Ok. Back from a day-long meeting. Sorry to be absent, not trying to be dramatic or anything.
Why did I say what I’ve said? Permit me to defend it along two avenues: (1) reason; (2) hints.
---Reason---
If it is not too much trouble, may I play offensive coordinator for you?
Here’s how the thought process goes.
He begins by asking himself: “of what am I perfectly confident?”
And his response to himself? “If we have numbers at the line of scrimmage, we will run the ball with hyper-efficiency.” Of course he’d say that. Through six games, Taylor led the nation in rushing yards and yards per carry. And the offensive line is deep. So this is the surest thing he could tell himself.
Then he asks himself: “how do I get numbers at the line of scrimmage?” And the answer is: force the defense to align with two safeties in the backfield. In that alignment, the numbers at the line off scrimmage are even.
So how do you force the defense to align with two safeties in the backfield? There are several ways. But one way is to force the defense into Cover-2.
How do you do that?
Well, for a team that went out and got a QB that passed for over 3200 yards – with plenty of said yards coming on short throws – and with a RB who played WR for a time in high school, you might consider including a West Coast set of concepts.
Why? Well… for those of you who may not know, I’ll explain.
Assume you send a receiver, say, Daniel Jackson on a deep post, and further assume he is lined up alone on his side of the line of scrimmage. What ordinarily would happen? The cornerback would follow him down the field, and that side would be cleared out, with no defender at all. So a running back could enter that space on a slightly delayed release, receive a short pass, while the linebacker whom he is faster than tries to chase him down. Result? Gain of 5, 6, 7, 8 yards. There are numerous plays that work this way. This is the West Coast offense.
Now, to combat that, the defense shifts into Cover-2.
What does that mean?
It means the cornerbacks will only follow the receiver down the field a few yards, and will then release off of them, handing them over to a safety behind them. This leaves the cornerback in position to make a play on a running back following up with a short route. In order for a defense to do this, they need two safeties in the backfield – one on each side of the field (that's why it's "Cover-2"... Two safeties).
With two safeties back, the defense can’t get numbers in the box. Then they run Taylor.
Which is what the offensive coordinator wanted all along.
Which is why he went out and got Max.
---Hints---
This is why PJ said, in one particular interview, that “you can use short passes as a running game.”
This is why PJ said, in a different interview, he is aiming for “90%+ completions on short passes.”
…The plan is to utilize short passes (West Cost offense) to force the defense into Cover-2. Then, once they are in Cover-2, they will gash the defense by handing the ball off to Taylor.
You can thank me for the insight later.
Over and out.
