If someone doesn’t get this, it’s because they don’t want to. It’s in the stats and can be seen while watching both offenses.
Agreed. It's in the stats you would like to conveniently ignore. It's perfectly fine to have your perception of reality while "watching both offenses" but it's not reality. This is actually reality:
2023 First Half of Games: 214 rushing attempts & 291 passing attempts, or 12.6 rushes/game/half & 17.1 passes/game/half
2024 First Half of Games: 217 rushing attempts & 319 passing attempts, or 12.7 rushes/game/half & 18.7 passes/game/half
Those realities are in direct contradiction to your perception of reality:
When Dave Canales took over as offensive coordinator three years ago, he emphasized a run-heavy approach
There wasn't a run heavy approach (291 pass vs 214 runs in the first half) from Canales in 2023. You are flat out wrong. You can either eat it like a man and learn from it or continue with your false perception of reality. Your call.
@alldaway - we didn’t have a running game when we went into Seattle, but we picked their defense apart with primarily play-action passing.
Passing on early downs is a huge advantage to the offense. Getting your quarterback easy layups is key.
If someone doesn’t get this, it’s because they don’t want to
That ^^^^^ is BIGGS. He does not want to because his SOLE purpose is to flame the board, not discuss football
Here's the proof:
Agreed. It's in the stats you would like to conveniently ignore. It's perfectly fine to have your perception of reality while "watching both offenses" but it's not reality.
child-like gaslighting (ignoring stats while claiming others are ignoring stats lmao) . .. . SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT
You can either eat it like a man and learn from it or continue with your false perception of reality. Your call.
like I said . . lmao.
Robinson called the least amount of play action passes in all of the NFL last year
I think a couple people have posted and PR has opined that this was because they had two QBs who were better suited for the pistol they ran
Hard to imagine any McVay disciple CHOOSING to avoid play action, but I guess anything is possible
On Grizz, the relative success with scripted plays versus failing when unscripted kind of suggest novice play caller. Coen was not only a great play caller he was pretty great on the fly.
@alldaway - we didn’t have a running game when we went into Seattle, but we picked their defense apart with primarily play-action passing.
Passing on early downs is a huge advantage to the offense. Getting your quarterback easy layups is key.
That was Grizzard's forte with the passing game and as a third down passing specialist which along with Mayfield was the brightest game for Grizzard that season he was OC. But Grizzard learned the hard way that you need variety to make runs work as well as passes so that was where Grizzard failed down the stretch. Bowles wanted to run the ball late in the season and Grizzard tried but they failed because they were not disguising.
Robinson had a similar problem with the Falcons as he was not disguising when they would run or pass and the Falcons had the least amount of play action plays in the NFL last season. Which is why I am not sure why people compare Robinson to Coen. To me Robinson is so different from Canales, Coen and Grizzard as a player caller he is in his own category after calling plays for the past two seasons.
I think a couple people have posted and PR has opined that this was because they had two QBs who were better suited for the pistol they ran
Cousins isn't running a pistol with a gimpy knee that is why the media called Raheem out on that. And because of that reality they were forced to play Penix sooner or later because of the new offensive system wasn't tailored to Cousins strength which is play action passing.
Cousins in his prime when he was hot was a very, very good play action QB and people seem to forget that.
I think a couple people have posted and PR has opined that this was because they had two QBs who were better suited for the pistol they ran
Cousins isn't running a pistol with a gimpy knee that is why the media called Raheem out on that. And because of that reality they were forced to play Penix sooner or later because of the new offensive system wasn't tailored to Cousins strength which is play action passing.
Cousins in his prime when he was hot was a very, very good play action QB and people seem to forget that.
Buddy,
With all due respect, you were "calling out guys" on Robinson's staff from last season, who weren't even on the Falcons.
Your take on Robinson should be taken with a HEAVY grain of salt.
I think a couple people have posted and PR has opined that this was because they had two QBs who were better suited for the pistol they ran
Cousins isn't running a pistol with a gimpy knee that is why the media called Raheem out on that. And because of that reality they were forced to play Penix sooner or later because of the new offensive system wasn't tailored to Cousins strength which is play action passing.
Cousins in his prime when he was hot was a very, very good play action QB and people seem to forget that.
Buddy,
With all due respect, you were "calling out guys" on Robinson's staff from last season, who weren't even on the Falcons.
Your take on Robinson should be taken with a HEAVY grain of salt.
Cousins with a gimpy knee was in no condition to play in a pistol or play action oriented offense and the media called Raheem and Robinson out for it. Yes Raheem and Robinson were put in a tough situation however they were part of the Falcons FO that gave Cousins that big contract so they made their choice. Then, they drafted a QB who isn't known for his mobility in Penix and asked him to be a QB that he never was in Washington's collegiate offense as a Falcon Pro.
Asking QB's to do things outside of their strengths and trying to force them into an offensive system never makes sense. That is why Mayfield trying to be an accurate downfield passers last season with Grizzard forcing it did not work out. Mayfield is at his best with quick rhythm short throws like Coen gave for Mayfield and then Mayfield with play action can launch the well timed deep pass. It is still unclear why Mayfield was a better deep play action passer in Cleveland compared to his time in Tampa. But the bottom line is that Mayfield as a Bucs is short to intermediate play action passer.
Robinson must incorporate play action to disguise run plays better like Coen did and also to protect the very average sized Mayfield.
This is why Canales understands what he needs to do to protect Bryce Young and play to this strengths while trying to hide his weak spots.
Robinson called the least amount of play action passes in all of the NFL last year
I think a couple people have posted and PR has opined that this was because they had two QBs who were better suited for the pistol they ran
Hard to imagine any McVay disciple CHOOSING to avoid play action, but I guess anything is possible
On Grizz, the relative success with scripted plays versus failing when unscripted kind of suggest novice play caller. Coen was not only a great play caller he was pretty great on the fly.
Instead of guessing and making BS claims lets go directly to the source.
https://www.atlantafalcons.com/news/falcons-mailbag-pistol-formation-atlanta-offense
"What's your thought on play calls/formations at crucial moments in Week 1? Specifically, 4th & 1 in the pistol formation? 4th & 1 and you're starting 3-5 yds behind the LOS. Terrible formation for a positive result against Tampa's front in my opinion.
"Then you have a jet sweep in the red zone to Bijan when you know everyone has their eyes set on our playmaker. Play calling very questionable during high stakes, we can put blame on Koo, but we had multiple opportunities to not be in that situation."
Thanks for the question, Chet. There were a lot about this topic, so you're not alone in wanting answers.
I've watched the first play you asked about at least a dozen times by this point, and it was not a pretty one. First off, I respect the call to go for it at Tampa Bay's 47 yards line early in the second quarter with the defense playing very well. The play doesn't work, though, because your two best offensive linemen — Chris Lindstrom and Jake Matthews — did not win their blocks. They both lost them pretty decisively, in fact, and it led to the play getting blown up.
As for why they decided to go with pistol, it was a question posed to offensive coordinator Zac Robinson on Wednesday.
"The Pistol does keep you pretty balanced from a run-pass standpoint," he said. "Obviously, in the offset gun, there are tendencies to throw the football and so being able to stay completely balanced with what we're doing is what we're trying to do from a run, play-action, keeper, screen, all those things that come with it. Again, it's part of our offense. We'll pick our spots when we need to go under. But our guys feel comfortable with it. Our quarterback feels very comfortable in it knowing that's the way he operated, mostly, in Washington."
i am not even sure what point you're trying to make other than you must think that use of the pistol was his PREFERRED choice and not driven by the QBs?
This is Josh Q:
"One area where Robinson was relatively conservative was play-action, utilizing it on just 14.4% of drop backs. Keep in mind that the Falcons used a good deal of pistol formation because they had two immobile quarterbacks in veteran Kirk Cousins and 2025 first-round pick Michael Penix Jr."
This is SR:
"Robinson began the 2024 season with 36-year old Kirk Cousins, the team’s big free agent signing, as the starter. Cousins was coming off a torn Achilles tendon injury from the previous season in Minnesota and his mobility was limited."
The reason why the Falcons used so much shotgun and pistol formation was tri-fold. First, quarterback Kirk Cousins, a high-priced free agent addition in 2024, was coming off an Achilles injury the previous season and had mobility issues. Having him drop back from under center would have been more taxing on his surgically-repaired ankle."
"Second, quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the team’s first-round pick in 2024, operated out of shotgun or pistol at Washington approximately 70% of the time. Penix also lacked some mobility after suffering multiple ACL tears in college, and he wound up tearing his ACL again in 2025 in the ninth game of his second season with the Falcons."
And third, former Falcons head coach and play-caller Arthur Smith had implemented the pistol formation to run the ball out of, and Bijan Robinson, the team’s first-round pick in 2023, had a lot of success as a result.
But given the fact that Baker Mayfield is a very mobile quarterback and operates very effectively under center, expect Robinson to keep that up in 2026 and adapt to what his quarterback does well in Tampa Bay."
grain of salt, of course.
The point is that there is only one Coen in this league and that each OC has their own core aspect. Robinson's core aspect is the pistol and there are not many play action possibilities form the pistol. Play action from under center is what Mayfield thrived in and should be incorporate in the offense if you want to be able to throw on the early downs 1st and 2nd down. Or else teams are just not going to play the run if they see a pistol on 1st and 2nd down.
Robinson's core aspect is the pistol
I dont know how you come to that, but okay. We will all see soon enough.
I agree that the pistol offense is not great for the Bucs current QB
In 2022 when Mayfield is with the Rams and Robinson he is UNDER CENTER under appropriate down and distance. In fact, some of the highlights are PA passes. Shotgun when clock or d/d dictates. I dont see a pistol play, but maybe. I get that the highlights are passes, but again under center with play action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVIPRgyZ1Tg
I think when he is with the Rams it is Robinson working one on one with him to bring him up to speed and in the QB show Mayfield says that McVay did NOT shape the play calling to him, as he thought would be the case.
who knows though?