No Huddle?

Definitely agree with you're saying about Zorn. As for Campbell, sometimes he reminds me of Arthur Rhodes.

Say what??

So back in the early 90's Arthur Rhodes was supposed to be the man for the Orioles. Big, powerful lefty starter. Can't miss. But he was mediocre year after year.

Until they put him in middle relief and he started to shine (relatively speaking). And he was asked "Why are you having success now when you were struggling as a starter"

And his answer, which I suppose was expected because I think the O's had run some psych tests on him and determined he was better suited for middle relief was (to paraphrase) "When I'm starting, I know that four out of five days I'm sitting on the bench in the dugout, thinking and worrying about my next start. As a middle reliever, there's no time to think. I can be called on at any time and I just have to go out there and pitch."

Sometimes I feel like that's what's going through Campbell's mind. When he has time to sit and go through his projections he has too much time to think. But if he has to act quickly then he's better off.

Same basic story I heard from Gus F one time, when asked about being a backup. He said if he is the starter, he doesn't sleep well the night before, as he stresses and thinks. But if he is the back up, he is relaxed, and when called on he just goes out and "does it". I doubt Campbell stresses the night before, but who knows what causes a physically gifted athlete to succeed or not.

I've worn the letters off of S H O T G U N on my keyboard the last few days because it's clear that running a higher percentage of our offense from that formation is vital to it's success. As a few people have said in this thread. Some coaches want things to be done their way and some coaches are willing to adapt to their talent. My way coaches are usually looking for work in January.I think it's obvious that Zorn *gets* the fact that shotgun is the way to go. His passing playcalling is much more gun heavy than it was at any point last year, and on top of that, when the Redskins are in the gun, Heyer goes from a young starting RT to a guy in a comfort zone who completely owns every LDE in the league (except Justin Tuck).

But you do have to go under center to run the ball, and I don't see anything that suggests that Zorn's not going to try to put the ball on the ground at least one time every three plays for the rest of the season. So the passing offense will be stuck with a very thin margin for error, which in turn, limits it's downfield ability when it's only purpose is to covert the first down to allow Portis to stay on the field.

Even a shotgun heavy offense is ineffective if the down and distance is 3rd and 9.

I'm of the opinion that that an optimal offense will pass 6 times in a row followed by 4 straight runs, patterns that aren't two runs and two passes followed by two more runs and two more passes.

I think it's obvious that Zorn *gets* the fact that shotgun is the way to go. His passing playcalling is much more gun heavy than it was at any point last year, and on top of that, when the Redskins are in the gun, Heyer goes from a young starting RT to a guy in a comfort zone who completely owns every LDE in the league (except Justin Tuck).

But you do have to go under center to run the ball, and I don't see anything that suggests that Zorn's not going to try to put the ball on the ground at least one time every three plays for the rest of the season. So the passing offense will be stuck with a very thin margin for error, which in turn, limits it's downfield ability when it's only purpose is to covert the first down to allow Portis to stay on the field.

Even a shotgun heavy offense is ineffective if the down and distance is 3rd and 9.

Yeah, I'm not advocating a return to the K-Gun offense or anything like that but less predictability. The Giants had zero fear of our passing game because we gave them no reason to unless it was an obvious passing down. I know we have to run and being under center is the most effective way to do so but I guess I'm looking for more of an emphasis on the shotgun and being creative and flexible out of it.

I think it's obvious that Zorn *gets* the fact that shotgun is the way to go. His passing playcalling is much more gun heavy than it was at any point last year, and on top of that, when the Redskins are in the gun, Heyer goes from a young starting RT to a guy in a comfort zone who completely owns every LDE in the league (except Justin Tuck).

But you do have to go under center to run the ball, and I don't see anything that suggests that Zorn's not going to try to put the ball on the ground at least one time every three plays for the rest of the season. So the passing offense will be stuck with a very thin margin for error, which in turn, limits it's downfield ability when it's only purpose is to covert the first down to allow Portis to stay on the field.

Even a shotgun heavy offense is ineffective if the down and distance is 3rd and 9.

Tripp, this is a basic question I admit, but why does the run snap have to be under center? Is it impossible to run from the shotgun? I think Jason benefits from the shotgun cuz he is able to see the field clearer, so why not move the gun up, maybe make a "snubnose" offense where he takes the snap 3 steps back and has a shortend drop. again, i don't understand the limiting factor that forces a run snap to be from under center?

The other thing is that Zorn, by all evidence, is a very smart guy who understands NFL offense like few in the league do. He's always shown a knack for understanding what defenses are going to do and stay out of catastrophic calls. But, the toughest transition for a playcaller seems to be letting go of the micromanagement aspect of the job and just letting the talent on offense decide whether your team floats or sinks.

The Redskins defense simply is not good enough at this time to compensate for an offense that micromanages every offensive play. The offense has to be able to score quickly, and the intermediate passing will come with a higher dependency on Campbell.

People around the league see a playcaller who is hesitant to trust his QB. I see a playcaller who is hesitant to trust anyone who isn't himself. The theoretical fix to this problem is easy: let the players on the field manage the game. It is easy: until the quarterback commits two turnovers. Then do you play through it? Zorn didn't. He made adjustments that went to running the ball and throwing a lot of screens in the first four possessions of the second half. The result: a 10 point halftime deficit became a 13 point deficit and all we wasted was 27 game minutes.

Tripp, this is a basic question I admit, but why does the run snap have to be under center? Is it impossible to run from the shotgun? I think Jason benefits from the shotgun cuz he is able to see the field clearer, so why not move the gun up, maybe make a "snubnose" offense where he takes the snap 3 steps back and has a shortend drop. again, i don't understand the limiting factor that forces a run snap to be from under center?Anecdotally, I don't think runs from the shotgun happen quickly enough to work over the long haul. The draw play relies on the defensive ends to take themselves out of the play, which gives a huge hole for the back to run through. But under center runs allow the back to be at full speed in the hole, while shotgun runs rely on trickery to get the back to the second level.

We're a pretty darn good draw team, but after about the third time, the ends get the point and just make the tackle.

Now, great offensive lines can block anything. If we completely dominate the defensive line, it doesn't really matter how the running back gets the ball. If your running game is played on the margin, like ours is, I think it makes all the difference.

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks

Not to bring Shanahan into this discussion, but his entire under center game consists of runs, play action passes, and screens. That's it. Everything else is run from the gun. You can use play action as a weapon to sell the running game. You don't have to dropback pass to sell the fact that the safeties should stay back when the offense is under center.

I think we need to mix it up and not be so predictable on offense. We had some poor clock managment during the Giant game late when we could not get the plays in quick enough which lead to a time out. The plus factor of the no huddle is defenses can't sub in fresh D-Lineman. So I hope we do go No Huddle more when needed. This can put pressure on the defense as long as we can keep the ball and convert 3rd downs. If we go 3 and out our defense will be on the field more.