I just love watching NFL football, except for all the commercials, so I have to write this article with tongue in cheek. But is there a rule against creativity?  I mean why do 20 teams all run the West Coast offense? And everybod runs a 4-3 or a 3-4 defense. To my way of thinking sports is kind of like war strategy and surprise is clearly an element of war. I remember years ago the Dallas Cowboys had Cunningham, Sheppard, Dorset and Walker and actually experimeted running a wishbone. They had world class speed in these guys and I appreciate they wanted Danny White to quarterback; but it would have been great to see the odd series run with this new concept. Plus, the opposition has to prepare for stuff like this and if it is suited to your personnel they can't really duplicate it. KInd of like when teams in the old days had to prepare to play the Oklahoma Sooners but couldn't simulate their speed in practice and it had to be learned during the actual game. I would love to see a new defense or a new offense. Closest I have seen recently is the two down linemen used by New England. I also liked last year when Jeff Fisher knew he was outmanned by the Colts and did lots of onside kicks. If a couple more bounces went their way, they might have made it close. And who wouldn't like to see a Michael Vick line up in a single wing and make use of all of his talent. At least go back and view the old films of the Minnesota Vikings, back in the days of Fran Tarkenton. How many times did they roll him out to throw? You can't tell me that Fran could out run Vick! With any kind of luck I hope the Tennesee Titans with Vince Young will not try to make a pocket passer out of him like what they are doing with Vick and what happened to Kordel Stewart. I think anyone who paid close attention to the draft realized that taking Young really means a commitment to his style of option football. And I still can't imagine why the Falcons don't do the same with Vick, especially looking at his high completion ratio when he throws "outside the box"! From a formation perspective, I would love to see a team line up in a wishbone and run a play or two and then line up in it but take the two pieces of the bone and shift them to the line of scrimmage. Thus, giving you 4 wideouts. Of course, this would be done so the opposition couldn't get their nickel package in.

I would also like to see teams come up with stuff like the old Army, "lonely end" or some new guys like "the fridge" or "Butch Cassidy and Sundance". Is it just coincidence that these teams were really good and we remember them? I'm sure it would get lots of ink from the sportscasters too.

And getting back to strategy outside the box, if I am coaching I am not kicking the ball to Dante Hall of the Chiefs. In fact, until they make a rule against it I wouldn't kick on fourth down to anybody. I would be happy to take 40+ yards from the line of scrimmage and kick the ball deep and out of bounds every time until there is a rule change. Do the math and tell me that over the course of a season you would not come out ahead. Take the average return, not to mention the back breaking returns,  and do the math. I admit it is great to watch a punt return; but to me it is not the wisest strategy. And when will we see a team with a great defense get near mid field and assume they are in four down territory? In fact how about a team with a great offense and a weaker defense doing the same? I'd like to see a computer analysis of this. In fact I would love to see Larry Johnson of the Chiefs run the ball four times and see how many times he wouldn't get 10 yards. Of course the odd pass thrown in just to keep the defense honest. When are we going to see a team come out and go for two after the first score just because they spotted something in the other team and know they can beat the NFL average? Reminded me of the Chiefs and Bucks last year scoring on fourth down on the last play o####ame. Now that is exciting and although it won't always work; they were the right calls. And talk about a strategy that needs a tune up. How about "The Prevent Defense". You know the one that prevents you from winning. Good grief the team stops the other team all day long and then gives them a chance to win by slacking off. I can appreciate that if there is not much time left you play deep and make them throw underneath and kill the last minute o####ame. But really, how many times have we seen this backfire when teams go into a shell and do this too early? It would be like a chess player almost mating the opposition but slacking off the attack and giving the opponent a chance. Take a tip from a chess player and press the advantage and don't change something that the opposition is already having difficulty with into something that gives them a chance to win. The coaches need to review how much time is left and the reality of how many points are scored in the last 5 minutes of games. And another area that really needs a look see is punt coverage. You'd think some of these guys don't know the rules. I bet I saw 30-40 punts last year alone where the kicking team was at the opponents 40 yard line and trying to pin them deep. We see a great kick that could easily be downed at the one or inside the one but a mental mistake turns the game around and they get a touchback. Somebody steps on the goal line first, or was out of bounds and can't touch the ball, or slides into the end zone with the batt etc. You want creativity, I have seen more ways to mess this play up than I can think of.

And how about play selection. Well, I like the Colts, but bless their hearts when it comes to the playoffs what are they thinking? Year before last they play the Patriots and Pats blitzed them once in the first quarter and the Colts went gun shy the rest of the game. The Pats never blitzed again and the Colts thought they were and kept throwing undereath all the time  and to "hot reads". If you recall this was when the Pats were all beat up in the secondary and playing offensive receivers on defense and the Colts threw one 17 yard compeltion. They never threw the ball deep and didn't play up tempo football. Instead they tried to beat the Pats at their game. The Colt defense played good but the offense played the wrong strategy almost throughout. At the end of the first half they went into a two minute offense and moved the ball right down the field. That's the last we saw of that. Come on Colts, you are an up tempo team so play to your strength. Then last year capped it. Before the last drive when Vanderjack missed the barn, ala Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou, the Steelers blitzed four times in a row and nailed Manning almost every time and there was no "hot read". And of course football fans remember "The Immaculate Reception", "The Catch", and "The Drive" but fortuneately for Jerome Bettis, nobody will remember, "The Fumble." If the Colt that recovered the "Bus's" fumble cuts to the outside then Rothlesberger doesn't make "The Tackle" and the Colts win. Not only does Pittsburgh get eliminated but "The Fumble" is the biggest blunder in the history of playoff football and Jerome might not get voted into the Hall of Fame. Looks alot better  on his resume to have a Super Bowl win than a playoff blunder. But, now after a reasonable return, the Colts have a golden opportunity to win the game as the Steelers are in shock. But the play calling is again lousy resulting in only a longish field goal attempt that goes way wide. I know the woulda coulda shouldas are easy after the game but even the announcers were questioning the play calling as it happened. Somebody in that organization should get a grip on strategy.