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What is the deal with that running play down the middle?

smartestmaninamerica

By smartestmaninamerica
in 2005 Archives Forum

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smartestmaninamerica

smartestmaninamerica

Posted
Posted

Hi fans,

I love watching the skins and am a huge fan, but one thing frustrates me every week.

Why oh why do we LOVE that one running play to the right of the center? It NEVER works, yet I think we run that more than any other play.

I was watching the game with about 100 other Skins fans this weekend. We ran that play and it actually gained 4 yards and the whole room erupted in cheers - lol, we were all so used to it being stuffed.

Anyway, I am just wondering why a play that almost never works seems to be our favorite running play?

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regularjoe

regularjoe

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Posted
Why oh why do we LOVE that one running play to the right of the center? It NEVER works, yet I think we run that more than any other play.

QUOTE]

Not all plays are designed to take it the house on every snap. It's a low risk way of trying to gain some yardage and eat up time.

Secondly, it helps set up play action for a shot down the field. Plays are called in the context of the entire game, what has occured, and what the coaches think will happen.

Think about it.

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Captain Chaos47

Captain Chaos47

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regularjoe is right. You call certain plays to set other things up. You pound the gut in order to draw the safeties up and make the linebackers cheat. Once you do that then you open things up over the top. It's all about getting in the heads of d coordinators and showing different plays from different formations.

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MustangSteve

MustangSteve

Posted
Posted
Hi fans,

I love watching the skins and am a huge fan, but one thing frustrates me every week.

Why oh why do we LOVE that one running play to the right of the center? It NEVER works, yet I think we run that more than any other play.

I was watching the game with about 100 other Skins fans this weekend. We ran that play and it actually gained 4 yards and the whole room erupted in cheers - lol, we were all so used to it being stuffed.

Anyway, I am just wondering why a play that almost never works seems to be our favorite running play?

Thats how we got the outside sweep for a touchdown, it kept bringing the giants to pack the middle of the field in fear of portis hitting a seem. NY got use to running to the middle of the pile and Portis said have a nice day over there, I got my touchdown over here.

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fnkdctr(007)

fnkdctr(007)

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Running the gut play establishes toughness, sets up runs to the outside, eats up clock, sets up play action, tires out the opponents defensive line...etc....

c'mon if you run are best yardmaker every play I'm pretty sure sophisticated nfl defences will pick up on them. This play is one of the reasons our other plays work so well.

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HailYeah

HailYeah

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All these posters are correct. The "gut" play is one of Gibbs' favorite plays. It is absolutely essential in setting up the game plan. As our O-line has developed in between the tackles, this play has started to gain more yards. I think as we get even more physical in the box, we'll see this start to go for 6-7 yards pretty often. Portis doesn't need much. But the play doesn't have to gain that many yards to be effective, to serve its purpose.

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smartestmaninamerica

smartestmaninamerica

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Why oh why do we LOVE that one running play to the right of the center? It NEVER works, yet I think we run that more than any other play.

QUOTE]

Not all plays are designed to take it the house on every snap. It's a low risk way of trying to gain some yardage and eat up time.

Secondly, it helps set up play action for a shot down the field. Plays are called in the context of the entire game, what has occured, and what the coaches think will happen.

Think about it.

Hi RegularJoe,

I had considered that - as a setup for other plays I mean - yet we have run that at crucial times ( i recall a second and 14 after a bogus penalty when we were desperate to get in field-goal range when we ran that and it got stuffed as usual).

Anyway, it seems to be someone's favorite play. I am not saying get rid of it, however, I do believe it is overused on first down in the extreme.

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Om

Om

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Posted

Why?

Because you wear down a defense.

Because it forces the other team to bring up a safety when you keep pounding away and forcing 3rd and short consistently ... which in turn results in successful play-action on 1st down, such as in the bomb TD to Moss, and on second, such as in the halfback option from CP to Cooley. 14 points, due in large part to the fact NY was forced to bring up extra bodies. Classic play-action football.

Because over the course of a game, when your OL is relentlessly leaning on their DL all game long, come the 4th quarter you can effectively win the field position and time of possession battles, keep your own tiring D off the field, and effectively run out the clock:

1-10-WAS28 (10:38) (C.Portis right guard to WAS 36 for 11 yards

1-10-WAS36 (9:57) L.Betts left guard to WAS 43 for 7 yards

2-3-WAS43 (9:12) L.Betts left tackle to WAS 43 for no gain

3-3-WAS43 (8:32) L.Betts right guard to WAS 45 for 2 yards

4-1-WAS45 (7:48) D.Frost punts 49 yards to NYG 6

1-10-WAS28 (5:16) C.Portis right end to WAS 34 for 6 yards

2-4-WAS34 (4:31) C.Portis left end to WAS 36 for 2 yards

3-2-WAS36 (4:24) C.Portis right end to WAS 40 for 4 yards

1-10-WAS40 (3:43) L.Betts right end to WAS 41 for 1 yard

2-9-WAS41 (2:59) L.Betts left end to WAS 45 for 4 yards

3-5-WAS45 (2:14) L.Betts right tackle to NYG 45 for 10 yards

1-10-NYG45 (2:00) L.Betts right tackle to NYG 46 for -1 yards

2-11-NYG46 (1:53) L.Betts right tackle to NYG 45 for 1 yard

3-10-NYG45(1:10) L.Betts left end to NYG 43 for 2 yards

4-8-NYG43 (:23) (Punt formation) PENALTY on WAS, Delay of Game

4-13-NYG48 (:23) D.Frost punts 45 yards to NYG 3

There are other reasons, but those are the ones I'd hang my hat on. :)

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regularjoe

regularjoe

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Anyway, it seems to be someone's favorite play. I am not saying get rid of it, however, I do believe it is overused on first down in the extreme.

I think it's more a matter of showing commitment to the run.

2nd and long is no reason to give up on the run. The defense is probably going to be in a nickel or dime set, so you have more DBs on the field at the expense of LBs and linemen - not a bad idea to try an inside run to keep the defense honest.

Even if the other team stacks eight or nine in the box, that's still not a reason to give up on the inside run. If your back can get past that first level, all the support is caught up the line and he's off and running for a possible six.

It has its place in the playbook and if I were coaching, it certainly would get called a lot.

Edit for grammar.

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Jumbo

Jumbo

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Posted

Wow, what a cool thread. Shows how so many fans who post here actually know some football! One other reason you run it is to show the defense your guys aint skeert of their guys even one little dayum bit! :point2sky

:eaglesuck :eaglesuck :eaglesuck :eaglesuck

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