Super Bowls and WCO

Reply to Super Bowls and WCO on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:03:22 GMT

JoeSixPat — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:03:22 GMT

@dawgtracker said:
I think the weather in cleveland should be a factor in the offense choice. Here is an article complaining that the west coast offense isn't the answer by itself and there are problems with the running game.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/3...pg3.html?cat=14

I really disagree with this premise. I can't tell you how many bad weather games I've been to where I knew, and the coaches knew, the players knew, and the other team knew that bad weather and unsure footing gave the pass oriented offense a signficant strategic advantage.

High winds would be the exception (but even here, a short pass is doable) but snow, rain... anything that gives the defense problems with footing when they have no idea where the ball is going or what route the receiver is running...

I think the author of this "associated content" article might be going a little overboard in assessing a particular type of west coast offense... you need the right QB and the right WR and a coach who is smart enough to know when it can work and when it needs to be modified for particular conditions or personnel - but in general a pass oriented offense isn't a bad way to go even in a bad weather city.

Reply to Super Bowls and WCO on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:04:27 GMT

kshutchins — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:04:27 GMT

I've heard that a true WCO has many nuances that few coaches understand and can implement. I also heard that George Seifert considered Marc Trestman to be one of the few people in pro football smart enough to "get" the WCO. Since he (Trestman) just signed a contract extension with Montreal, it's unlikely he'll return to the NFL this season but rumors are still out there. I was rummaging around on line to try and find out what sort of offense his Alouettes are running but I really don't know how the WCO would translate into Canadian football.

What does any of this have to do with the Browns? Nothin' at all. But I though it was mildly interesting.

Reply to Super Bowls and WCO on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:37:28 GMT

DawgTracker — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:37:28 GMT

I think the weather in cleveland should be a factor in the offense choice. Here is an article complaining that the west coast offense isn't the answer by itself and there are problems with the running game.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/3...pg3.html?cat=14

Reply to Super Bowls and WCO on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:09:46 GMT

JoeSixPat — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:09:46 GMT

@eastlakeian said:
I understand what the WCO is but I really don't know all the teams that run it. Can someone tell me which teams below used it and where is the trend going? Here is a list of the Super Bowl winner as of late.
XXIV 01/28/90 San Francisco 49ers 55–10 Denver Broncos

XXV 01/27/91 New York Giants 20–19 Buffalo Bills

XXVI 01/26/92 Washington Redskins 37–24 Buffalo Bills

XXVII 01/31/93 Dallas Cowboys 52–17 Buffalo Bills

XXVIII 01/30/94 Dallas Cowboys 30–13 Buffalo Bills

XXIX 01/29/95 San Francisco 49ers 49–26 San Diego Chargers

XXX 01/28/96 Dallas Cowboys 27–17 Pittsburgh Steelers

XXXI 01/26/97 Green Bay Packers 35–21 New England Patriots

XXXII 01/25/98 Denver Broncos 31–24 Green Bay Packers

XXXIII 01/31/99 Denver Broncos 34–19 Atlanta Falcons

XXXIV 01/30/00 St. Louis Rams 23–16 Tennessee Titans

XXXV 01/28/01 Baltimore Ravens 34–7 New York Giants

XXXVI 02/03/02 New England Patriots 20–17 St. Louis Rams

XXXVII 01/26/03 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48–21 Oakland Raiders

XXXVIII 02/01/04 New England Patriots 32–29 Carolina Panthers

XXXIX 02/06/05 New England Patriots 24–21 Philadelphia Eagles

XL 02/05/06 Pittsburgh Steelers 21–10 Seattle Seahawks

XLI 02/04/07 Indianapolis Colts 29–17 Chicago Bears

XLII 02/03/08 New York Giants 17–14 New England Patriots

XLIII 02/01/09 Pittsburgh Steelers 27–23 Arizona Cardinals

A quick review suggests that the trend is clear... most of the teams, and winners were teams oriented to use the pass to set up the rush rather than the other way around. Much in the WCO depends on personnel, but it can be more horizontal more so than vertical, especially if you don't have the best WRs or pass protection. Coaches will adapt a version of the WCO depending on what they have at their disposal. The Patriots in 2001 really only had a short pass happy attack - in 2007 it was considerably stretched vertically with Randy Moss.

But overall even if they didn't show it in every Super Bowl game themselves, Patriots, Colts, Giants, and Steelers all were able to use the pass to set up the run.

If you're questioning which teams had coaches who proclaimed themseleves to be using a "West Coast Offense" then you may be disappointed - few choose to do that and I'll bet even Holmgren shies away from using that term for his plan here.