West coast offense people. We use short dump off and screen passes like a running game.
"Dexter_Sinister" wrote:
Got it. West Coast offense team, short pass = run.
Zombie's been citing Bill Walsh in his posts. Lets see just what Bill Walsh did as head coach of the 49ers.
I went back to take a look at the guys who started thisthe 49ers under Bill Walsh (1979-1988, 3 SB wins), George Seifert (1989-1996), Steve Mariucci (1997-2002). Ill just use 1997 & 1998 under Mariucci, because 99 is when the rug fell out from under the 49ers, and Ill skip 1982 (the strike/scab year). The below numbers are from the regular season stats, obtained from NFL.com.
This was one of the longest successful runs by a club in NFL history. From 1981-1998 the worst record the 49ers had was 10-6. Their combined record over this period was 204-66, a .756 winning percentage. The team had Joe Montana, followed by Steve Young at QB, with Jerry Rice, Dwight Clark, etc on the receiving end. They also had good pass-catching running backs (Roger Craig, Ricky Watters, Tom Rathman, etc)
Before I get to the numbers, want to make a guess on the pass/run ratio of these West Coast Offense coaches? 80/20? 70/30? 60/40?
Nope, keep going. In fact, only TWICE during this period did the 49ers have a pass/run ratio that was 60/40 or higher. The rest of the years were all 59/41 or lower.
The 49ers combined pass/run ratio during this period was 56/44%. Bill Walshs numbers themselves were even lower: 54/46%.
So, the guys who created the West Coast offense, replacing runs with short passes, still ran the ball, on average, almost 45% of the time.
Sure, we could go empty backfield and pass it on every down, but our productivity will be less than if we mix up our offense. Im not saying we need to be a run-first team, but we have to have at least a credible semblance of a running game--a balanced offense makes the passing game better.
Season Passes Runs Pass % Wins Losses
1998..556..413..0.57.12..4
1997......432......459......0.48......13......3
1996......550......379......0.59......12......4
1995......644......345......0.65......11......5
1994......511......420......0.55......13......3
1993......524......382......0.58......10......6
1992......480......381......0.56......14......2
1991......522......357......0.59......10......6
1990......583......399......0.59......14......2
1989......483......406......0.54......14......2
1988......502......462......0.52......10......6
1987......501......463......0.52......13......2
1986......582......478......0.55......10......5
1985......550......431......0.56......10......6
1984......496......491......0.50......15......1
1983......528......449......0.54......10......6
1981......517......534......0.49......13......3
1980......597......377......0.61......6......10
1979......602......450......0.57......2......14
Totals10160..80760.56.204.66
Bill Walshs numbers:
...4875...41350.54
edit: On an interesting coincidence, the 56/44% ratio of the 49ers during this period is the exact same ratio of runs to passes the Packers have used in their 6 wins this year. In their 3 losses, the ratio is 74/26%.