The Future is Here: The NFL and the Pistol Offense

[Defensewins]

Watching Baylor running the pistol against UCLA in the Holiday Bowl on ESPN right now. RB Martin IV looks good. Big, strong, hard running RB that would look good in the burgundy and gold. Just saying.

[CultBrennan59]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

Watching Baylor running the pistol against UCLA in the Holiday Bowl on ESPN right now. RB Martin IV looks good. Big, strong, hard running RB that would look good in the burgundy and gold. Just saying.

Quiet a few good prospects from today's games; I'm gonna have to update the draft thread later. Cincy has a TE who's brother playes center for the eagles(kelce). He looks great and is gonna go late.

The pistol is used well at Baylor. Florence has kept Baylor relevant after RG3 left and the offense really hasn't skipped a beat with him in there. Wouldn't surprise me in a year or two if two pistol offensive guys (Chris Ault of Nevada and Art Briles of Baylor) were head coaching candidates for the NFL.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by The Goat

Curious how/why the pistol puts the defense back on its heels in your opinion?

In the pistol the defense sees a look that forces it to account for both an inside run, and 2 quick release passes - one to a flanked wr and one to a TE on an inside seam route. They are forced to defend the whole field from sideline to sideline and from the LOS to 6 yds deep within a second of the snap. If the qb reads it right, there is almost always a scheme advantage to the offense.

Also, defending the whole field is tiring. Think about a WR screen. from the offensive side, the qb gets the snap and releases it, the WR is in position so until he catches it there isn't a lot of energy spent, but the dline at the snap is pushing hard upfield and in a split second is turning against its grain and running across the field. MS has said that's the reason we see so many wide plays at the beginning of games, to get those dline guys running sideline to sideline.

Further, an under the center the snap that is a designed pass gives the defense a few steps to set up as the qb takes his drop, a shotgun formation allows the dline to be more aggressive towards the pass rush, because inside runs are hard from that formation.

The key to the pistol is having a qb that can quickly see the best point of attack on the presnap and at the snap reads, the article pointed out this is one of RG3s strengths that doesn't get mentioned as much.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

In the pistol the defense sees a look that forces it to account for both an inside run, and 2 quick release passes - one to a flanked wr and one to a TE on an inside seam route. They are forced to defend the whole field from sideline to sideline and from the LOS to 6 yds deep within a second of the snap. If the qb reads it right, there is almost always a scheme advantage to the offense.

Also, defending the whole field is tiring. Think about a WR screen. from the offensive side, the qb gets the snap and releases it, the WR is in position so until he catches it there isn't a lot of energy spent, but the dline at the snap is pushing hard upfield and in a split second is turning against its grain and running across the field. MS has said that's the reason we see so many wide plays at the beginning of games, to get those dline guys running sideline to sideline.

Further, an under the center the snap that is a designed pass gives the defense a few steps to set up as the qb takes his drop, a shotgun formation allows the dline to be more aggressive towards the pass rush, because inside runs are hard from that formation.

The key to the pistol is having a qb that can quickly see the best point of attack on the presnap and at the snap reads, the article pointed out this is one of RG3s strengths that doesn't get mentioned as much.

Well put CRed!

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

The future is already here: How the Pistol Offense is changing the NFL - SBNation.com

Nice read,yet I disgaree it's the future. A fad or trend yes and as most do they work...for a while .If they run up against a defense that is discipline in it's assignments you run into trouble.Go back to the 70's and you'll see a few teams tinkered with the wishbone offense but the D coordinators figured it out and it stopped.Assign a man to each player,1 take the up back another the QB and one the pitch man and just tackel them ball or no ball.
The option ,Pistol ...whatever it is ,is working becuase of pass rushers who won't play the run and aren't dissipline JPP and Ware come to mind.What makes Griffin so good is his sight and speed ,for as new as he is in the NFL he reads D's very well and can pretty much out run anyone on the field all of this makes his play play fakes more deadly.

[CRedskinsRule]

Excellent points DW

[CRedskinsRule]

Lotus has pointed it out often, but there are two separate and distinct parts to this.

The first is the formation (Pistol). I think you will see it sweep in next year, and with a nod to Cowboys Week, I can honestly say, I don't want to see it run by them this week. Murray, Witten, Bryant and Austin on the edges, and Romo directing it in pistol would be very potent against our D, even with Fletcher reading the play. But I think Garrett/Jones is to prideful to bring it in to their building, which is fine by me.

The second is a particular play (zone read). I think this will die out quickly, if it hasn't already. I don't know the specific stats but I think we maybe did it 3 times in the last 3 games. Griffin is an excellent ball handler, and decision maker, so he is good at it. But defenses are quick, and once they know where the ball is going they converge quickly so that the zone read tends to get snuffed out for minimal gain.

Basically, the pistol gives you a half second to second edge against the defense, which a qb can exploit with

• a quick pass out to the edge if the corners are creeping in
• a slant in the middle of the field if the LB's are stacking the box
• a handoff, if the lbs are dropping into coverage

That is something most offensive coordinators will love. On the other hand, the zone-read from out of the pistol uses that half second edge as an opportunity for Griffin to make a play with his natural (and amazing) speed to the corner.

The zone read playcall can't last because Griffin will slow down, and he will get hurt, the pistol formation will last, because oc's and qb's will find ways to take advantage of the defensive hesitation.

[SkinsGuru]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

Lotus has pointed it out often, but there are two separate and distinct parts to this.

The first is the formation (Pistol). I think you will see it sweep in next year, and with a nod to Cowboys Week, I can honestly say, I don't want to see it run by them this week. Murray, Witten, Bryant and Austin on the edges, and Romo directing it in pistol would be very potent against our D, even with Fletcher reading the play. But I think Garrett/Jones is to prideful to bring it in to their building, which is fine by me.

The second is a particular play (zone read). I think this will die out quickly, if it hasn't already. I don't know the specific stats but I think we maybe did it 3 times in the last 3 games. Griffin is an excellent ball handler, and decision maker, so he is good at it. But defenses are quick, and once they know where the ball is going they converge quickly so that the zone read tends to get snuffed out for minimal gain.

Basically, the pistol gives you a half second to second edge against the defense, which a qb can exploit with

• a quick pass out to the edge if the corners are creeping in
• a slant in the middle of the field if the LB's are stacking the box
• a handoff, if the lbs are dropping into coverage

That is something most offensive coordinators will love. On the other hand, the zone-read from out of the pistol uses that half second edge as an opportunity for Griffin to make a play with his natural (and amazing) speed to the corner.

The zone read playcall can't last because Griffin will slow down, and he will get hurt, the pistol formation will last, because oc's and qb's will find ways to take advantage of the defensive hesitation.

Agreed . . . this is how i look at it . . . what i don't understand is why everyone is saying the pistol formation puts a QB at further risk . . . i understand what the thinking is around the option plays and how that may add an extra risk, but the pistol formation itself would, IMO actually add a tiny bit of extra time, therefore a tiny bit of extra protection . . . isn't the pistol formation really just an i-formation or a pro-formation with the qb 3 - 4 yards deep instead of under center??

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by SkinsGuru

Agreed . . . this is how i look at it . . . what i don't understand is why everyone is saying the pistol formation puts a QB at further risk . . . i understand what the thinking is around the option plays and how that may add an extra risk, but the pistol formation itself would, IMO actually add a tiny bit of extra time, therefore a tiny bit of extra protection . . . isn't the pistol formation really just an i-formation or a pro-formation with the qb 3 - 4 yards deep instead of under center??

That's certainly one good way to look at it.

I prefer to consider the pistol as a marriage between the old single wing and the modern passing game.

[Evilgrin]

I dunno, I think they are using the right plays now, but it looks to be constantly changing also.

[The Goat]

So if QB keeps aren't central to the pistol's effectiveness and it provides an insurmountable advantage for the offense, we should absolutely see P Manning and Brady run it next season, yes?

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by The Goat

So if QB keeps aren't central to the pistol's effectiveness and it provides an insurmountable advantage for the offense, we should absolutely see P Manning and Brady run it next season, yes?

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

That's mighty intelligent if I do say...

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by The Goat

So if QB keeps aren't central to the pistol's effectiveness and it provides an insurmountable advantage for the offense, we should absolutely see P Manning and Brady run it next season, yes?

Of course not. That would stupid. Teams are built differently and thus NFL teams will always run what works best for each individual team.
Who ever said the Pistol offense provides an "insurmountable advantage"?
Are you making shit up again?

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

Of course not. That would stupid. Teams are built differently and thus NFL teams will always run what works best for each individual team.
Who ever said the Pistol offense provides an "insurmountable advantage"?
Are you making shit up again?

I'm simply asking for some substantive explanation. There's nothing you've said I hadn't already heard/read at least a dozen times.

If the pistol doesn't give the offense a tangible, reliable advantage (what I would call insurmountable), why would we use it as our base as Lotus said?

On the flip side, if it does provide that advantage why wouldn't the other super smart QBs, namely Manning and Brady, begin using it next year?