The Spread Offense Won't Work in the NFL

[Pitt Gorilla]

Except that it did yesterday.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fo...ry/695909.html

BY JUSTIN A. RICE


The New England Patriots went back to school Sunday afternoon.The franchise that prides itself on preparation, in-game adjustments and overall football scholarship got schooled by the type of option offense NFL players normally only see their collegian counterparts run.
The result: A 38-13 trashing at Gillette Stadium that ended New England's NFL-record, 21-game regular-season win streak.


''That's something you usually see in college,'' defensive lineman Ty Warren said of the Dolphins' spread offense that featured running back Ronnie Brown taking direct snaps while quarterback Chad Pennington lined up as a wide receiver.


FANTASY GAME

Brown ripped the Patriots for 113 yards rushing on 17 attempts, including two short touchdowns off direct snaps in the first half and throwing another direct snap to Anthony Fasano for a third-quarter touchdown.


For an encore, Brown ripped a 62-yard TD run off a direct snap in the final quarter to break the franchise record for most rushing touchdowns in a game.


Overall, Brown took six direct shotgun snaps, even handing off two to fellow running back Ricky Williams, who was often running in motion.


''We had trouble with a lot of things. That was one of them,'' Pats coach Bill Belichick said of defending the spread offense. ``We had trouble a lot.''


The head master refused to detail how Brown and the Dolphins befuddled New England's defense, which heading into Sunday ranked ninth in the NFL, allowing 270 yards per game. But safety Rodney Harrison shed a little more light.


''Unfortunately, we had no idea they were going to come out and run those kind of plays,'' said Harrison, who had a combined 12 tackles.


EARLY TROUBLE

The Patriots' first glimpse of the option came with 2:32 left in the first quarter. Brown took the snap and faked to Williams. Circling back right to left, he ran 2 yards for the game's first score. Miami used a similar play near the end of the half, this time resulting in a 5-yard Brown touchdown and 21-6 advantage.


But what the Pats saw next proved to defensive end Richard Seymour that this wasn't a fluke, rather a calculated trend. Taking his first direct snap of the second half, Brown, a lefty, rolled left and threw a 19-yard TD to Fasano halfway through the third.


''I thought that was a game-plan scheme, where they game-schemed us, as far as what they were trying to do,'' Seymour said of Brown's TD pass, which put Miami up 28-6.


``They ran some passes off of it, some different runs, some outside runs, some inside runs. They moved their offensive linemen around and did some things we weren't prepared for. We made some adjustments, and we didn't get the job done. They were always a step ahead of what we were trying to do. Even in our base defense, we didn't wrap up and tackle. It was just a bad day all around.


``We'll probably get the corrections from this film and then bury the film -- bury the tape out on the field somewhere.''


WELKER IMPRESSED

Even former Dolphin Wes Welker, who had 55 yards receiving on six catches Sunday for New England and has been the beneficiary of diverse offensive schemes, marveled at Brown's performance.


''He's got a lot of talent, and he definitely showed how versatile he is and why he was the No. 2 overall [draft] pick,'' Welker said. ``I don't think you ever see a loss like this coming. It's one of those deals where they wanted it more, and they played a lot better than we did.''