Spread offense

[detroitchild]

Are there any coaches out there that run the spread offense? If so, how do you run it? Is it similar to the QB option or wishbone? For those of you who run it do you have any pics or video?

Thanks,

DC

[FrustratedFinFan]

I run that offense now. I find it really causes trouble for opposing defenses, just like on a real football field. Here are the elements I consider key to making the offense work:

-have a good running QB and use his mobility often. It is hard for the "D" to target something that is always on the move! My running QB is very fast....just have to make sure he doesn't run backwards!!!

-have at least two WR's that can get open on their own....not needing stacks or such to get open....boat bases, well tweaked TTC's....maybe creative use of weight balancing to cause the WR to veer off but still go forward when hit.

-have a good RB....on a TTC or ITZ dial....that way he is a threat to hit any hole....not tipping your hand like you would with a rookie base being angled to the hole.

-learn how to pass well.....that is my biggest weakness...but I have improved a bunch lately, and Geno's TDQ was a Godsend.

[detroitchild]

Do you have any diagrams or pics of the formations you use?

Originally Posted by FrustratedFinFan

I run that offense now. I find it really causes trouble for opposing defenses, just like on a real football field. Here are the elements I consider key to making the offense work:

-have a good running QB and use his mobility often. It is hard for the "D" to target something that is always on the move! My running QB is very fast....just have to make sure he doesn't run backwards!!!

-have at least two WR's that can get open on their own....not needing stacks or such to get open....boat bases, well tweaked TTC's....maybe creative use of weight balancing to cause the WR to veer off but still go forward when hit.

-have a good RB....on a TTC or ITZ dial....that way he is a threat to hit any hole....not tipping your hand like you would with a rookie base being angled to the hole.

-learn how to pass well.....that is my biggest weakness...but I have improved a bunch lately, and Geno's TDQ was a Godsend.

[Coach_J]

I am putting together plays for the Seawall Brawl that involve the run and shoot formation. As you know that formation is similar to a spread offense. As was mentioned previously I also highly recommend a moblie QB. Make sure you utilize your RB even on pass plays. Looper bases can be effective as well. I will let you know how well my advice works after the Seawall Brawl. I also agree in that Geno H's TDQ made a big difference. If you don't have one that I highly recommend that you place an order. Unfortunately I do not have a video but if you want to talk let me know and we can exchange numbers.

Coach J

[detroitchild]

Thanks coaches. I came across the following site that has quite a few diagrams of the spread offense.

http://www.bign2football.com/xs1.htm

Let me know your thoughts?

Thx,

DC

[FrustratedFinFan]

Well....I can't say I liked that diagram with the QB all alone in the backfield....I prefer keeping a TE in the equation and a RB in the backfield with the QB, similar to most shotgun formations.

Before you start getting addicted to using real football strategy for the electric football game, let me give you some sage advice that I got from Bill Porche....a real veteran of the game!

Bill saw me trying to set up 3-4 defenses and 4-3 defenses.....and not doing too well with them. Bill often put 10 men or more on the line.....and kicked my butt. Bill told me....design your plays and players based on electric football and use what works. Don't worry about simulating the real thing....that won't necessarily work on an EF board.

So...I began using unorthodox formations....stacking receivers, putting 9 or more me on the defensive line of scrimmage, etc....and wow, it works! I started picking player poses and base combos with EF functionality in mind.

Does that mean I have learned it all? Hell no. Other veterans will still school me, but at least now I can hold my own. Am I a great tweaker? Nope, but I sure am a lot better now than I was a couple years ago....and I am always looking to learn new tricks!

That said, don't think the spread isn't a viable offensive scheme for EF...it is. However, start thinking more along the lines of using the way things actually work on the EF game board and then exploiting/using your knowledge of those tabletop physics! Here are the kind of questions to be asking....What happens when bases hit each other? Do they veer off? Do they turn away or bounce? Why? How can I use this to my advantage?? How does all that change if the weight balance of the figure is changed? Why does jacking up a base in the rear seem to provide strength/leverage?

[Michigan Joe]

FFF- I disagree! Strategy on the electric gridiron mimics real foot in the sense that formations and audibles are about keeping the other team off balance, which is the key to outperforming an opponent with even "talent" on the field. I think that there is a misunderstanding about "real" formations in that the 4-3 rarely looks like the basic 4-3 setup and rather has many turns and twists, such as bringing OLBs up or dropping them back into coverage etc. This is what we do in MF too so I think there are more parallels between real and MF strategy than what you implied.

In MF, if you can run the spread offense and get the defense to spread out and play a 10 man line then I think you have accomplished something with your formation since a 10 man line is extremely vulnerable on any big board and you can make big plays against it. A defense certainly can't play that defense every play or you will get beat hands down, now is there a situation that calls for this defensive formation- absolutely yes (3rd and short comes to mind). Strategy, whether in real football or MF simulation is about tricking the opponent to create the best opportunity for success. Strategy is about trying to create mismatches or opportunities for plays that the opponent "can't see coming". The spread offense is awsome in MF, and I would recommend the lateral moving O-line for this formation to create that seam for an RB or the running QB to take it the distance. The spread offense also makes it hard to double team a talented WR who has the potential to consistently beat one on one coverage.

Joe

[detroitchild]

...from you guys. Do any of you have pics of your teams in a spread offense? Joe, can you speak more to lateral moving o-lines? Are you speaking of putting them on bases with itz dials or just using pivots or different angles?

Would also like more input from other coaches.

[FrustratedFinFan]

Well Joe, you can rationalize it all you want....but people don't run their EF teams much like NFL teams at all. Those 10 man front lines aren't some sort of rarity....they are common. Why? Because those loopers are gonna' get you. Sure...it should make the "D" vulnerable....and for the truly gifted coaches (with well built teams) it does. But, on average, those 10 man and 9 man fronts do just fine. Zone coverage is not the norm in EF, but it is very common in the NFL. Most folks simply jam or turn the EF receivers at the line of scrimmage and that gives them the few seconds they need for their looper to get in and sack or at least rush the QB. I guess you could have rules that prevent jamming the WR...but that doesn't seem to be a good fix. A good coach, with a well tweaked squad can beat press coverage....but it isn't easy if the other coach knows his stuff. Come on....don't tell me EF is just like the NFL...it ain't. Figures with arms that hook or hinder a player simply by physical design are truly unlike the NFL. Sure, you can rationalize it and say it is like "holding"....but isn't that a penalty in the NFL? EF is quite simply EF. Once you start to look at it like a game and get over the hang ups of trying to make it work like the NFL, it makes the EF game easier. I know others will have different opinions, but Bill Porche opened my eyes to the reality and once I started to embrace that concept my game improved by quantum leaps!

By the way, I agree with you about creating linemen who move well laterally...but this tends to require ITZ dials to work well....and my experience is that ITZ dials don't create great strength. So...it will likely require a good plan to use the ITZ linemen to use their lateral movement more like a trap block. Not so much to push, but just to buy a split second. I think Reggie Rutledge would be the expert on this stuff. Maybe slide a tackle out to hit a looper, use the FB to seal the inside and then run in the hole where the tackle was? Timing would be everything here....The FB would need to be speedy and strong....the RB somewhat slower to give time for the blocks to get set. Pursuit from a backside looper would be my biggest fear....maybe run this play to the weak side and get the extra blocking and time to execute using the TE on the back side? I can see this working against those 9 and 10 man fronts. But man....it is all about EF physics more than emulating a real NFL play.

[Coach K-LO]

Originally Posted by FrustratedFinFan

Well Joe, you can rationalize it all you want....but people don't run their EF teams much like NFL teams at all. Those 10 man front lines aren't some sort of rarity....they are common. Why? Because those loopers are gonna' get you. Sure...it should make the "D" vulnerable....and for the truly gifted coaches (with well built teams) it does. But, on average, those 10 man and 9 man fronts do just fine. Zone coverage is not the norm in EF, but it is very common in the NFL. Most folks simply jam or turn the EF receivers at the line of scrimmage and that gives them the few seconds they need for their looper to get in and sack or at least rush the QB. I guess you could have rules that prevent jamming the WR...but that doesn't seem to be a good fix. A good coach, with a well tweaked squad can beat press coverage....but it isn't easy if the other coach knows his stuff. Come on....don't tell me EF is just like the NFL...it ain't. Figures with arms that hook or hinder a player simply by physical design are truly unlike the NFL. Sure, you can rationalize it and say it is like "holding"....but isn't that a penalty in the NFL? EF is quite simply EF. Once you start to look at it like a game and get over the hang ups of trying to make it work like the NFL, it makes the EF game easier. I know others will have different opinions, but Bill Porche opened my eyes to the reality and once I started to embrace that concept my game improved by quantum leaps!

By the way, I agree with you about creating linemen who move well laterally...but this tends to require ITZ dials to work well....and my experience is that ITZ dials don't create great strength. So...it will likely require a good plan to use the ITZ linemen to use their lateral movement more like a trap block. Not so much to push, but just to buy a split second. I think Reggie Rutledge would be the expert on this stuff. Maybe slide a tackle out to hit a looper, use the FB to seal the inside and then run in the hole where the tackle was? Timing would be everything here....The FB would need to be speedy and strong....the RB somewhat slower to give time for the blocks to get set. Pursuit from a backside looper would be my biggest fear....maybe run this play to the weak side and get the extra blocking and time to execute using the TE on the back side? I can see this working against those 9 and 10 man fronts. But man....it is all about EF physics more than emulating a real NFL play.

very nicely put