Rob,

Good points. I’m actually okay with the Pistol Formation. Its not a full fledged Pistol Offense but I like how they use that formation. Its great for option plays and deception. Not only is it perfect for the pass offense its actually quite expedient for a power running offense as well. And its the one that Kap was trained on by the same coach that trained Roman how to use that formation. Excellent symbiosis there.

But I agree with you about not using Gore to his best advantage. We have seen over the course of this season that whenever Roman gets away from the Power Running game the team usually loses regardless of who is at Quarterback. Trying to go downfield so much is never a policy I have supported even back when we had Joe Montana. I like how you can set up the passing offense with the power running game but to rely upon the pass offense too often, or to go to it too early, is usually a mistake.

Roman can be very good and in those game that we win convincingly, like Chicago, New Orleans and New England, much of the credit goes to Roman for the way he designed the game play. But on those games that we lose miserably, Minnesota, New York, St. Louis and Seattle, much of blame goes to Roman for being way too pass crazy.

So for the team to return to the power running offense would be a good thing. Seeing Gore get 100-150 yards a game and the overall rushing yardage to be in the upper 100’s or lower 200’s is not unusual for this team in a winning effort.

A big problem with this offense right now is the play of the offensive line. These guys are wearing down and there’s injuries, some that have been reported and some I’m sure that are lingering that the team doesn’t advertise. The play of the offensive line has fallen dramatically in the course of December, but they’ve had some pretty good games as well. I think part of their problem is injuries and getting worn down but I also think, again, that the offense Roman calls centers way too much on the passing game and these guys have to stand up for so many more passing plays per game, rather than power forward into the running game. Our receiver corps is getting decimated and the Quarterback has way less time to make decisions back there. No Quarterback, including Tom Brady, can be effective when he’s being harassed repeatedly during a game. That’s the only way to disrupt the Patriot offense and it applies to ours as well.

But I really like the Pistol formation and how great Kap can sell the read option. This formation is what he and Roman were trained on and when Roman is calling the game well our offense can put up a lot of points. The Pistol is also geared towards the power running game – the West Coast Wishbone offense, as I call it – but Roman is calling way too many pass plays, not the fault of the Pistol formation. We miss Hunter but now we’ve got James who is filling in quite nicely. No reason we can’t rack up 150-200 yards rushing per game, not counting the yards Kap can rack up.

I think you are right that we see a problem with Roman, throw in offensive line problems, injuries to our running backs, receivers and linemen, and we also see the odds decrease of us defeating the heavy weight teams in the NFC like the Packers, Falcons and Hawks. In order to best use the healthy personnel we have on the field Roman has to do a better job of game planning, take the pressure off the offensive line and receiving corps, and get these running backs more involved in the game.