Originally posted by Steve
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There are two problems most of the best passing offenses have.
1). They can move the ball like crazy, but at some point, they need to impose their will on the other team. Taking what the other team gives you (us) is a fine concept until you realize that to some degree you are doing what the other team's wants you to do. If you want to be a championship team, you have to impose your will on the other team.
2). Toughness. Passing offense takes a lot of repetition to get really good at. Lots of individual patterns, lots of 7 on 7, playing against air. Then when you go to play against bodies, not only are the D (and OL) techniques bad because they don't get the reps in practice, you don't get the teamwork either. Running the football is tough because it only takes 1 mistake to blow up a play. You have to dominate the other team or it doesn't get you a lot of yards. But at some point, if you want/need that 1 yard at the goal line or on 4th down, you have to impose your will on the other team and get the tough yard.
Running the ball is sometimes about trying to keep the pass rush in check. Only morons think it is a good idea to let the pass rushers get into their sprinter's stance, explode upfield and get after the QB.
It also is handy to wear down the pass rushers, and tire their legs. Pass rushers only have so many good explosive snaps in them over the course of a game, and if they have to use them up playing the run, then those plays make it easier to protect the QB after the DL wears down.
https://www.thepowderblues.com/forum...s-peers/page25
Running still gives teams a chance to impose their will on the defense. At some point all this bullshit about taking what the defense gives you is playing the game they want you to play. No defense can stop everything, so they give you things that will hurt less and try to make some plays on their own.
And teams that don't try and run the ball and work at it never get better. It takes practice time, it takes game time and it takes patience.
In football, there is a hard end to the game. So, efficiency isn't the end all be all. Who cares if you are necessarily being efficient in the offensive or defensive or (ST) sense, it is the efficiency in the point differential, and even that is not that important. The ideal way to end a football game once you have a lead would be to average 3.4 yards per play and drive the ball down and score and eat up the clock while doing so. But none of your poorly thought-through assumptions factor in how to help the D. Keeping them off the field and the offense on is still the best way to protect a bad D and help a good or great D.
You are also dead wrong in your shared assumption with Tony Romo, which is pretty easily done, since Tony is not one of the world's great thinkers. You are ASSUMING that every time we throw that Herbert is a shot to make a 1st down. A lot of our 2nd (and some 3rd down) attempts are not throwing the ball for a 1st down. They are trying to set up a better down and distance for 3rd or 4th down. That is particularly true when we are behind schedule. Those passes aren't giving Herbert a chance. Running to keep on or ahead of schedule is a really, really good way to maintain the attack part of the passing offense. When you are ahead of schedule the WR are going downfield rather than asking our WR, who are NOT quick game specialists, to run route combinations that attack downfield.
https://www.thepowderblues.com/forum...s-peers/page26
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