Good-bye West Coast offense.

[Peerless]

West Coast offense taking a hike

Everything about the Broncos will change on one side of the ball.

There will be a new system. There will be new terminology.

The Broncos' defense transforming from a 4-3 system to a 3-4? Nope. Well, maybe, but more assuredly, the Broncos are about to rewrite their offensive playbook.

Say goodbye to the West Coast offense, versions of which Mike Shanahan directed for the past 14 years. New head coach Josh McDaniels is bringing the New England Patriots' offense to Denver.

Study up, Jay Cutler.

"Our system is very unique," McDaniels said in a phone interview Wednesday. "There are not a lot of branches off a tree that uses this system."

The system? Watch the Patriots' offensive plays develop from a stadium's upper level and it looks like they're running the basketball version of a fast-break, three-man weave. Receivers are bunched, receivers are spread, but receivers are constantly running patterns off each other.

The Boston media dubbed it the "Amoeba Offense" for its ability to adapt to its own personnel, or adjust to a defense. And, indeed, against the Broncos in Week 7, journeyman tailback Sammy Morris rushed for 138 yards. By halftime.

"The unique part about that is I know a lot of people associate what we did in New England with the passing game, but we were sixth in the league in rushing this year," McDaniels said. "It's the unknown or missing piece that not many people know about or talk about. It's not the same each week. It won't be the same. It doesn't fall into a specific category like the West Coast."

Former Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe played seven seasons in Shanahan's West Coast system and he's become familiar with the Patriots' offense through his work as an NFL analyst for CBS. The New England system hasn't necessarily kept its tight ends busy catching passes — as Broncos tight ends Daniel Graham, a former Patriot, and Tony Scheffler surely have noted.

"It shouldn't be very difficult, because they have similar pieces," Sharpe said. "I think Eddie Royal can be every bit as good as Wes Welker. I think Brandon Marshall — I don't know if he can be as good as Randy Moss because Randy Moss is pretty special. But they've got two bookend tackles. You've got Jay Cutler, who's a franchise quarterback. He turns the ball over a little too much right now for my fancy. You can get a running back."

The New England system was a major reason Mike McCoy, and not Jeremy Bates, was selected to work directly with Cutler in 2009 as the Broncos' new offensive coordinator. Speaking while still in shock over Shanahan's firing, Cutler strongly urged the Broncos to keep Bates as his quarterbacks coach.

Was McDaniels' discomfort with that quarterback-coach relationship the reason Bates was not retained?

"That didn't have anything to do with it," McDaniels said. "It was a situation where I felt like the best thing for the Broncos going forward was putting the staff together the way that I did. I'll spend significant time with Jay. Our relationship will be very important."

McCoy is familiar with New England's offense, while Bates, who landed quite well as USC's offensive coordinator, is embedded in the West Coast offense. McCoy had been quarterbacks coach of the Carolina Panthers, who have run New England's offense since they hired Jeff Davidson as offensive coordinator in 2007. Davidson was a Patriots offensive assistant from 1997-2004.

It's a system that helped Tom Brady, a former sixth-round draft pick, pass Peyton Manning as the NFL's undisputed No. 1 quarterback in 2007. It's a system that transformed Matt Cassel from a backup college quarterback to the NFL's eighth-ranked passer in 2008.

If the offensive system is good enough for Brady and Cassel, it should be good enough for Cutler.

"That will all play out in time," McDaniels said. "I'm not worried about that. I think everyone will love playing in this system. It's been very, very successful and it takes good players to make it go. And it starts with Jay." http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_11576892

The Broncos offense was pretty darn good last year with the West Coast. We put up a TON of yards, but not the numbers.

Hopefully this new offense will put up some more POINTS up on the board.

[TheRealMoose]

Great post. CP to ya.

Thanks for sharing this. I really hope Cutler comes around and sees that this guy has had great success with this system, even with an inferior (cassel) player at the position.:cutler:

[rst08tierney]

Its strange they thought we still ran west coast last year. It was more of a hybrid spread system. West Coast is RUN first pass second off the boot

Jakes years were prime examples of smash mouth west coast.

[Peerless]

Its strange they thought we still ran west coast last year. It was more of a hybrid spread system. West Coast is RUN first pass second off the boot

Jakes years were prime examples of smash mouth west coast.

True. I can hardly remember running any boot legs at all last year...


It just goes to show you that if you're running game isn't there, neither will the boot game be either.


It would have been a sorry show trying to watch Plummer play in the same offense/situation that Cutler played in last season...:eek:

[SBboundBRONCOS]

Its strange they thought we still ran west coast last year. It was more of a hybrid spread system. West Coast is RUN first pass second off the boot

Jakes years were prime examples of smash mouth west coast.

umm not really at all

"The popular term "West Coast Offense" is more of a philosophy and an approach to the game than it is a set of plays or formations. Traditional offensive thinking argues that a team must establish its running game first, which will draw the defense in and open up vertical passing lanes downfield (i.e., passing lanes that run perpendicular to the line of scrimmage).

Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, however, differs from traditional offense by instead emphasizing a short, horizontal passing attack to help stretch the defense out, thus opening up running lanes. The West Coast Offense as implemented under Walsh features precisely run pass patterns by the receivers that make up about 65% to 80% of the offensive scheme. With the defense stretched out, the offense is then free to focus the remaining plays on longer throws (more than 14 yards) and mid to long yard rushes."

[AC1]

umm not really at all

"The popular term "West Coast Offense" is more of a philosophy and an approach to the game than it is a set of plays or formations. Traditional offensive thinking argues that a team must establish its running game first, which will draw the defense in and open up vertical passing lanes downfield (i.e., passing lanes that run perpendicular to the line of scrimmage).

Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, however, differs from traditional offense by instead emphasizing a short, horizontal passing attack to help stretch the defense out, thus opening up running lanes. The West Coast Offense as implemented under Walsh features precisely run pass patterns by the receivers that make up about 65% to 80% of the offensive scheme. With the defense stretched out, the offense is then free to focus the remaining plays on longer throws (more than 14 yards) and mid to long yard rushes."

That's the description of the WCO that I've seen too. I'm constantly surprised that Shanahan's offense is described as the WCO just because he coached in San Francisco for a few years. Philadelphia, Seattle and Green Bay are much better examples of the WCO.

My understanding is that throughout the Shanahan era, the only constant was the ZBS run scheme. The passing scheme varied depending upon the QB. We used a complex, pocket-based short-yardage passing scheme with Griese (the closest thing to the WCO); a pared-down, play-action and bootleg variant (that had more deep and intermediate throws than a typical WCO) with Plummer. Cutler's first full year starting (2007) seemed like a hybrid of the Griese-Plummer attacks and last year we used the a spread-based passing attack to take advantage of his superior ability.

So the West Coast offense, which was less than 50% of our offense for maybe 4 of the last ten years and was barely used at all last year, is being dumped? Its response - "I didn't realize we were going out".

[getlynched47]

The Broncos offense was pretty darn good last year with the West Coast. We put up a TON of yards, but not the numbers.

Hopefully this new offense will put up some more POINTS up on the board.

is 40+ points each game enough for you? :laugh:

[Ravage!!!]

we were putting points on the board the first half of the season... until the running game went shot. I don't know why people forget.. but our redzone offense was not bad at all in the first half of the season.

When you put your QB in a position to have to throw the ball 600 times a season, the defense isn't looking for anything OTHER than the pass. That makes it a LOT LOT easier on the defense.

[Ravage!!!]

also.. we ran a lot of boot leg last year.

[Roddoliver]

is 40+ points each game enough for you? :laugh:

No, we would still lose by 12.

[silkamilkamonic]

Denver ran more snaps out of shotgun last year than any team in the NFL, including New Englands spread.

Cutler prefers the shotgun.

This offense is really tailor made for Cutler's abilities. I think we're going to need more receivers though.

[lvbronx]

Steve Young had an interesting definition of the West Coast O.

Picture a QB bouncing on his feet in the pocket. Young said each bounce was timed for a different receiver to be open. For example, On his first bounce, he looks for Rice, second bounce Taylor, etc.

The patterns were designed so that the receivers were to come open at different times, in a certain progression.

I've never heard anyone else say this, but it makes a ton of sense.

[hilife]

Its strange they thought we still ran west coast last year. It was more of a hybrid spread system. West Coast is RUN first pass second off the boot

Jakes years were prime examples of smash mouth west coast.

??? I'm pretty sure the really west coast offense is short pass plays and crossing routes to hide the fact that the team has a bad running game. The short pass was suppose to suppliment the running game. I believe that's how Bill Walsh did it in SF.

[hilife]

Steve Young had an interesting definition of the West Coast O.

Picture a QB bouncing on his feet in the pocket. Young said each bounce was timed for a different receiver to be open. For example, On his first bounce, he looks for Rice, second bounce Taylor, etc.

The patterns were designed so that the receivers were to come open at different times, in a certain progression.

I've never heard anyone else say this, but it makes a ton of sense.

That's actually really interesting.:smash: I just noticed this.

[RocketArm006]

Meh.....I'm not so concerned about the "label" that will be put on the offense.
As long as it is effective, but we won't know 'till we see it.

[BRONCOS_OWN_U16]

is 40+ points each game enough for you? :laugh:

only if we hold the other team to 39 points and under!

[UberBroncoMan]

Meh.....I'm not so concerned about the "label" that will be put on the offense.
As long as it is effective, but we won't know 'till we see it.

I'm more worried about getting our D going and our nasty schedule.

[RocketArm006]

I'm more worried about getting our D going and our nasty schedule.

Truth:salute!:

[blackclouds]

The only thing that really bothers me about this:


The New England system hasn't necessarily kept its tight ends busy catching passes — as Broncos tight ends Daniel Graham, a former Patriot, and Tony Scheffler surely have noted.


Our TE's have been such an important part of our offense with Schefflers deep threat ability and Graham being able to punish tacklers and pick up YAC. I am not saying that this is a horrible idea but I hope McD is willing to utilize ALL of the weapons we have on offense.

[stnzed]

The West Coast Offense left years ago, it's too late for goodbye's.......

[japfaff]

Good the west coast offense has been uneffictive for a number of years. I am glad to see it gone. Now we just need to drop the ZBS and our O should start to become better

[AC1]

Good the west coast offense has been uneffictive for a number of years. I am glad to see it gone. Now we just need to drop the ZBS and our O should start to become better

Why do we need to drop the best aspect of our team (one that teams around the league have been aping)? That's like Pittsburgh abandoning the 3-4 or the Bucs losing the Tampa 2.

[tsiguy96]

Good the west coast offense has been uneffictive for a number of years. I am glad to see it gone. Now we just need to drop the ZBS and our O should start to become better

many teams are picking up ZBS, not dropping it. players are too fast for a single-gap running solution unless you have monsters like dallas does. letting the running back pick a spot to run works out great in many cases, unless you have a RB who dances. a runner like hillis is the ZBS wet dream.

[japfaff]

many teams are picking up ZBS, not dropping it. players are too fast for a single-gap running solution unless you have monsters like dallas does. letting the running back pick a spot to run works out great in many cases, unless you have a RB who dances. a runner like hillis is the ZBS wet dream.


cause I dont think that it is a good offense. espically in the red zone. Look at our stats. basically the last 5 years we have been in the bottom 10 in the league in red zone scoring. That is cause of the ZBS. Lineman are to small and just cant push the line. I dont mind using it as a COP, or between the 30's, but when it matters the ZBS fails

[AC1]

cause I dont think that it is a good offense. espically in the red zone. Look at our stats. basically the last 5 years we have been in the bottom 10 in the league in red zone scoring. That is cause of the ZBS. Lineman are to small and just cant push the line. I dont mind using it as a COP, or between the 30's, but when it matters the ZBS fails

Three of the last 5 years, we have pretty much re-built the offense, including the offensive line. As they showed earlier in the season when the RBs were healthy, this offense can pound it in from the red-zone just as well as any other team. Later in the year, with the RBs on IR, the RZ offense obviously suffered. We should be fine next year, as long as the line and the RBs stay healthy.

[Roddoliver]

Our ZBS did not have red zone problems with TD carrying the ball. And Hillis was doing a good job before his horror movie bizarre injury.

[Hadez]

Steve Young had an interesting definition of the West Coast O.

Picture a QB bouncing on his feet in the pocket. Young said each bounce was timed for a different receiver to be open. For example, On his first bounce, he looks for Rice, second bounce Taylor, etc.

The patterns were designed so that the receivers were to come open at different times, in a certain progression.

I've never heard anyone else say this, but it makes a ton of sense.

The NFL network had a special highlighting Bill Walsh. Not sure of the exact time era but it looked after SF first SB but before the 2nd. Watching the old 49er tapes of Walsh coaching is really amazing.

He said pretty much the same thing.

Allot of the timing is based on the footwork of the QB. How many steps, are they quick steps or long steps.

Not sure if our offense was this precise last year quite honestly.

It looked allot more Jay Cutler improv then a precise offense based on timing which is what the WCO is.

Not sayin that was bad just saying lets be real.

[Strimpel]

is 40+ points each game enough for you?



No, we would still lose by 12.


:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

[Dr. Broncos]

Download New England Offensive Playbook

Can download it at the bottom section:
http://www.footballtimes.org/playbook.asp

[broncos1997]

um....sorry to point this out (someone had to say it sooner or later) but we're not exactly scoring 40 points a game. more along the lines of, well, 23.1 ppg.

and im kinda worried if we make a switch to that, because im not exactly confident in cutler's ability to read pass coverage especially if his own recievers are zig zagging. if i remember correctly, the only reason he has a high passer rating is because his rating outside the pocket was something like a crazy 125, but as a pocket pass it was in the high 70s.

[dragster69]

There are a lot of uncertainties going into the the next season that are enough to keep any coach's hands full. There's going to be a lot on his plate, that's for sure.
The teams we're going to play: Once again because it deserves another look...
Home:
Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New England, Dallas, N.Y. Giants
Away:
Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Washington

That's 6 play-off teams and we're not even taking Dallas and New England into consideration. The good news is that the rest of the AFC West is going to face a similar schedule (I will post the rest of the AFC West S2009 Schedule below)
So, an 8-8 record may once again win this division; it's not that far-fetched Lol!
That said, we need to see what kind of moves we're going to make in the off-season via free agency, trades, and the draft. Obviously the defense is our main concern, and I believe we should be much improved. Our offense will be much improved by as much as Cutler will have improved and benefited from his relationship with McDaniels. McDaniels is what Cutler needed to happen in his career; I know it, you know it, everybody knows it...
I also expect to see a new Cutler in the way he'll be making better decisions. I also expect to have a strong running game once again that will help our passing game. Can't wait to see Hillis back!

The offense will be successful in their own kind of new way. Gone will be the WC offense and in will be our new offense, a new system. I don't expect our offense to be identical to New England. I expect it to have some infusion of the WC offense in some fashion but not much.
I don't know where the rumors of the New England system not using tight ends came from...
From wiki:

In 2003, he started nine games and recorded 38 catches for 409 yards and four touchdowns. By 2004, Graham was fully integrated into the Patriots' system and became one of the better tight ends in the game. He had 30 receptions for 364 yards and seven touchdowns. The Patriots won the Super Bowl at the end of each of these seasons. Graham was named the Patriots offensive team captain on December 6, 2006.

So, those rumors that we're going to be trading our TE's are ridiculous. Like I said, McDaniels has been watching all of our videos from 2008 to see where we failed and what needs to improve. You think he ignored the contribution of our TE's in our offense? Or that he hasn't already thought of how to keep Scheffler and Graham in the game plan?

Hard to say what's going to be like. I can only hope/envision this new blood into our system will re-energize this team to play with passion and realize how close they were from being part of the play-off fun. I like the schedule actually. I think if you want to belong, then those are the teams you need to play well against. Those teams will be the measuring stick that will tell us who we are and where we are.
I hope what Arizona has accomplished so far serves as an inspiration for us, that no matter who you are and as long as you play with heart and believe in yourself that good things can happen

Rest of the AFC West 2009 Schedule...

AFC West opponents next season (dates and times to be determined by the NFL):

DENVER
Home:
Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New England, Dallas, N.Y. Giants
Away:
Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Washington

SAN DIEGO
Home: Denver, Kansas City, Oakland, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Miami, Philadelphia, Washington
Away: Denver, Kansas City, Oakland, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Dallas, N.Y. Giants

OAKLAND
Home:
Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Baltimore, Cincinnati, N.Y. Jets, Philadelphia, Washington
Away: Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Houston, Dallas, N.Y. Giants

KANSAS CITY
Home: Denver, Oakland, San Diego, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Dallas, N.Y. Giants
Away:
Denver, Oakland, San Diego, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Washington

[DancingHorsey]

I hope what Arizona has accomplished so far serves as an inspiration for us, that no matter who you are and as long as you play with heart and believe in yourself that good things can happen


Umm...we're the Broncos. The playoffs are where we belong. The idea of looking to the Cardinals for inspiration, a team that has long seen the playoffs as little more than a myth, kind of makes me sick.

[dragster69]

Umm...we're the Broncos. The playoffs are where we belong. The idea of looking to the Cardinals for inspiration, a team that has long seen the playoffs as little more than a myth, kind of makes me sick.I guess you're looking at the glass half-empty
The Cardinals have not been a team to draw inspiration from. That's not what I said. What I said was that it is what they have accomplished so far (meaning this season until they play tonight) is what we need to admire.
They played inspired, and they believe they can win the SB, and so do I
Gone are the big guys; Cowboys, Giants, Panthers, Eagles, etc...

The same could vbe said from San Diego. They played inspired football. Who is to say that with a little bit of luck they wouldn't have made it all the way. I know it's sick to think about it, but hey, they almost pulled it off, let's give them that