The west coast offense was never that innovative. The Bengals also ran it (Walsh came from Cincy) and Ken Anderson ran it well, too, leading to that SB clash in 1981. The idea of using short passes to RBs and a quick passing attack was common NFL strategy for years.
Heck, between the QB and five linemen, there are only five offensive skill players for different combinations…and it’s always been a copycat league.
The main reason the west coast offense became legendary?
- It happened to be the popularized immediately after the NFL made major rule changes in 1979, which limited a defensive back’s physicality. Hence, passing ststs went way up for every team, leading to all those revolutionary passers like Marino, Kelly, Moon, etc. who broke all the records.
- Joe Montana, and then Jerry Rice, two of ten best players of all-time, by consensus, were the key players representing the WCO on a national level, even though many teams tried and failed to replicate it, depending on their players. Most QBs can easily throw accurate 5-10 yard passes.
- The 49ers defense was tremendously underrated by the media and was arguably as good as their offense from 1981-89.
- Walsh (and Seifert in 89) won four rings, not one. Maybe someone else dould have won one. Who knows.
One of the ironies is Paul Brown was the GM/owmer of the Bengals. Years earlier, he was “the architect” of the supposed greatest offensive system ever created. And yet, without Otto Graham, none of it worked, leading him to eventually become frustrated, clash with Art Modell, and found the Bengals. Years earlier when Brown joined the NFL in 1950, all the rage was that the T-formation was due to the genius of George Halas, but after Sid Luckman dominated the league, Halas could never get it to work again. It’s always the same story.