Using the pass to set up the run

[PatsFaninAZ]

You hear all the time about using the running game early to open up the passing game. We've done it twice in a row now the exact opposite way, with the same result.

Two games in a row now the team has had two sustained drives of mostly runs lasting more than 10 minutes. This is a bit easier to do in the 40 second clock era than it used to be, but the bottom line is that the ability to run it down your opponent's throat in the second half when you have a lead is extremely valuable in the NFL and the hallmark of many great teams.

Both games, the holes have been wide open by that part of the game because the pass has stretched the defense.

 

[Fencer]

1. The idea that the pass can establish the run instead of the other way around is pretty accepted these days.

2. The idea that running happens to be more effective later in the game because of the different rates at which different kinds of players wear down is also pretty accepted.

3. After last season, the Pats in particular needed to prove they have a passing game.

4. (This doesn't have anything to do with "establishing the run", actually.) It probably makes more sense to script a pass-heavy series for the start of the game when you're scripting things than it does a run-heavy attack.

5. Notwithstanding the foregoing, wasn't the story in the Jets game one of the run softening them up first rather than the other way around? I was out of the country and didn't actually see it ...

 

[njpatsfan]

Nice theory, but that's not what happened.

In the Jets game, we ran Maroney 6 out of the first 7 plays.

1-10-NE 9 (10:51) 39-L.Maroney right tackle to NE 20 for 11 yards (99-B.Thomas, 26-E.Coleman).
1-10-NE 20 (10:22) 39-L.Maroney left guard to NE 24 for 4 yards (93-K.Coleman).
2-6-NE 24 (9:40) 39-L.Maroney right guard to NE 30 for 6 yards (92-S.Ellis).
1-10-NE 30 (8:56) 12-T.Brady pass short left to 83-W.Welker to NE 39 for 9 yards (54-V.Hobson).
2-1-NE 39 (8:30) 39-L.Maroney right tackle to NE 45 for 6 yards (93-K.Coleman, 63-D.Robertson).
1-10-NE 45 (7:58) 39-L.Maroney up the middle to NE 46 for 1 yard (26-E.Coleman, 92-S.Ellis).
2-9-NE 46 (7:23) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short right to 83-W.Welker to NYJ 44 for 10 yards (99-B.Thomas)

In the Chargers game, we didn't even have one running play in the first drive - hard to set up the run when you don't run it.

I think the reason that we came up passing (and no huddle) in the first possession is because:
- BB's strategy was to get some points on the board quick. Making hte Chargers play from behind is an excellent way to keep LT from getting a lot of carriers
- That's not what the Chargers were expecting (see the first possession above)
- Their weakness is their secondary
- Their excellent LB's become ordinary when they are forced to cover

The terms "using the pass to set up the run" and vice versa are too simple for the complex strategies that the better NFL offenses use.

R