In his wonderful book, “Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe,” author David Maraniss dispels many misconceptions about football, and specifically Jim Thorpe. Maraniss essentially gives his readers a history lesson of the evolution of the game we love, focusing on Coach Pop Warner (the head coach at the Carlisle Indian School Project). Warner the father of the single wing offense, and used Thorpe and others to dazzle the crowds with his deceptive running game using an unbalanced line and unconventional formations. In Warner’s single wing there was no true quarterback, as all the backs were a vital part of the running offense. Every eligible offensive player ran the ball, forcing the defense to defend all six players all the time. The single wing was a six-skill position offense or what I call a Six Back Offense.
Because of the lack of passing, the single wing eventually faded. Now to some degree, the seven quarterbacks below are running an offense that forces the defense to defend all six eligible players.
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Every one of these seven teams make the quarterback part of their run game, using the threat of the quarterback involvement in the run game as a decoy to fool the defense. Each week the opposing defense is forced to account for the quarterback altering their coverages to account for his skill set. Understand this offense is different than an offense featuring a quarterback with movement skills. Patrick Mahomes can move and avoid the rush, and is more than capable of getting first downs with his feet, but the Chiefs don’t enter the game wanting to establish him as a runner; every run, or loose play is a bonus. Yes, the defense must account for Mahomes scrambling, but that attention is built off the pass rush, not the run fits — a big difference.
After the Bill lost to the Patriots in the wind game in Buffalo, they shifted from a conventional offense to the “six-back” offense, featuring their best player Josh Allen in the run game. At the end of the 2021 season before the playoffs, Allen had rushed 122 times. After the Week 12 game with only five remaining, Allen rushed 47 times accounting for 38% of his rushing total. The shift in offensive philosophy was obvious and since that game the Bills offense using the six-back approach has been at times unstoppable.
The seven teams using their quarterback as a runner — more than a read-option runner — is a take on the Lincoln Riley-at-Oklahoma, Chip Kelly-at-Oregon variation of the spread, forcing the defense to account for the quarterback as a runner on every play — even though they only give him the ball between 7-15 times per game. Obviously, Philadelphia is more invested in this style of offense, as is Baltimore, resulting in more carries per game for their star quarterbacks. Chicago has no choice but to run this offense, as Justin Fields is challenged to complete more than 10 passes per game. Marcus Mariota is running a version of his Oregon offense in Atlanta, limiting his involvement in the passing game. After seven games, Mariota only attempts 21 passes per game, and only twice has he thrown for over 200 yards — yet the Falcons rank fifth overall in the NFL in third down conversions and fourth in red zone production.
The single wing faded when passing evolved and the value of the quarterback position became enhanced. No team wanted to risk injury to their quarterback, so they removed him from the running game. Daniel Jones has attempted only 18 passes per game, many of them under 10 yards, and like Mariota has only thrown for over 200 yards twice so far this season. The Giants understand that to maximize the skill set of their quarterback, he must be involved in the run game.
The other advantage to this “six-back” offense is the speed of the game is different and it takes the opponent time to adjust, which is the case when facing the Eagles. The Birds start slow, scoring just 14 total points in the first quarter, then adjust and take over the game scoring 112 in the second quarter. They have only scored 35 in the second half, in part because the defense can adjust to the speed, understand how to better defend their run game. The misconception about the Eagles offense is their run game is explosive — it’s not. Their longest run of the year is 35 yards and Hurts averages only 3.8 per carry. The team averages 4.2 per attempt which ranks 23rd in the NFL. They average 37.5 attempts per game, leading the NFL. The Eagles wear teams down with their speed, deception and uniqueness, much like the old single wing teams did. (Note: Five of the top seven rushing attempts teams in the NFL are all “six-back” offenses).
Bill Parcells once told me regarding the college draft, “we can only take what they give us.” And right now, colleges are sending the NFL athletic quarterbacks who some lack timing and rhythm but have superior athletic skills. Take Anthony Richardson at Florida. He is big, fast, powerful, and tough, yet he is far from polished as a passer. At 6-foot-4 and over 230 pounds, he has a Josh Allen feel to his running style and the same accuracy issue that haunted Allen at Wyoming. Will Richardson be able to become a better passer like Allen? That’s hard to predict and certainly another year of college would help answer that question. But we all know some team is going to believe they can improve his throwing and run the Eagles “six-pack” offense to highlight his immense talents.
Thursday night review
Last night, the Ravens for whatever reason went into Tampa and wanted to establish the pass. After only attempting 16 passes last week against the Browns, the Ravens attempted 30 passes and seven runs in the first half. Once the second half began, and Lamar Jackson took off for a big run, the Ravens ground game became hard for the Bucs to defend and they scored points on every drive in the second half, winning the game going away. They controlled the ball for 20 minutes and 47 seconds in the second half and took the game over in the third. Tampa fought back with 12 points in the fourth, but the damage was done, and Tom Brady had his first three-game losing streak of his career.
Will the “six-back” offense work and win a title? Yes, when the quarterback can make plays with his arm — like Allen. If Buffalo falls behind in a game, Allen can throw they back into it. Can Hurts? That is the question still unanswered after seven weeks of the season.
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