Am I wrong about this...
When I watch these two offenses, here's what I think I see:
1). There are fairly elaborate hoaxes going on all over the field. For instance, the QB fakes a handoff going left, quickly turns and fakes a handoff to a WR running in the opposite direction, and then turns and lets loose a pass to Kelsey, running right down the seam. That is just one example, obviously. But the point is that the D-line and LB's have no idea how to make their reads... and the DB's often don't stay disciplined. Of course, for these types of plays to work, sometimes the RB is given the ball... or the WR does run a jet sweep.
2). Although sometimes these offenses run plays that look fairly traditional, the abundance of the misdirection plays make the defenders question if they are even seeing the traditional plays correctly.
3). The QB's have FAR less to "read" in terms of coverages. By the time all of the misdirection happens, the QB turns and usually only has 1 or 2 potential targets. In other words, most of the time, it doesn't seem like the QB is left in a spot of looking at "the third option." Maybe I am seeing this wrong, but I think I am right about this. Though the offense looks complicated to the defense, from a QB perspective there is less information to process mid-play.
4). Generally speaking, my impression is that these offenses are in attack mode, causing the defense to read and react. This is entirely different than the Pats, I think. With the Pats, Brady gets up to the line and is reading the defense and reacting to what they "give" him. Brady "takes what the defense gives him." But with KC and Chicago it almost seems like they could care less what the defense wants to do. They are looking to impose their offense, leaving the defense in the reaction position.
5). KC has been running this modified kind of offense for two years now, and there are no signs that it is a fad that defenses will adjust to quickly and expose. Now the Bears are running a version of it, and it is working there. It seems to be a very QB friendly offense. Both of those young QB's look great.
6). This brings me to Winston. I am actually a fan of Winston. Ultimately, I honestly believe he has the talent to be a Big Ben type guy. But, because Winston is not hugely mobile, I am not sure he could perform well in the KC or Chicago offense. He is a traditional style QB. With traditional style QB's, it seems that a QB is either a future Hall of Famer or a bust, right? I mean, who is a middle of the road traditional style QB we would want? Think about that for a minute. Brees, Brady, Big Ben, Matt Ryan (he will likely set the all-time yardage record some day)... these are all future Hall of Famers. Would we feel great about Carr? I wouldn't. He's ok... but not elite. Anyway, the margin for error for the traditional QB is very small. So much is dependent on the QB's decision making and accuracy. Most of the time, the play itself isn't fooling anyone. And that's the dilemma with Winston. Essentially, with the style of play that his skill-set is tailored to... he will end of being one of the greats, or absolute garbage.
