Getting offensive.... again.

So the other day I went into depth about the Saints and their version of the West Coast Offense. Today I want to talk about the Colts offense. And immediately we run into a hiccup. Most offenses will fit into one of a number of definiable catergories. The fact is most offensive co-ordinators in the NFL didn't create their own system, they learnt someone elses. You work as a wide receivers coach here, a quarterbacks coach there and hey presto, you get a job as an offensive co-ordinator and start running the offense you're most familiar with. The Colts however, are a law unto themselves. They do things differently than just about every other team in the NFL and they mix in aspects of more offensive systems than you can shake a stick at. From play to play they might be throwing short passes, screens, running inside or outside zone rushing plays, going play-action and just about every other type of play in between. So let's start with the absolute basics and look at formations. Or in the Colts case, lack of formations. They sometimes can be seen lining up in a pretty standard I-formation and sometimes they'll go right to the other end of the scale and line up in an empty set, but most common is the 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR type look (though TE Dallas Clark might as well be listed as a WR). Sometimes you'll find Manning in the gun, 5 yards deep, where he can get a good look at the defense and also get some separation from the pass rush, but just as often he'll be under center, with a RB 7 yards deep behind him to facilitate better runs and better play action. One thing you don't see often from the Colts is motion. Now the lack of formations is pretty radical by NFL standards, but the lack of motion is practically unheard of. The concensus opinion in the NFL and even at the College level seems to be that motion is the best way to get mismatches etc. The Colts approach is different. The idea is that they line up in a formation, you line up to match it, then Manning reads your defense and picks a play based on the look you're giving him. This has one distinct advantage over many of the multiple formation, multiple motion teams; namely Manning always knows where his receivers are and where they're going. Because they don't move around much he can clearly see which defenders are matching up against his receivers and what technique they're using (shoulders square with the LOS and staring at the receiver usually means man coverage; shoulders and eyes facing QB = Zone). You can mess about and play games on defense, running people all over the place, providing you understand that Manning will occasionally snap the ball at the earliest opportunity in order to catch you out while you're shifting about. The sneaky beggar. The play selection process is also odd compared to the rest of the league. Usually teams give their QB a certain degree of leeway, but not a huge amount. Now to be honest, outsider knowledge of the Colts system is a bit sketchy, but it basically boils down to Manning having considerable room for adjustment, calling plays as he sees fit. He then communicates this to the other players with a series of codewords and hand signals, liberally interlaced with a number of false calls to stop the defense getting the jump on him. Often he'll call a play, line up, then change it to another play when he gets a better look at the D. Sometimes this can prove to be his own undoing though as defenses then check their coverage in order to counter his changes..... and the chessmatch goes on. As for the plays themselves, they come in all shapes and sizes. Runs (on the rare occassions when the holy Manning deems it worthy to hand the ball off to someone else) mainly come in the form of zone type plays, usually when the defense only leaves 6 men in the box to stop the run. So what do we mean when we say 'zone' runs? Essentially on a traditional run, the O-line and whoever else has been called in to block will block man to man. They each have a player who they must take on single handedly. In zone schemes, there's a little more latititude. Now the entire O-line, the TE, everyone really, is taking a lateral step as soon as the ball is snapped. The idea is to get the defensive front moving, and once moving, to find a way to create a lane up the middle of them. Linemen will usually have a responsibility to cover the man over them, and if that's a linebacker lined up off the LOS, then they often end up turning inward and helping their team mate next to them, before flowing off the block and into the second level. The RB has to be a bit more patient than normal, waiting for a hole to open, and then hitting it as soon as possible. It's often said that backs in a zone scheme get one cut then they must head upfield. One of the great things though about the Colts rushing attack is that despite being one of the worst in the league, it also seems to be the most feared. I say this because the threat of Peyton Manning is infinitely greater than the threat of Joseph Addai, and yet teams will crawl all over the Colts play action. Maybe it's the skills of Manning in the play fake, who knows. What I do know is that Manning loves turning around after a good fake and seeing safeties backpedalling in fear as they realise the mistake they've just made. If you watch closely, you can almost see a little bit of saliva dripping out of his mouth, like a Wolf waiting to pounce on a crippled sheep. And so we come to the bit people are most interested in when anyone mentions the Colts offense; The Pass. The Colts, as we know, are fond of their 3 receiver sets. Chuck in Dallas Clark and what you have is the ability to run 2 man combinations on each side of the field. What do I mean by 'combinations' you all say? Well honestly I thought that would be obvious but if you insist on asking, I shall explain. What the Colts are (usually) trying to do is set someone up. They have the two receivers on one side run their routes in such a way that usually one defender is forced into a choice. Whichever way he goes, Manning throws the opposite way. It's classic offensive passing football. And the Colts will throw the full gamut of ranges, from quick slants to deep posts, stretching the field vertically to create more room for the medium passing and zone running. And finally, we must talk screens. Not windscreens, but wide receiver screens. A favourite Manning-counter-blitz tactic is the screen. They do throw them to the backs (as the Saints did to score their first touchdown on Sunday), but more commonly they'll go wide. You throw to a receiver on the perimeter who works inside to and then with the ball, while the line rolls off the pass rush and gets down field to block. The trick is to get inside your blockers and let them blow a hole for you in the secondary. The Colts do this pretty well, though perhaps not to the same level as the Eagles (le screen-meisters). But through all this, let us not forget that Manning is the grease that makes it all go. Even in another system, one which tied him to the offensive co-ordinator, he would still succeed (I'd argue that in such a scheme he would be forced to run more and might actually do better). Manning anticipates the pass rush, anticipates the open windows downfield and then delivers with touch and accuracy in an almost unparalelled manner. He makes bad receivers look average and average receivers look good. If I had to choose the defining characteristic, it would be the anticipation. Most people watch a game and they see lots of players running about down field. Manning sees not where they are, but where they're going to end up in the next few seconds. More importantly, he sees the holes that are about to open and tucks the ball in perfectly, on time. And that, more than anything, makes the Colts offense what it is.