Read the debate intro and Babe Ruthless’ argument that a two-running back system is the right approach for a winning NFL offense.
Saying that an offensive scheme featuring two running backs is the right approach to a winning NFL offense is like saying that the Atkins Diet is the right approach to losing weight. It may bring success for some, but to say that it is the best way, or the only way, to find success is flawed logic. If the Atkins Diet was truly the right approach to losing weight, America would be a whole lot skinnier!
Strategy is very important in the NFL, but equally as important is execution. You could have the greatest strategy in the world when your team walks onto the field, but if it lacks the ability to successfully execute, the strategy is worthless.
Scheming in the NFL is one giant game of keeping up with the Joneses. The high expectations, combined with low tolerance for failure, have created a league where coaches and general managers are willing to try anything and everything if they think it might bring success. The result is a cycle of fads.
Think about the crazes of the past few seasons – the Wildcat and the resurgence of the 3-4 defense are two examples that come quickly to mind. Last season Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown lit up the New England Patriots for FIVE touchdowns, and before you knew it EVERY team in the NFL was running the Wildcat. Several seasons earlier, the Patriots found success at the hands of a 3-4 defensive scheme. What happened next? You guessed it – teams all around the league scrambled to get a 3-4 defense set up. Did that mean that those other teams saw the same success that the Dolphins or Patriots did? Of course not!
The NFL is a fluid game, constantly evolving as teams adapt and reinvent. The West Coast Offense, for example, does not carry nearly the punch that it used to. Elements of these different strategies are still present in the game and will from time to time resurface as being successful, but when that happens it is due less to the genius behind the strategy and more to do with the timing of its implementation.
While much of the credit for the success of schemes such as the Wildcat is due to a well-designed strategy, some credit must also be given simply to differentiation and the element of surprise. By catching opponents unaware it is easier to take advantage of the situation. However, once the league at-large becomes aware of the new strategy and is able to better prepare for it, much of the original effectiveness is eliminated. As teams implement versions of the creative and (sometimes) new approaches to the game, they are able to understand it more and practice with it. That practice allows a team to perfect its execution while simultaneously allowing for better preparation when facing it. In the end, each of those schemes, ultimately, lose some of their impact.
It is like a Track and Field star that uses a new training regimen to enhance their speed. It appears wildly successful at first because this star (who is the only one doing it) begins to reap the benefits of the new technique. Once that training model infiltrates the ranks of the competition, however, it is no longer a unique advantage. Instead, it becomes an everyday happening because EVERYONE is following it, and the advantage is lost.
Is that to say that a two-back offensive system is a bad idea? Not necessarily, because teams have proven that they can find success with the two-back approach. I am simply pointing out that this scheme, like all NFL schemes, may be changing the way the game is played today – but that does not mean it MUST be the approach followed in order to win in the NFL. As teams are further exposed to it, it will lose some of its efficacy. Likewise, the strategy is worthless if a team does not have the right personnel in place to execute it properly. The NFL is far more complex than simply being a matter of implementing strategy. If that were REALLY the case, the Cleveland Browns (who have tried EVERY new gimmick) might have actually won a couple Super Bowls by now.
Like fashions on the runway, trends in the NFL are ever-changing. Those things that are considered successful today may not be considered successful tomorrow. The key to a winning offense in the NFL is not about finding the hip new fad and following it. It is about implementing and executing a strategy – ANY strategy – that best suits the personnel. Just because everyone else is doing it, there is no guarantee that it is right for you!
