Troy Aikman commenting on Miami's offence and makes a valid or not comparison to CFL style offences:
"A lot of credit goes to their personnel department and the way they've been able to bring in some speed. The way they motion and use those guys and get them running, in some ways it looks like a CFL offence, where they're hitting it on the fly with some really fast people and they're stretching the defence," Aikman said. "And (quarterback) Tua (Tagovailoa) is making great decisions and delivering the ball like a point guard."
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nfl/article/ai ... l-offence/
Ironically, some NFL players have called for CFL pre-snap motion which I can't understand isn't a no-brainer.
Also this is in a 3 Down Nation article including Aaron Rodgers:
“Miami’s a great example of tailoring your specific offence to exactly what you have personnel-wise. You have two of the fastest receivers in the entire league, Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, and what they’ve been doing to turn it into as close as you can to the Canadian Football League where you have guys who are getting running starts before the play,” Rodgers told The Pat McAfee Show.
“Last year, a lot of it was side-to-side. They’d start Tyreek on the left, fly him over to the right and then get him going. Now, you’re seeing Tyreek starting in like a snug position right off the tackle and then flying out to the left on the same side and running a route. It’s just ways to stress a defence with that incredible speed and start-and-stop ability that him and Jaylen have.”
https://3downnation.com/2023/09/27/aaro ... fl-scheme
Toppy Vann
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I believe the key line in your post is Miami's a great example of tailoring your specific offence to exactly what you have personnel wise. In Miami, using more of a spread style offence often makes sense. But don't forget Miami ran the football against Denver better than they passed against them. Miami rushed for 350 yards in the game.
The bigger issue for the CFL is that we have mostly been in spread offences for over two decades, no matter what type of personnel is on offence. There have been a few exceptions, such as Trestman introduced a lot of West Coast elements into his offence in Montreal and Paul LaPolice/Buck Pierce's have brought a multi-faceted offence into Winnipeg. Another exception has been McAdoo (Edmonton, Saskatchewan) and Jarious Jackson (B.C.) attempting to incorporate an RPO offence while using a spread style quarterback and offensive lineman trained in spread offences to do so - a recipe for disaster. For example, trying to make Travis Lulay, in the latter stages of a long career into a RPO quarterback, when all his college and pro experiences were in a spread offence was like trying to get a cat to guard your home.
But while there have been exceptions, what we have had since Hufnagel introduced the spread offence so successfully in Calgary in the 1990's was a copy cat league in which a style of offence has continued unabated, for the most part, no matter how stale its become and how much defenses changed to combat it. Its been a plug and play, no matter what. Very mobile quarterbacks were kept in the pocket. They were often pressured, hit, and sacked often and the injury rate was high. But as good 'ol Wally said in 2005, "That's why we have four of them!".
If I was a defensive coordinator on another CFL team, I ask myself how would I combat our offence. The answer is easy. Our Leos have the best receiving corps in the league. Vernon Adams, given time, can throw darts to those talented receivers.
Would I worry about our running attack. Not too much. Mizzell can be brought down easily and I would give him a few good gains, knowing that my defense would stop him near the line of scrimmage often, setting up second and long. I also know Mizzell is not a good blocker and has not been a great threat out of the backfield, because if you hit him with a pass in the flat, he will make four dekes, even with no one around him, giving my defense time to pursue.
I would blitz and blitz often, with an extra linebacker or defensive back and on occasion I would blitz two. I would keep changing up my blitzers often, in terms of both personnel and location of attack. While doing so, I would take away the big plays. I would force Adams to pick and pop with short pass plays. The spread is vulnerable to the blitz. One sack will kill a drive. Pressure creates turnovers. Pressure results in mistakes and interceptions.
In other words I would take away our Leo strengths.
What our Leos should be doing is self-scouting It would facilitate more tight end formations using Cottoy and both Cottoy and Mackie and it would facilitate using Mackie more often as an ace back for blocking (and the occasional run or pass) so we can throw deep (and we have a lot of players who can run excellent deeper style patterns). It would facilitate more designed rollouts and quarterback draws and screen passes.
We won't likely be playing the Edmonton Elks in a deep playoff game. It will likely be the Bombers or the Argos. You design your offence for those teams and how they will play you.
The last time we played the Bombers they ran the football up our butt, kept extra blockers in and threw deep, both for a total of 576 yards of offence and a lot of misery for our defense. Defensively, they held us to a miserable 230 yards of offence by taking away our deep ball and getting pressure on our quarterback.
The solutions to beating the Argos is not plug and play offence but rather adapting our offensive formations, strategies, and plays, not only to our strengths but also to the way the best defenses will play us.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
