The Future is Here: The NFL and the Pistol Offense

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by The Goat

Again, nobody has debated whether you can use the pistol without the QB ever keeping the ball. The debate is whether it can be effective without the QB ever keeping the ball. Looking at the data, successful use of the pistol formation thus far is limited to offenses where the QB indeed keeps the ball X number of times in a game, you cannot possibly believe the debate is settled.

I think maybe where you got confused (starting in another thread) is when I compared the initial success of the Wildcat, as something new defenses had to adjust for, to the emergence of the pistol as something new defenses have to adjust for? My post was probably lazy and resulted in your confusion.

We've run the pistol in games were Griffin only kept the ball once or twice. Because he is RGIII, and he is a THREAT to run at any time, defenses have to respect that threat and, therefore, the pistol will work. The reason you'll never see guys like Peyton Manning run the pistol is because there is no point in doing it. Manning is terribly immobile. He's not a THREAT to run, so defense dont have to respect that threat.

The pistol will always be effective as long as the quarterback is a THREAT to run.