Who has a "modern" NFL Offense
- Thread starter Pitt79
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pittdan77
Athletic Director
nfl is a copy cat league, modern system is a buzz phrase for whatever is working now. RPO's and the new thing until everyone will do it, defenses will react and we'll go back to pro style offenses and that will be the retro-modern style that everyone will eventually emulate.
and back and forth
and back and forth
That's what I'm asking? Maybe the Steelers seem old fashioned because they play it ultra safe and overly conservative? I remember in the 90s Cowhers teams ran over 60% of the snaps and 90 to 100% with a 10 point lead. SF ran 45% and that lead the NFL- does that make them old school? What is modern, all I know is whether it's old school or modern, I just want aggression, meaning throwing downfield early and often on any down, trying to score fast, throwing in the red zone, using the middle of the field very often, especially near scoring range and not run-run-incomplete safe pass short of the sticks-punt.
throwing the ball isnt modern, that "system" has been around for decades. you just want less running, more passing. just call it what it is. lets not make it more complicated than it is.
it's not modern to throw the ball downfield, steelers were doing this in the late 70s..
Late 70s, yes, but back then, maybe 30% of the snaps. And to be honest, whether it's old or modern, I prefer one of the systems that are more pass oriented looking to throw downfield and medium very often, 10-20 yard range, use the whole field and trying to score fast and often, pass on any down, like when the D lines up there is never a down where they are sure if it's run or pass, even 1st and goal at the one, I want there to be doubt, probably run the ball somewhere around 35-40% of the time to throw the D off, pass to set up the run, pass a lot on early down, pass a lot inside the redzone, inside the 10, using the middle of the field, high risk/high reward.
I don’t think it’s so much about being a “modern offense”, but more so about playing “detailed-oriented” football. The best offenses do the little things extremely well.
Philly was really good 2 years ago because they always had a player open in the boundary in RPO for an easy 7-8 yard gain.
New England made a living picking up 7-8 yards on short post plays. When tightened up it opened it opened the top third of the field.
Philly was really good 2 years ago because they always had a player open in the boundary in RPO for an easy 7-8 yard gain.
New England made a living picking up 7-8 yards on short post plays. When tightened up it opened it opened the top third of the field.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Take this as purely an opinion but the offense wasn't overly conservative because of the speed with which it operates or the chunks of yards on any given play. It was just a poorly designed offense that was beneath what a pro team should be running.
You keep bringing up the middle of the field and no, Canada didn't call pass plays that went to the middle of the field very often. Canada hardly ever ran play action on early downs. Hell, they rarely threw on early downs with him calling plays. When they did throw, the passes were mainly directed towards the sidelines. That effectively takes a seven yard play and turns it into a twenty yard pass with a defender inside and the boundary to the outside. In short, it was just a really shitty scheme. Post-Canada, you saw play action passes on early downs which immediately opened up the offense. Made room to run and allowed for plays to develop near the hash-marks. You still had really shitty route combos and a weird inability to adjust when teams began to counter what you were doing but at least they got some of their playmakers moving in space and that resulted in some big plays. The basis of that offense was still pretty bad and it didn't take more than a few games for teams to figure out what they were doing differently and react.
The ones with good QBs and ones that can score points, neither of which apply to the Steelers. We watched Belichick adapt his offense over the years with Brady. We've seen Reid do that now with Mahomes. Others have as well. The Steelers hired a grossly unqualified Matt Canada who proved he was not ready. Anyway, modern is what works for the top teams and others try to follow. By the time everyone catches up, there's already something new.
With defenses adapting and many going smaller and faster, I think you'll see more of a shift to good running teams to take advantage of defensive personnel.
With defenses adapting and many going smaller and faster, I think you'll see more of a shift to good running teams to take advantage of defensive personnel.
Another thing that frustrates the hell out of me is how often they run the ball on 1st down in the red zone, usually they get stuffed after a yard or 2 and then run again, and suddenly it's 3rd and 7 then the FG try after the incomplete pass that was thrown short of the end zone. and if I can know it's coming that way most of the time, doesn't the opposing DC? I feel like Tomlin is petrified to throw on early downs because he's praying someone breaks a run for a TD so he doesn't have to take the horrifying risk that scares him so much.
not an analytics guy but yeah, i think running a pass, play action pass especially, on first down inside the 10 will probably be the best time to do it..
the run up the gut and getting zero yards on first and goal is beyond predictable..
I still say they live in the past, with the preponderance of 1st down runs, if you get a chance watch the original broadcast of Super Bowl X, early in the game, announcer Dandy Don Meredith says in all seriousness, "These Cowboys are river boat gamblers, they're even willing to pass the ball on first down." Tomlin has retro feelings like that, especially in the red zone 
Any team that employs an OC under the age of 40 is playing modern football. The team’s record is irrelevant.
