(note: sorry about skipping "Thursday's Things" in this space yesterday. Kinda busy at the homestead. But they'll be back next week -- as if you just can't wait, right?)
The Lions' new coach, Wayne Fontes, had just inherited his first head coaching job and he looked around the league and got some ideas.
The Houston Oilers, with Warren Moon at quarterback, were running an offense that mesmerized the newly-hired Fontes -- who had the "interim" tag dropped from his title after coaching the final five games of the 1988 season in relief of the tardily-disposed Darryl Rogers. The Oilers, with some degree of success, were placing four wide receivers in pattern, running around the field, and a single running back in the backfield -- often acting as a decoy. There was no tight end. They called it the Run-and-Shoot, or Run 'n Shoot, for those more impatient writers.
Fontes was enthralled. He envisioned his Lions, so pathetically boring and predictable in 1988, as an NFC version of the AFC Oilers' frantic offense. He hired one of the offense's inventors, Mouse Davis, to coordinate things. Then Fontes snapped up wide receivers, left and right. Then, in April 1989, he had the mother of all football gifts dropped in his lap.
Barry Sanders, the jitterbug runner from Oklahoma State, was still on the board when the Lions drafted #3 overall. The Packers, picking one slot ahead of them, shocked the football world by selecting the steroid-built offensive tackle Tony Mandarich out of Michigan State. So Sanders, in all his splendor, was there for the taking, adorning the window as the Lions went on the clock.
Doubtful that they needed all their alloted time to nab Sanders, who was 20 years old, 5'8" on his tippy toes, and with legs of granite. And with speed. But more moves than speed. Moves that few had seen before, and even fewer have seen since.
So Fontes had the back for his run 'n shoot. He had some receivers, though they were hardly the quality of the ones being used in Houston at the time. His run 'n shoot definitely had the "run" part secured. It was the "shoot" that became problematic.
Fontes and Mouse unveiled their new offense in a pre-season game against the Browns at the Silverdome, and the results were less-than-thrilling. The Lions had receivers running around the field, alright -- as promised -- but the QBs had the darndest time finding them. And, when they did zero in on a target, often times the target violated a rule of thumb in such an offense: you must catch the ball.
The Oilers had Moon and gifted receivers like Ernest Givins, Haywood Jeffires, and Curtis Duncan. They didn't have the "run" like Sanders, but they blew the Lions away with the "shoot." The Lions were trying to make it a go with Rodney Peete or Bob Gagliano at QB, and pass catchers like Richard Johnson, Robert Clark, and Kez McCorvey. It wasn't the NFC version of the Oilers. It was more like a strike-season version of the Oilers.
Ahh, but the Lions had Sanders, and the Run 'n Shoot quickly became the Run 'n Run Some More. With receivers galore spreading the defense, Sanders was able to run wild. He was even able to do so with his blockers running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Sanders certainly led the league in Most Yards Gained By Himself.
The Run 'n Shoot was put to rest after a few seasons, when Dan Henning came in to run the offense and installed a more traditional tack. Part of the reasoning, it was reported, was that Mouse Davis thought the Lions' problem was that they were "scoring too fast." Whatever. Eventually out were Peete and most of the second-rate receivers. In was a tight end and a fullback.
Today the Lions again have receivers running around all over the field. But they do not have Sanders -- no one close, really -- so you don't dare call Mike Martz's packages Run 'n Shoot. Today, the "shoot" is in place, while the "run" is a concern. Still, with a mostly one-dimensional attack, the Lions put 36 points on the board in Oakland on Sunday. One can only imagine what they're capable of if they get their "run" in order.
By the way, using a version of the offense Henning installed in 1992, the Lions went into the playoffs three years later, against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles destroyed the Lions, 58-37 -- and it wasn't close to being that close. The Eagles QB who helped fillet the Lions that New Year's Eve was Rodney Peete.
Go figure.
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