Back to school
Falcons add college-style option to running game
Posted: Thursday September 21, 2006 7:00PM; Updated: Thursday September 21, 2006 10:26PM
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) -- The Atlanta Falcons came up with a new option for their already prolific running game.
Get this: It's the option.
In a throwback to an era when college teams such as Alabama and Texas ran up and down the field, letting the quarterback decide whether to hand the ball off or run it himself, the Falcons are shaking up the regimented NFL with their own limited variation of the scheme.
Several times in each of the first two games, Michael Vick lined up in the shotgun, look the defense over, then decided whether to hand off to Warrick Dunn or take off on a bootleg.
No matter what the decision, Vick still ran to the outside as if he had the ball and Dunn barreled up the middle like he had it. That bit of chicanery left two of the NFL's top defenses in a state of confusion.
The Falcons (2-0) rambled for 252 yards in the season opener at Carolina, followed by a franchise-record 306 yards on the ground against Tampa Bay.
"It's fun," said Vick, the one-of-a-kind quarterback who makes it possible to run the option. "To be able to get out in space and make a read of the defense poses a lot of problems for our opposition. It can be really deflating to a defense when you can't stop the run."
Always looking for ways to maximize Vick's unique abilities, the Falcons keep an eye on what other teams are doing in hopes of finding a deviation here, a variation there that might work in their West Coast-style offensive package.
They don't limit their scouting to NFL teams, either. The option, for instance, looks similar to some of the runs used by college powerhouse West Virginia, a team that just happened to rush for 382 yards back in January when the Sugar Bowl was held at the Falcons' home field.
"You poach," Atlanta coach Jim Mora admitted. "You look at what is working for other people, whether it is a Pop Warner team or an NFL team."
The Falcons already were the NFL's most prolific team on the ground, leading the league in rushing the last two years. They've taken it to another level this season, becoming just the third team in NFL history to rush for at least 250 yards in their first two games.
On Monday night, Atlanta travels to New Orleans for the reopening of the Superdome with a chance to join the 1975 Buffalo Bills -- who had a running back named O.J. Simpson -- as the only teams to eclipse 250 yards in their first three games.
With an average of 279 yards per game, the Falcons are off and running toward a third straight league rushing title. They are 61.5 yards ahead of second-place San Diego, and no other team is within 100 yards of Atlanta's staggering figure.
Surprisingly, Vick was a little skeptical when offensive coordinator Greg Knapp first broached the idea of running the option. NFL defenders are supposedly too quick and their schemes far too complex for any sort of gimmick to succeed.
"I didn't really know how it was going to go," Vick said. "This is the NFL, and not all defensive ends bite down on a play-fake out of the shotgun. We practiced it a lot over the summer. We ran it a couple of times against Carolina and it worked. We tried it against Tampa and it worked."
As successful as the option has been, the Falcons don't plan to use it much more than a half-dozen times a game. This isn't going to be a replay of college football in the 1970s, when powerhouse teams lined up in the wishbone and ran the ball down after down.
That said, if Vick can keep confusing defensive ends -- the key to making the option work -- it should remain viable. If nothing else, it gives opponents one more thing to think about.
"It is not something you can line up and run every play," Vick said. "You just don't know when it is coming because we have so many other concepts off that package."
The Buccaneers were certainly caught off guard: Dunn, doing much of his running between the tackles, ran for 134 yards. Vick chipped in with 127 yards on just 14 carries, scooting for at least 12 yards on eight of his runs.
In so doing, Vick and Dunn became the first quarterback-running back duo in NFL history to rush for 125 yards apiece in the same game.
The Saints will certainly be focused on containing the run, but it's tough to prepare in such a short time for all the Falcons' variations.
"There's only so many reps in the course of a week's preparations," New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. "That makes it difficult to decide what you're going to do with your time and how many reps you're going to devote to that package."
Even if teams figure out how to contain the option, Mora believes it should open up things for Atlanta's inconsistent passing game. Vick had to throw just 37 passes in the first two games, though three of them went for touchdowns.
"There is going to come a time when we are not going to be able to run the ball for 200 yards a game and we are going to depend on the passing game," Mora said. "I feel confident that it is ready to go."
Giving the Falcons another option, so to speak.
@ Powerhouse.
