NFL offenses?

There is the "ale" offense.......and the "lager" offense....and the "barley hops" offense.....


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I believe it essentially comes down to whether you have a 1-back philosophy or 2-back philosophy, because the passing concepts remain very similiar as is the run game. It usually is some vague distinction based on Gilman vertical game, or Brown's short game, though most differ by philosophy alone

I don't believe thera are that many 'exclusive' concepts because the dilema remains;
1) keep it consistent
2) keep it flexible / multiple
3) be able to utilize whatever talent is on hand
4) be able to assimilate what players from other teams (now on your team) already know
5) coaches change from season to season / lack of consistency to keep anything 'unique'

The NFL guys are professionals, football is 24/7, and if a guy can't learn a scheme, almost no matter how good he is, he can be on the street. The weekly prep is intense, aided by a lot of money for technology.

So the offenses amalgamate many different concepts or schemes into one. The NFL tends to chew up true believers and turn them into agnostics. Teams do tend to base 3-4 or 4-3 but that is often more for personnel reasons.

The other issue is that, at say the HS level, it pays to run a smaller, self-contained "offense," whereas in the NFL even the best constructed offense can get countered more easily thus requiring you to have more fakes and combos and team specific plays.

The reason the "West Coast Offense" is ubiquitous is because, after the initial 1980s version, the offense defined itself more by the method of preparation and attention to detail rather than a certain set of plays or a formation. If you listen to Mumme or Leach talk they always reference Bill Walsh a lot because, whatever their philosophy for formations or passing, there are certain philosophical generalities that apply. Brian Billick talks about this in his book.

Sometimes NFL teams run a particular offense in the HS or even College sense, but the technology and scouting is so good it both diffuses the information and generates more counters. If a team beat another using mesh and shallow one week, the next week (a) their next opponent is very ready for mesh and shallow, but also (b) lots of other teams will start running more and more mesh and shallow. It's not like having an Airraid team in your conference. Plus think about the impact of boards like this one - information travels much more freely these days.

Now, there are a few constraints on how variable offenses are. Some would say it is due to lack of imagination, but I generally disagree. But NFL guys don't do wholesale wild changes, the changes are incremental. A big reason for this is that there are thirty NFL teams and thousands upon thousands of HS. There's enough HS teams that one of them started running the A-11 offense. Why would an NFL team start running that (assuming the rules allowed it) all of a sudden? Also, they pay QBs so much money and they already have a huge problem keeping them healthy, but it's also clear that it's difficult to win a super bowl (or win enough games) without good QB play.

Someone like Ted Seay will respond that things like the jet sweep don't work in the NFL not because of speed, but because they don't commit to it. I find that hard to believe - there are millions of dollars, players and coaches jobs, and as much technology and facilities as they could want. And there is nothing but time.

So the upshot to answer your question is that most NFL teams run everything you see your favorite high school and college teams, and by that I mean that most NFL teams, by themselves, run everything that ALL of your favorite teams run, putting them all together. Look at Mike Martz's Rams playbook: You will see zone running game (inside and outside zone), the major sweeps and man blocking plays, ISO, power, counter trey, and all kinds of traps to different backs and from various sets; you will see all manner of pass plays, all the major quicks, every set and motion imaginable; a robust dropback game, and an equally diverse play action game. You will find every single one of the Airraid concepts in there, from more sets, with more backside combos, with more options, and QB coaching points up and down. You will find all the main play action combos, plus some others you haven't seen as much. You will see a broad and diverse screen game, read screens, double screens, etc. You'll even find plenty of R&S derivative stuff.

I think if you study the pro books and pro films, you'll find that the easy labels that might work at some levels don't work there. The reason is simply that the pressure is to use almost everything at one's disposal.

There are no "secrets" in the NFL - coaches & players move from team to team - everything is filmed from multiple angles ( I know each team has access to every game played from 3 angles every week - side / behind / above) - everything is broken down & analyzed.

If a team is successful other teams not only copy but cherry pick players and coaches from that system. I've had several pro coaches tell me "my guys will do anything I tell them - as long as it makes them more money".

The name of the game for the player is guaranteed money - you cant tell your 50mil QB to run gun read option with 6'6 280 4.6 coming off the end and expect him to say "OK coach". You cant expect Chad Johnson to stay "happy" if they run FB Belly 6-10 times a game even if it gains 8 yds per.

The coaches Ive talked to - football schemes are the least of their problems - most of the players are genetic mutants and can do anything they want to on the football field.

Also, you have owner - front office people - pr people who are trying to sell a product. I myself would have a hard time paying several $1000 for good season tickets to watch a Wing-T belly/down/buck sweep offense and I love that offense. I want to see spectacular catches and bone crunching sacks.

IMO it has little to do with X & Os and more to do with "the business" of pro football.

...and the fear that, if you fail while doing something original, you will be fired and laughed at.

Big NFL bucks = big NFL pressure = big NFL lemmings

The teams that have innovated in the past have tended to be bottom-dwellers who felt they had little or nothing to lose. There have been exceptions to this rule, but not many -- and not recently.

I disagree, if it got 8 yards a play, they'd run it. 8 yards a play wins, and winning= money. They run the offenses they do because they are the most multiple offeneses to allow the use of the most talent at once.

TV cams really piss me off. I don't want to watch the rush- I want to watch the defense as a whole. Also, I'm interested in learning about route combinations at the moment, so I'd rather watch that then the possibility of a sack. Which, all in all, doesn't happen as often at the pro level, what with so many "dump-off" passes. Just my humble opinion.

Granted, for run plays the TV cams are decent. But when the offense is in shotgun, 5-wide, or other "obvious" passing formations could the cameramen at least watch the WRs/coverages? Is that too much to ask?

I really enjoy the behind the offense fly-by-wire camera that ESPN uses. That is a great vantage point to get a quality perspective of spacing and speed, and is a great tool to help players recognize coverage/front recognition.

If the NFL loses its cap (which looks very likely) I'd like to believe small market teams would bring much needed diversity to the game. Not being able to run with the big markets in terms of pay roll, they will have to out-scheme them. The Run and shoot would make a come back. Five wide would see even more use than it does today. And they could do it without breaking the bank. It would take a special GM and HC but it could be done.

which is why tom benson bought up the local FOX station.....to temporarily side-step the CBA by collecting ad revenue from Gulf Coast Casinos without sharing it with the rest of the league.


However, I would agree with the assessment made above that the removal of the cap would give way to circumstance, that would usher in a situation where a competitive edge is required. However, this ISN'T what Pete Rozelle envisioned. 32 (equal division / conference) teams with an equal shot at winning makes good business sense for the LEAGUE.

I don't watch the nfl for the x and o's. I watch it more as a fan to just see amazing athletes do amazing things.

I watch high school and college for ideas on x and o's. The larger talent gaps in high school and college force some divergent thinking. These same talent gaps are what we have to deal with as HS coaches on a team by team basis and a position by position basis.