Quote:
Originally Posted by SkinsFan28
First, Griffin has gotten hurt both times because he didn't know how to end a play safely. Never because of the Pistol Formation, or on a zone-read play.
When the qb is determined to be a runner the defense can tee off, that is true. But Griffin, and other zone read qbs, know before the defense knows that they are not the runner, and Griffin learned quick to show that he is not a runner. That's why we didn't see him getting it a ton after his hand offs in the zone read game late in the season.
Your last statement is just a false comparison. Tebow behind center or a wildcat set lets your defense know it's not going to be a successful deep pass. A pistol formation keeps all the main characters, qb, rb, fb, te and wr, in their "natural" position, so the defense can't pre-snap tee off or dismiss one threat.
[View Full Quote]Time will tell, but as I said in the earlier post, the pistol formation was used against non-pistol opponents in about 25 games, and had a win loss ratio of 80%. I think the NFL offenses will take note of that. The wildcat never showed anywhere near that amount of promise. |
Things that aren't debatable at all:
1. Redskins likely done with read-option.
2. Pistol is just a formation twist on a shotgun; but it is not a standard lineup of players. It is a one back hybrid that uses a short shotgun.
3. QBs who run the ball take more hits than those who throw it away.
4. Each QB hit takes a toll on the QB.
5. Miami (which had no real QB) won games with the Wildcat and that popularized the formation.
Other stuff which is more theory or opinion:
1. SF played one team and looked terrible the second half of the season and that team faces the pistol every day in practice.
2. The two pistol teams who faced each other in the playoffs combined for less than 300 gross passing yards.
3. Seattle was a mere 1 of 6 in that game versus Washington once they hit the red zone.
4. DE/OLB can actually start to take away RBs and leave the QB. That forces the QB to run and thus risk LBs hitting them very hard.
5. Because the QB and HB are at the same spot for the read, the DE can actually hit both players.
Defending the Pistol:
Basically you want to play a cover 3 type defense and mix in liberal use of blitzes. The single deep back and short shotgun make getting shots on the QB fairly easy. Because of this you see very few deep patterns NORMALLY.
As we saw in game 1, Wash knew the Cowboys were preparing for a pistol and they flat out suckered them up then went deep.
BUT, the second half adjustments in that game lend itself to exactly what I mean about NFL teams getting better and better versus the formation. Even with a massive lead Washington allowed 3 sacks and only scored 10 second half points.