Post by lionsroar on Apr 3, 2008 5:56:58 GMT -5
Lions' trick formations fool opponents
BY LUKE BRIETZKE - Correspondent
Lions have thrived minus ground game
Arena football is known for its huge plays, yet it's the short yardage situations that are starting to set the Columbus Lions apart from their peers.
More impressively, the Lions are doing so mostly without a run game.
Following the season opener, Gibson decided to put reserve offensive lineman Jason Harris at fullback. While that solidified the team's pass protection, it weakened the Lions' run game.
The key to Columbus' short-yardage success has been two formations coach Jason Gibson has installed into the offense -- the Patriot formation and the Frisco formation.
The two formations are mirror images of each other on opposite sides of the field.
They are, in essence, indoor football's equivalent of jumbo packages.
"It just poses mismatches -- both in terms of pass coverage and blocking," Gibson said.
In the formation, Harris, normally inside the offensive box, lines up at the line of scrimmage, three yards away from one of the tackles. Anthony Merritt, one of the Lions biggest playmakers at receiver, lines up in a tailback position.
With the American Indoor Football Association's legal defense rule, five defensive players must stay within the box. That means Harris has one-on-one blocking with someone out of the box.
Merritt can run sweeps to either side and often has 6-foot-2, 295-pound Harris leading the way and Silas Daniels blocking another defensive back. If Harris and Daniels block who they're supposed to, that leaves a linebacker trying to outrun Merritt to the sideline.
Usually, that results in Merritt gaining a few yards. And in short-yardage situations, that's all Gibson is shooting for anyway.
Gibson and general manager Jeff Gonos learned about the formations from Georgia Force offensive coordinator Jim Kubiak.
In the Arena Football League, the Force use the formations almost strictly to run the ball in short-yardage situations. Gonos said slight rule differences between the two leagues make it impossible for them to use the formations in the same ways, but it serves the same purpose for both teams.
Gibson said he realized their potential when he started thinking how he would try to stop them as an opposing defensive coordinator.
While these formations seem to be predicated for the run, they have also created a short passing game.
The most successful play has been a 1-yard stop route to receiver Gerald Gales. On the play, the quarterback takes a one-step drop and fires the ball on a timing route to Gales, who catches the ball when he's already past the first-down marker.
"He runs 1 yard and turns around," Gibson said. "There's no way the DB can stop that unless he presses you. And if he comes up and presses, (our guy's in motion) and we just send him deep. So you're beat either way."
www.ledger-enquirer.com/293/story/287204.html
BY LUKE BRIETZKE - Correspondent
Lions have thrived minus ground game
Arena football is known for its huge plays, yet it's the short yardage situations that are starting to set the Columbus Lions apart from their peers.
More impressively, the Lions are doing so mostly without a run game.
Following the season opener, Gibson decided to put reserve offensive lineman Jason Harris at fullback. While that solidified the team's pass protection, it weakened the Lions' run game.
The key to Columbus' short-yardage success has been two formations coach Jason Gibson has installed into the offense -- the Patriot formation and the Frisco formation.
The two formations are mirror images of each other on opposite sides of the field.
They are, in essence, indoor football's equivalent of jumbo packages.
"It just poses mismatches -- both in terms of pass coverage and blocking," Gibson said.
In the formation, Harris, normally inside the offensive box, lines up at the line of scrimmage, three yards away from one of the tackles. Anthony Merritt, one of the Lions biggest playmakers at receiver, lines up in a tailback position.
With the American Indoor Football Association's legal defense rule, five defensive players must stay within the box. That means Harris has one-on-one blocking with someone out of the box.
Merritt can run sweeps to either side and often has 6-foot-2, 295-pound Harris leading the way and Silas Daniels blocking another defensive back. If Harris and Daniels block who they're supposed to, that leaves a linebacker trying to outrun Merritt to the sideline.
Usually, that results in Merritt gaining a few yards. And in short-yardage situations, that's all Gibson is shooting for anyway.
Gibson and general manager Jeff Gonos learned about the formations from Georgia Force offensive coordinator Jim Kubiak.
In the Arena Football League, the Force use the formations almost strictly to run the ball in short-yardage situations. Gonos said slight rule differences between the two leagues make it impossible for them to use the formations in the same ways, but it serves the same purpose for both teams.
Gibson said he realized their potential when he started thinking how he would try to stop them as an opposing defensive coordinator.
While these formations seem to be predicated for the run, they have also created a short passing game.
The most successful play has been a 1-yard stop route to receiver Gerald Gales. On the play, the quarterback takes a one-step drop and fires the ball on a timing route to Gales, who catches the ball when he's already past the first-down marker.
"He runs 1 yard and turns around," Gibson said. "There's no way the DB can stop that unless he presses you. And if he comes up and presses, (our guy's in motion) and we just send him deep. So you're beat either way."
www.ledger-enquirer.com/293/story/287204.html