What the fuck is the West Coast Offense?

[Keyser Soze]

The "West Coast Offense" refers to parts of a offensive scheme which was conceptualized and implemented by Paul Brown and Sid Gilman and was later popularized by Bill Walsh and his niner teams of the 1980's.

Here are the basic elements:

<ul>
<li>Reliance on a quick, controlled passing game that takes advantage of quarterback and wide receiver reads on the fly
<li>Multiple plays from multiple formations, with the object being to find a mismatch between an offensive player and a defender
<li>A fairly equal mix of running and passing, although the pass seems to set up the run, which goes against the "conventional wisdom" of the NFL
<li>Passing plays that utilize all five available receiving options
<li>Reliance on yardage gained by receivers after catching the ball (the now-popular Run After Catch), rather than the standard longer pass patterns where the receiver gets most of his yardage before the catch
<li>A preponderance of swing passes and shorter throws to the running backs, who must possess the ability to catch the ball well
<li>Smaller, more finesse-based offensive lineman, rather than the power behemoths that are used by many teams
<li>Accurate and usually mobile quarterbacks that can read and react well, rather than players with the ?big gun?
<li>Tight ends who can catch better than block
<li>An overall philosophy to keep the chains moving consistently by eating up short chunks of yardage on every play
</ul>

Its the last bullet-point which has helped the 49er offense to be so successful over the last twenty years and which has also led other teams to emulate the same philosophy. This means that the general trend among NFL teams has been to play it safe, pass the ball shorter, not take as many risks, and try to control the ball just other ways of saying dink and dunk.Of course, other factors are contributing to this trend, not the least of which is free agency, which results in teams generally being less cohesive and therefore more conservative. Still, the spread of the WCO throughout the league has had major ramifications in terms of how teams are tempering their game plans to move the ball downfield.

The general change in offensive philosophy around the league does not, however, indicate that most teams are using a base form of the WCO, or some sort of variant. While its true that many teams have adopted a more conservative style of offense, most of these teams lack some or even most of the basic WCO principles listed above. There?s a difference between running short out-routes all the way down the field and setting up your entire offensive system to emulate the short-passing philosophy of the WCO, yet theres still a misconception that exists regarding how extensively the WCO is utilized.

Aside from the 49ers, other teams currently running close variants of the WCO include the Packers, Seahawks, Broncos, Raiders, and Lions. The Jets and Bills used the system last year with varying success, and with the acquisition of Drew Bledsoe, its likely the Bills will re-think their offensive approach. However, teams like the Ravens and the Giants have been incorrectly labeled in the past as using a WCO variant, when in reality, they are using a short-passing system that differs substantially from the WCO. And ESPNs John Clayton errantly referred to the Patriots and Steelers running a WCO variant during last season?s playoffs, when again, their short-passing systems don?t fit many of basic WCO tenets listed in the bullet points above.

What cant be disputed is that the WCO has had a profound effect on professional football. Has it been for the best? Thats largely a matter of personal opinion.