The Village Idiots

Watching all the passing in the Superbowl, especially the second half, made me feel a combination of exasperation, annoyance and dissatisfaction. What I would have preferred to see is one of the teams trying to establish the run–not because I enjoying watching the run game more than the pass game, but because I think it’s the smarter thing to do. I wanted to explore the reason for this. (I know many of you probably don’t agree with this reaction, so maybe this will help explain it.)

Introduction
Now before I go into this, let me just say that coaches may not opt for this because they feel having a strong passing game is more essential to winning and creating a team with a good passing game and strong running game (not to mention a good defense) is impossible. That may be the case. If I were a coach, I might come to the same conclusion. So this is not necessarily a criticism directed at the coaches per se–but more an explanation of why I think running the ball in a big game is so important and why I feel disappointed when I don’t see it happening.

Explanation
Here are some reasons running the ball is so important, particuarly in the second half:

1. Controlling the clock. This keeps the opponents off the field and allows your defense to rest. Limiting the amount of time your defense is on the field has always been important, but I think in recent years it’s more important. Teams are not as deep and I notice that fatigue plays a bigger role than it did in the past.
2. Defeating the opponent physically This is something that I haven’t really appreciated, but I think it’s a big reason running is so important, especially in the second half. Offenses can control the clock via the passing game (which the Saints did), but they can’t beat up the opponent. When you beat up the opponent physically, it is a huge moral victory. You break the other team’s spirit (not just defensively, but it affects the offense psychologicall, too, I think.) Once you win the physical battle, you’ve pretty much won the game.
3. Pressure on the opponent. Both controlling the clock and beating up your opponents will put a lot of pressure on the other team’s offense. When they have the ball, they will feel like they must score or do something positive, otherwise their opponents will hold the ball for a long time and beat up on their team. In a superbowl, the pressure is already significant, so this only compounds that pressure. That’s what you want to do.

Minimize the turnovers. By running the ball, you minimize the risk of turnovers. RBs are more resilient to pressure (not fumbling) than QBs (not throwing an interception). The more they throw in these pressure moments, the higher the risk of a turnover. Minimizing the passing attempts is good thing, whereas increasing the passing attempts is a bad thing for this reason.

4. Pass at opportune times. In case I’m not clear, I’m not saying teams should run almost exclusively in the second half. Indeed, there will be good passing opportunities (as well as opportunities to score), if you running game gets going. But, by not passing a lot, you minimize the risk of an interception. Perhaps more importantly, balance can be established. The defense will be kept off balance should they be agressively moving upfield or downfield? When you primarily pass, defenses are not kept off balance, and they’re much more effective. Imo, it’s a fundmental offensive principle to keep defenses off balance by not allowing to know if you’re going to run or pass. (This is reason I hate teams that eschew this principle, e.g. Gruden or Martz).

Of course, you have to be in the lead or not very far behind for this strategy to work. In situations, where the lead is significant, this strategy is not always applicable.

Closing Remarks
To me, some coaches think of an offense primarily in terms of scoring–i.e. the job of an offense is to score, and score a lot of points. To me, that’s not entirely correct or, at least, it’s too simplistic. Yes, you want your offense to score–but the way they score is just as important. Controlling the clock, destroying your opponents physically, and minizing turnovers are almost as important–particularly in big games. The running game accomplishes this, while the passing game doesn’t. This is why the running game is so important.