Bob's Blog: Shotgun to the Head: Ignoring the Stats Leads to Failure

[CF74]

Desperate football? Desperate football? Passing the ball from shotgun is desperate football? This has got to be the most "old-school" crowd I've ever discussed football with.

Please, inform me, besides the GB game, and the very end of this NY game, when have we played desperate football?

And our strength is not the "power" running game. Our oline is not disciplined enough, nor are they consistent enough.

And "our game" is the passing attack. See 2007 when everyone on this board thought we were going to win the Super Bowl thanks to the passing game.

LOL!! Dude I'm only 35...

The reason why I used the term "Desperate Football" is because you said we are forced into the shotgun because the O-line doesn't protect well.

Now the reason why the O-line doesn't protect well is because they are big and slow, mainly: Flo, Dre, and Bigg. Kosier and Free are more nimble and pass protect better. Flo is deaf and he gets antsy trying to anticipate the snap count so he can get an edge on the speed rushers, Dre gives up to much pressure from the middle because his reaction time is slow, same for Bigg.

Romo makes this O-line look better than it is in pass protection because he buys time with his feet. Remember how often Bledsoe and Testaverde would get sacked and we'd lose the damn games??? Romo is the only reason why this offense works as well as it has, Garrett is riding Romo's jock.


The strength of this O-line is split now, 3 slow power guys and two finesse blockers. That's the breakdown....

 

[Yakuza Rich]

3 of those came with 19 seconds left in the half.

21 more came in the 4th quarter when we were down and needed to move the ball. And WE DID MOVE THE BALL, WITH THE SHOTGUN.

287 yards total with shotgun. 6.5 yards per play.

I agree we moved the ball in the shotgun, but Hixson's post is quite good in that we generally use the shotgun too much, particularly on 2nd down and teams are not scared by it.

This year in particular we don't run the ball well out of the shotgun. With that, we should avoid using the shotgun so much because it's obvious that we'll likely pass the ball and if we do run, well it don't matter because we're not a threat running out of the shotgun.

I don't quite agree with the mantra that the run doesn't set up the pass. It certainly *can* set up the pass and it's important to run the ball just to keep opposing defenses honest. I think the key is that running success does not equate to offensive success. It certainly can help with the passing game which equates to offensive success, but the thought that the running game never sets up the passing game is a fallacy.





YAKUZA

 

[casmith07]

The problem with shotgun is that offensive linemen are already standing up, while defensive linemen are down. Defensive linemen are already under their pads at the snap.

Additionally, snapping from under center affords you the ability to mask the run. Snapping from shotgun means draw, to whichever side the RB is not on, usually.