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| Tuesday, September 12 Updated: September 13, 6:54 PM ET Point is, scoring is up in the NFL By Greg Garber ESPN.com |
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Brian Billick, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, is an offensive kind of guy. As the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings in 1998, he masterminded the most lethal unit in league history, one that threw up a staggering 556 points. His team already has one of the league's best defenses (some would say the best), but on Sunday, the Ravens fell into a 17-0 hole against Jacksonville and the offense managed to throw its way to a scintillating 39-36 victory. Tony Banks, who has never been confused with Joe Montana, threw a career-high five touchdowns.
On Tuesday, Billick stressed how critical a quick-strike capability has become in today's NFL. "It's getting harder and harder to drive the length of the field these days," Billick said from his office in Owings Mills, Md. "You have to have explosiveness. You know the old cliché, defense wins championships and offense sells tickets? I'm not so sure that's necessarily applicable. "You have some explosive teams that have put together some explosive talent to get the ball down the field. Jacksonville, Minnesota and the Rams ... they can take it right at you. I don't know why you saw all that offense this week, but I do know that it isn't going to go away anytime soon." Week 2 of this NFL season was an absolute circus. Maybe it's all the success of St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner, but the league is starting to resemble his previous place of employment, the Arena Football League, where pinball offenses dominate overmatched defenses. Consider the mayhem:
What in the name of Don "Air" Coryell is going on? The Bucs, 41 points? "Unbelievable, right?" said Jerry Angelo, the Bucs' director of player personnel. "If you look at it, the defense scored a touchdown and forced four turnovers. But by adding Keyshawn Johnson now we have enough bullets to compete. "In this modern era, the better teams have been offensive-driven. Denver with Mike Shanahan, Green Bay under [Mike] Holmgren, Jacksonville, Minnesota. Those were all teams that could hurt you in a hurry. "The one thing you have to be able to do in this league is score 24 points. You've got to be able to score from anywhere on the field. In yesteryear, you could grind out four drives of 60, 70 yards and win the game. That's not going to happen anymore." It's early to be sure, but the numbers suggest a bump in the league's scoring average. Combined points for each game have fluctuated in recent years: 1995 (43.0), 1996 (40.8), 1997 (41.4), 1998 (42.6) and 1999 (41.6). But through two games in 2000 the number is a potent 44.0. Not everyone is willing to jump on the offensive bandwagon. Russell Baxter, ESPN's peerless NFL information guru, points out that the Detroit Lions are 2-0 and have yet to score an offensive touchdown; defense has done it in the Motor City. "The league has changed, sure, but you still have to run the ball," Baxter said. "Before the 1998 season Bill Parcells said he wanted to run the ball 500 times. Well, the Jets got to the AFC Championship game and they ran the ball exactly 500 times. "The reason Indianapolis blew the lead was because the Raiders never panicked and stopped running the ball. At the end of the game, the Raiders had 38 carries, compared to only 20 for the Colts. That's a shocking number. The truth is, if you can't stop the run you can be caught. "Football is all about keeping the defense off-balance. When you can run, you can use play-action. When you can do that, you can hit some big plays."
No one does this better than the St. Louis Rams. Head coach Mike Martz, last year's offensive coordinator under Dick Vermeil, likens his offense to a fastbreak in basketball. As the point guard, it's the quarterback's job to distribute the ball to the open player. Last year, the Rams had a lot of open players. With Marshall Faulk running for 1,381 yards, Warner was able to hit Isaac Bruce (77 catches, 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns), Faulk (87 catches, 1,048 yards) as well as Torry Holt and Az-Zahir Hakim. The Rams scored 526 points, the third-highest total in history. On Sunday, the Rams prevailed over Seattle in a 37-34 shootout, setting an NFL record by scoring 30 points or more in their eighth consecutive regular-season game. "It's all about talent," Billick said. "The good offenses have it. After last season we wanted to address three areas devoid of talent. Running back, wide receiver and tight end. We got Shannon Sharpe and Ben Coates and we drafted Travis Taylor and Jamal Lewis. They give us another dimension." Sharpe just happened to catch the game-winning 29-yard touchdown pass from Banks against the Jags, and Taylor (four catches, 80 yards) has been a revelation. Lewis, according to Billick, will have an increasingly visible role. "That's a scary team," Angelo said. "Randall Cunningham was not a great, great quarterback when Brian had him two years ago in Minnesota. But he was an exceptional coordinator. It's kind of like what Shanahan has done with Brian Griese in Denver. He's really brought him along and surrounded him with weapons. "If he does with Banks what he did with Cunningham, that team is going to be dangerous." Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com. |
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