shout-out to Bill Devaney and Steve Spagnuolo: Why do we not adopt the modified version of the Spread that these recent Super Bowl teams are using? It allows a mobile and athletic QB to run when he has too, as in the Wildcat. It confronts the defense with 4 spread-out receivers (make one a blindside TE and let him chip). They run adaptive routes as in the West Coast and the Run-N-Shoot. You hit'em where they ain't. The QB lines up the shotgun, a formation Don Banks of Sports Illustrated can see no downside in. You can control the ball by throwing short as in the West Coast.

Mike Leach did all of this at Texas Tech. I have a good idea! How about if we fire Pat Shurmer and sign Mike Leach as our new offensive coordinator. Michael Vick and Tim Tebow will prosper under his administration. We will also score a hell of a lot more than 10.9 points per game.

I can't name 5 QBs in the league I want more than Donovan McNabb?

Today, the NFL Network broadcasted (what looked like) a all-new episode of The NFL's Top 10 show. This episode was titled The NFL's Top 10 Mobile Quarterbacks. I enjoyed it, as I always do, but this was certainly the worst of their efforts. The main problem was that the list was absolutely crazy. Certain key men named John Elway and Joe Montana did not make it on the list. A couple of men named Dan Marino and Bobby Douglas were on the list. We'll talk about that later.

I look particular umberage at a comment made by my draft super-hero, Mike Mayock. Those who read my blog know that I think the world of Mayock as a college tallent evaluator. He is my main trusted guru on the subject. However, he is a guy with biases. He is from Philly, and he covers a lot of Viking games. These two teams get special handling from him.

Now Mike has the audacity to tell me that I can't name 5 QBs in the league I would rather have than Donovan McNabb. Well, technically he is right. The number is not 5. The number is 8; maybe 9. Do I mean to tell you there are 8 or 9 quarterbacks I would rather have than Donovan McNabb? You damn betcha! Without further ado, here is my list

1. Peyton Manning
   
2. Drew Brees
3. Philip Rivers
4. Ben Rothlesburger
5. Aaron Rodgers
6. Kurt Warner
7. Tom Brady
8. Jay Cutler

Pending the outcome of Sunday's Cowboys vs Eagles game, I would probably take Tony Romo over McNabb also.

Do I mean to say that all 8 of those QBs are better than McNabb? Yep, that's right. Even Cutler? Well, he's younger and has much more unrealized potential. The first 7 on that list are clearly and distinctly better than McNabb.

Let us not forget that McNabb owns one of the worst performances in Super Bowl history. Let us not forget that demonstrated the worst 2 minute clock management skills we have ever seen. Let us not forget that he stated emphatically that he did not know regular season games could end in a tie. I have known that rule since I was frickin' 14 years of age, and I am not paid millions of dollars to know the rulebook.

The NFL's Top 10 Gunslinger QBs

So I just got done watching the Top 10 Gunslinger QBs for the second time. What did I think?

Well... as always. I found some things disconcerting and irritating. First off, there is no proper definition of what Gunslinger is. This is one of those very loose expressions (like Riverboat Gambler) which is adjectival. It just modifies a verb. It isn't a noun, even if it looks like one. It helps describe the action of a certain play where a QB goes into a high risk situation and knocks out the play.

If I followed this documentary correctly, I would have to surmise that a Gunslinger QB is all or most of the following:

1. A guy with a strong arm
2. A guy who throws it deep
3. A guy with big passing statistics
4. A guy who may or may not have a good passer rating
5. A guy who takes massive risks.
6. An Evel Knievel daredevil quarterback.
7. A guy who makes you scream "NO! NO! NO! YES!! YES!!!"
8. A guy who may or may not have some country boy nasty habits
9. A guy with a loosing record in Championship games or didn't make it to the big one.

So in essence we are talking about a second tier kind of quarterback who is exciting to watch, but has serious blemishes and negatives also. We are talking about Evel Knievel quarterbacks who risk life and limb and break their bodies and bones in dangerous stunts.

By that token, certain men like Automatic Otto Graham, Roger Staubach, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Peyton Manning don't show up on the list. These guys got winning records in the big one, and they have no significant weaknesses in their game. Great quarterbacks, one and all, but not gunslingers. These guys don't take risks.

In contrast, the #1 gunslinger of all time, Brett Farve, has a .500 record in the Super Bowl. He has very well documented defects in his game. Definitely a crazy gambler, and everybody knows it. I don't think Brett would even be interested in trying to deny it.

Conspicuously not mentioned are dudes like John Elway, Fran Tarkenton, Ken Stabler. You may eject Tarkenton and Stabler for weak arms and shorter passing skills. What about Elway? He gets ejected because he was way too damn good to be on the second tier list.

By that token, I am not to pleased to see certain men like Kurt Warner, Dan Fouts and Dan Marino on that list. Yes, Kurt is 1-2 in the Super Bowl. He also has the second highest pass efficiency rating of all time behind the one and only Steve Young. He is a high precision passer. Marino had no known weaknesses in his game. He threw some interceptions, and some costly ones, but he was far more deadly than costly. This was the exception not the rule. Dan Fouts was an almost godlike quarterback, who taught most of the modern guys how to throw the ball. He doesn't belong on the second tier. None of these guys do.

So in short, I think this is a fucked up list. I don't know anything about Slingin' Sammy Baugh outside of his legend, but if he is one of the top 5 players ever to play the game, and the greatest player of the early era, you just can't put him on the second tier of QBs. That's a fucked up thing to do to the guy.

Warren Moon is another borderline case. The Run 'N Shoot makes this very murky muddy water indeed. I had the feeling Moon could have run the West Coast and had insane efficiency numbers like 109.6 for his entire career. However, this is a maybe. He ran the Run 'N Shoot. As a consequence, he ran an offense that was a gambler and gunslinger offense. It was a system subject to occasion catastrophic breakdowns. Too many option routes. When the QB mispredicts the WR, or the WR misses a read: POW, BAM, SLAM! Massive interception for a defensive touchdown.

How might this list be corrected?

Take Marino, Fouts, Warner and Baugh off the list. Substitute Stabler, Tarkenton, Randal Cunningham and some other guy on the list. Tony Romo is a gunslinger. Put him on the list.

One very key point of note: I just about had a heart attack laughing when we got to number 1. The first report on this selection came from Miss America. That "Uuuuuummmmm!!!" she gave looked to me like she had just taken a bite of delicious chocolate ice cream or something. I just about lost my bladder there. A minute or two more and my buds would have had to call 911 and scream "He's not breathing!" I laughed so hard I had stomach cramps. I almost passed out. I couldn't get a breath of air in.

Miss America gave us a look of delight, appetite and satisfaction all at once. That is what my mom used to call a yum yum! look. Mom used to tell me I need to watch girls for the yum yum look. This is how I would know for sure... Girls just can't fake the yum yum look, said my mom. Most won't even think about trying to fake that look.

Incidentally, my brother calls this the chocolate eye. The eye expression girls have when they bite into really good chocolate.

Seeing a chocolate eye yum yum look on Miss America's face vis-a-vis Brett Farve was totally unexpected. She looked to me like she would like nothing better than to bite down on Brett Farve's ass and be dragged to death. If Brett wants to have a few more kids, he knows where to throw his balls.

Quick Blog about the NFL's Top 10 Innovations

So the NFL Network unveiled another masterpiece just last night: The NFL's top 10 innovations. For the record, those elements of the game listed as innovations are as follows:

1. The Zone Blitz
2. The West Coast Offense
3. The 4-3 defense
4. The Shotgun
5. The 46 Defense
6. The No Huddle Offense
7. The 3-4 Defense
8. The Run 'N Shoot Offense
9. The Tampa 2
10. The Wildcat Offense

So, here we have a laundry list of all the things we see on any given Sunday these days. As always I have a couple little quibbles with this ranking:

1. The 4-3 and the Tamp 2 are almost the same thing. The only minor adjustment is that you drop two DBs deep to ensure nobody gets behind you, and the MLB drops back and guards the middle zone of the field.
2. The Tamp 2 should be called the Steel Curtain defense. It was invented by Chuck Knoll. Tony Dungy learned it when he joined the Steelers in 1978. Dungy himself has always credited the Steelers & Knoll with inventing the scheme.
3. The 46 Defense is almost the same thing as the 4-3 defense. You merely adjust the lineup of the defensive linemen, and shift the Will and Sam linebackers over to one side.
4. The 46 Defense can't really be considered an innovation because it was more a crew of men in Chicago than a working scheme. It is said that Buddy Ryan was able to implement this scheme in Philly and Arizona. I deny that. The Philly defense was different in every respect. It was a 3-4 defense. The Arizona Cardinals never got that defense right at all. Ergo, you do not have an organized system of defense that is repeatable.
5. The 46 has not stood the test of time at all. Nobody plays this scheme anymore. As the documentary said, a certain dude named Joe Gibbs figured out how to block the thing. Also it did match well against the Run 'N Shoot at all. For those foolish enough to play 4 wide against the 46, touchdowns flowed quick and easy. You just needed a rugged QB who could take a hit.

Finally, I have to take serious issue with making the Zone Blitz the #1 innovation of all time. That's just one of those bizzaro things that make you ask "What the hell were they thinking?" Yes, it is a nice piece of trickeration. Yes, it is a recent innovation. Yes, it does mess with QBs big time.

No, the big Harrison play in the Super Bowl was not a Zone Blitz. James Harrison is an outside linebacker. It is not unusual for one of these guys to fake the blitz and drop back into coverage. I have seen this every year since 1979. If Harrison were a nose tackle pulling off the center of the line, and then made the big interception, that would have been the Zone Blitz. This is not what happened.

I am absolutely fucking amazed that the guys at NFL Films and the NFL Network promoted this play as the ultimate example of the Zone Blitz? What the fuck? Didn't you guys realize that this was a mistake?

Please, please, please don't try to tell me that this is the #1 innovation of all time because it won SB XLIII. You know that just isn't true. If the real motive is to get Dick LeBeau into the Hall of Fame, I am all in favor of it. Still, let's not make factually false statements to get him there.

One other comment: I really enjoyed the diagrams and the explanations. More please. More detail please. Diagram the plays for these schemes. Show us the common plays. You should have shown the people how the 49er triangle pattern works.

The NFL's Top 10 myths

As I said before I love the Top 10 series.  I usually agree with most of the list.  I may feel this guy or that thing is a bit over or under-rated, but I agree with the list as a whole.  The experts interviewed are usually frank about the controveries, so disagreements & arguments are covered well.

Never, never, never in my life have a I so vehemently diagreed with a program as I did with the Top 10 Myths.  That list was mostly bullshit.  The top two (2) so-called myths were absolute and complete bullshit.  They were controversial points on film.  The experts interviewed for the program vehemently disputed these points.  Some were for it.  Some were against it.

For the purpose of this Blog entry, I want to focus on the #1 so-called myth:  The Prevent Defense prevents you from winning.  This saying has been an axiom for years now.  Just about all NFL fans feel this way.  Most veteran defenders feel this way also.  How in fucking hell did Sabol and company managed to identify this great hueristic truth as a myth?

I want to clarify exactly why this is not a myth.  I also want to explore why this may have been a case of unqualified confusion.

What is the Prevent Defense?

The PD is a special defensive package and strategy that some head coaches and defensive coordinaters have favored through time.  When you get a big lead, say 14 to 17 points, you change your defensive formation and objectives.  

1. You rush 3 men.  

2. You drop 8 men into pass coverage

3. The 8 men in coverage play a soft-zone.

4. You make sure two of those 8 men and super-deep.  All the way back in the end-zone, perhaps.

5. You try to guard the sidelines and prevent ball carriers from getting out of bounds.

6. You never allow a deep pass.

7. You concede 6, 7 or 8 yard gains in the middle of the field.

8. You hit hard and tackle immediately.

9. You force the enemy to creep down field with the clock running

10. You inflict punishment, and try to create a turn-over.

This is the strategy of the Prevent Defense.  Conceptually, it all seems very sound.  Although it had been seen before, it was deployed massively in the aftermath of the 1978 rules changes.  Those rule changes created an offensive explosion, especially in Pittsburg, Dallas, and San Diego.  Even the Rams began to throw the ball deep in 1980 with Vince Ferragamo.  Before this we were a ground chuck offense.

In those days, teams were deathly afraid of the bomb, especially at the end of the game.  The bomb in the 4th quarter was feared because it could quickly bring you back from a sizable deficit.  Let's not forget how the Rams were defeated by the Steelers in 4th quarter of Super Bowl XIV.  Two big 60-prevent-slot-hook-and-goes to John Stallworth won the game for the Steelers.  Stallworth should have been the MVP.

Ergo, the prevent defense was praised in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a very wise, sound and conservative defensive package for the deep 4th quarter.  Typically, teams with a lead would play this package in the last 5 to 7 minutes of the game... if they had a good lead.

But history takes its turns.  A funny little thing happened in 1981 which shot the prevent defense to fucking hell, and some rationalist/anti-empircal fans and coaches still haven't noticed it to this day.  That funny little thing was called the 49er West Coast Offense.

I have found that most people don't understand the West Coast Offense at all.  It is completely misunderstood and mischaracterized by almost everyone as a high-flying and high-scoring offense.  Well... it may be efficient and high scoring (sometimes) but high-flying it ain't.  Especially not in the begining of time when Bill Walsh invented it and Joe Montana was running it.

The West Coast Offense is a piece of pure trickeration.  The objective is to fake the pass on almost every play.  Most of the time, you send two recievers deep to the endzone.  The QB looks deep.  The defense reads the QB and reacts.  The QB checks down to a running back (like Roger Craig, Tom Rathman, Edger Bennett, Dorsey Levens or Michael Westbrook).  The pass covers 4 to 8 total yards in the air.  The running back makes the catch at the line of scrimmage near the sideline.  It looks more like a latteral than a pass, even though it is a forward pass.  The running back runs through a stretched defensive field.  The back can almost always get 4 to 8 yards on such a play.  You use the short pass just like a long hand-off.  You use the short passing game just like the run.  Every play is a delayed hand off.  Every play is a draw.  Every play is a screen pass.  There were three questions to be answered by Walsh in this experiment.  Can the short pass completely replace the running attack?  Can we control the ball and march to a score consistently this way?  Can the short pass setup the long pass?

Basically, Walsh and Montana were able to answer Yes, Yes, and Maybe to those three questions.  It was a revolutionary offense for the mad-bomber era.  The 49ers controlled the ball by passing.  You couldn't sack Joe because he didn't hold the ball long.  He wanted to go short anyhow.  You didn't bother to stop the sort pass, because you wanted to prevent the bomb.  Nobody seemed to notice that Joe had no notion at all of going deep. The deep pattern was just there for deception.  25 yards was a deep pass for Joe Montana.  The 49ers beat up a defense making them run back in coverage and run forward to tackle the running back.  They kept their defense off the field too.  Everything worked.

There was another thing that nobody noticed:  The West Coast Offense utterly destroys the Prevent Defense.  The West Coast Offense is absolutely designed to take that which the Prevent Defense was absolutely designed to concede.  Therefore you put fullness against emptiness.  You telligraph a fastball to a fastball hitter.  It is like a penis penetrating a vagina.  The two were made for each other.  The Prevent Defense is pure pussy for the West Coast Offense.  The stupiest fucking thing any coach could ever attempt to do is run a Prevent Defense against the West Coast Offense for the last 7 minutes of the game.  That is enough time for 2 touchdowns.

But wait, isn't the goal to make the offense complete passes in the center of the field?  Don't we guard the sidelines?  You just fucking try it against these guys!  You just try to keep Craig and Rathman in-bounds when they catch the ball near the sidelines and know they have to get out of bounds to stop the clock.  For the Prevent theorists, life a beautiful theory, ruined by an ugly fact.  The fact of the matter is that very few teams had the sort of linebackers and corners you need to power-slam these kinds of athletes immediately in this situation (remember we're in the prevent).  The Giants and the Bears were two such teams in the 1980s.  The Cowboys were such a team in 1990s.

I don't know how many times my Rams lost to the 49ers in the 1980s when we had a lead on them with 4 or 5 minutes to go.  It happened at least 6 or 7 times.  It happened specifically because Coach John Robinson was a major advocate of the Prevent Defense (it worked at USC, didn't it?) and he loved to run it in the last 5 to 7 minutes of the game.  The Rams might be leading 19-13 with 4 minutes left.  We were willing to concede a field goal, but we didn't want to give up the 7. The 49ers were frustrated.  We bottled Joe all game long.  Then suddenly, after 56 minutes of frustration, Joe gets hot.  He completes everything he throws to Craig, Francis, Franks, Jones, and Rice.  The prevent defense concedes 4 to 8 yards every play.  With horses like Roger Craig, Tom Rathman, and Jerry Rice, they stretch that figure to 12 or 13 yards per play.  They score with 21 seconds left.  We can't comeback running the football with Eric Dickerson.  The situation was too pressure-packed for Jim Everett.  It goes down in the record books as another 2 minute drive for Joe Cool.  

Nope!  Not true!  John Robinson just served up some pure pussy to Bill Walsh.  Bill enjoyed it well.  The West Coast Offense utterly destroys the Prevent Defense.

We Ram-fans weren't the only ones victemized by this stupidity.  The 1983 Redskins almost lost the NFC championship to the 49ers in a very similar fashion.  After inflicting a defensive thumping on Montana through 3 quarters, they thought he was dead.  They went to the Prevent, and Joe got really hot.  They were lucky they profitted from some dastardly-bad calls against the 49ers.  They were lucky Rigg-o could run out the clock for them.  The Diesel won that game.  There were many, many other cases like this.

This is when the chorus began to rise from fans and coaches alike.  This is when we began to chant "The Prevent Defense only prevents you from winning." This only got louder as guys like Wyche, Holmgren, Shanahan, Green, and Gruden started coaching.  I'll tell you now:  All these guys loved it when Marty Schottenheimer ran the Prevent.  This why Marty Schottenheimer never won a single playoff game... except for the two Joe Montana QB'd for him in Kansas City.

Let's face the facts folks:  Nobody plays the West Coast as Walsh once did.  That scheme has evolved out of necessity.  The old methodology doesn't work now.  Defensive Coordinators now know they have to stop the creeping death.  They know they have to challange the short passing game.  They are certain it is leathal if left untreated.  Still, the West Coast is a part of every single one of the 32 offensive playbooks in the NFL now.  Every team has adopted the most successful aspects of this gameplan.  Almost every team uses it (at least a little) each and every Sunday.

If the DC goes to a Prevent, the enemy OC is happy to reply with the West Coast.  The West Coast dominates the Prevent.  Every single year we see several games where some stupid DC tried to go to the Prevent way to early.  In reply, the enemy OC quickly deploys the West Coast.  The result is a come-from-behind victory for the team that profitted from the stupidity of the Prevent. 

This is why we still say the Prevent Defense only prevents you from winning.  The so-called myth is not a myth, and I don't give a fuck if my favorite coach Dick Vermeil takes the other side.  I will remind you that Super Bowl XXXIV was closer than it had to be, and we weren't exactly playing a pure prevent.

There is only one situation where you should ever play the Prevent.  This is in the final 15 seconds of the game when you have a lead greater than 3 points.  Never, never, never use it any sooner than this.