G.T.M.I. (Get The Man In)? I say G.T.M.T.F. (Get The Man To First)

Anyone who has ever watched football on television and listened knows this:

If your football team's offense can't effectively throw the ball, the defense will crowd the line of scrimmage ("put eight men in the box") to stop the run. If the defense knows your offense is one dimensional, they won't worry about covering your receivers so much and will concentrate on preventing you from running the football. Even the best running backs have a hard time picking up yards if there are no holes.

Turn this around. If your team can't run the ball but has a good passing game, the defense will drop more into coverage sacrificing run defense at the line of scrimmage. The teams with too much pride will continue to throw the ball into the teeth of the defense with reduced chance for success.

OK, now stay with me. I am not a Michael Vick fan but why did he experience some offensive success when he was at his best? Was it because he ran the ball? I don't think so. I think it was because the defense was worried about him running the ball. He wasn't successful when he played conventional NFL offense, handing off and throwing the ball. Defenses could handle this. He wasn't successful when he repeatedly ran the ball. Good defenses could handle this (ask the Bucs). He was most successful when he ran just enough to make the other team worry that he might run and in turn would have to devote a "spy" to only worry about him running and not play in the normal 11 man defensive scheme.

Now to my point… Carlos Pena, to me, is Don "Air" Coryell. He loves to heave the ball deep to Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow. It is exciting. It is sexy. It earns you lots of money. Here is the problem. It is easy to defend. "Air" Pena needs to swallow his pride and prove to the defense that he is a threat to hand the ball off (slap one to left) or he might even pull a quarterback naked bootleg (bunt down the third base line). He doesn't have to do it much. The defense just has to be worried that he might do it and they will have to defend it with their fielders and with their pitching strategy.

Dan Fouts threw for all these yards to Charlie Joyner and Kellen Winslow and led the league in total offense in 1985. People may not realize that in 1985 the Charger's running back Lionel James, a mere 5'6" and 171lbs, set the record for NFL all purpose yards (2535), receiving yards for a running back (1027) and led the AFC in receptions (86). Defenses that dropped deep into coverage paid the price by giving up yardage underneath.

Come on Carlos, at least THREATEN to run the ball. Make the defense cover that and the passing lanes will open up to right field.

On the bright side, it looks more and more like Carlos won't be leaving for a big free agent contract.