Late night bullshit: The Pistol Offense 101

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by jd34

One of the advantages of the Pistol not yet mentioned is that the tailback starts from the same 7 yards behind the LOS that he would in a conventional I. This is a big plus because the RB has the same amount of time to look for the hole as he would in the I but the defense cannot commit to an inside run quite as quickly because if they do the QB pulls the ball out and goes outside. OTOH, if the defense stays on the edge to shut down the QB going out, the OL now has a blocking advantage in the middle of the LOS. (the blocking advantage for the interior of the OL is significant) SF did this in the second half to Atlanta in the NFCC game last year and Gore gashed the Falcons big time.

Also, the Pistol creates a lot of gaps between the numbers for receivers. With so much focus being required now with an extra RB (QB) in the backfield, the LBs have to have their head on a swivel to watch for TEs crossing or going on wheel routes up the sideline.

Alex Smith did run quite a few plays last season from the Pistol prior to his concussion and was very smooth in doing so. After all, he ran something very similar at Utah as was noted by the earlier video.

Overall, things just happen a little bit quicker from the Pistol than from the I and the offense has one more weapon to attack from the ground. So while you never want your QB taking a lot of hits while running the ball, in most cases, when he does, he is not going to be gang tackled or absorb quite so many hard hits as a RB, at least if the reads it correctly.

tl;dr smith sux thigpen rulz

[LiveSteam]

Inverted wishbone

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by LiveSteam

Inverted wishbone

sounds hot

[LiveSteam]

Originally Posted by Thig Lyfe

sounds hot

Dam your right

[Direckshun]

Thigpen also did diddly poo in the second halves of games.

His wild inaccuracy made receiving the ball impossible for just about everybody except Tony Gonzalez, and teams learned that you could easy neuter his scrambling ability by sending both of your pass rushers straight out against the edges to keep him in the pocket.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Thigpen also did diddly poo in the second halves of games.

His wild inaccuracy made receiving the ball impossible for just about everybody except Tony Gonzalez, and teams learned that you could easy neuter his scrambling ability by sending both of your pass rushers straight out against the edges to keep him in the pocket.

We would have been better off drafting two or three more Tony Gonzalezes than getting rid of Thigpen in favor of Croyle/Cassel/Palko/Orton, in retrospect.

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by patteeu

We would have been better off drafting two or three more Tony Gonzalezes than getting rid of Thigpen in favor of Croyle/Cassel/Palko/Orton, in retrospect.

Finally somebody with some sense!!!

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Thig Lyfe

Finally somebody with some sense!!!

I don't like hushpuppies, but I do like a good diamond-shaped piece of LJS fish.

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I don't like hushpuppies, but I do like a good diamond-shaped piece of LJS fish.

Diamond-shaped piece of LJS fish > actual diamond

gave my girlfriend an LJ Silvers platter and asked her to marry me... she said YES!!!

[jd34]

Another advantage that the motion of the Pistol creates is that it allows WRs to block down on LBs and even DLs that would otherwise be too big and strong to block. However, with so much attention now being focused in the backfield immediately after the snap, the slot receiver or split end/flanker can come down unnoticed and block effectively on a much bigger opponent. By taking a blind side angle on a player heading upfield, the leverage favors the player with the better angle despite being a smaller player.

A version of this that Ault/Kaepernick ran well was a fake to the RB and then a quick toss outside. This movement kept the opponent charged with sealing the perimeter tight to the LOS and allowed the receiver blocking down to give the RB room to turn the corner. Even a relatively light (210 lb) WR can neutralize a 260+ pound defender with the angle advantage. With Charles speed and the size of the Chiefs WRs, this could be a very good series to run against aggressive defenses: think Bowe clearing deep and Baldwin blocking down on Von Miller.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Thigpen also did diddly poo in the second halves of games.

His wild inaccuracy made receiving the ball impossible for just about everybody except Tony Gonzalez, and teams learned that you could easy neuter his scrambling ability by sending both of your pass rushers straight out against the edges to keep him in the pocket.

We will be a pass spread offense. The signing of Booger Daniels makes a lot of sense for this offense.

Also Sorter mentioned something I was going to mention and that's the diamond formation. Kniles Davis and Jamaal Charles are both perfect backs to be on the field when/if we go to that formation.

[Titty Meat]

McCluster should get a lot of open field looks in this offense as well

[tecumseh]

Excellent post. Best football post of the Andy Reid era. Answers alot of my questions. Leaning toward Sunday ticket after a two year hiatus. It's a bingo.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by tecumseh

Excellent post. Best football post of the Andy Reid era. Answers alot of my questions. Leaning toward Sunday ticket after a two year hiatus. It's a bingo.

Two years? That's nothing. Direckshun has gone longer than that without the touch of a woman.

[mcaj22]

i still refuse to believe Andy is going to run the pistol. He didnt when he had Vick why would he do it now.