Have you ever heard the term smashmouth offense and wondered what it meant? If so you are in the right place as this article is going to break down everything you need to know about smashmouth offense in football.
A smashmouth offense in football is a strategy that involves gain yards through physicality and running the ball.
Smashmouth offenses are going to utilize larger players and often include more tight ends and fullbacks than traditional offenses.
The purpose behind the personnel changes is that this will allow the offense to win more matchups when blocking defenders.
A smashmouth offense plays best with a lead as they can consistently move the ball down the field and kill the clock.
When playing from behind these offenses are much less effective as they are not built for big plays or scoring quickly.
Keys To A Smashmouth Offense
Now that you know what a smashmouth offense is, it’s time to break down the key factors that separate this offensive style from the rest.
Focus On The Run Game
The key to a smashmouth offense is that it is mainly focused on the run game. The vast majority of offenses in the NFL these days are focused on passing the ball.
Passing the ball is seen as more efficient which is why most NFL teams tend to focus on this for their offense.
A smash mouth offesne is going to run the ball at a much higher rate than other offensive styles. This means that they are going to take much longer to work their way down the field.
This gives the smashmouth offense an advantage in time of possession and also allows them to kill the clock easily if they need to.
The issue with this is that it is difficult to score points quickly when relying on a run-heavy offense. This makes comebacks much harder for this style of offense.
Winning The Line Of Scrimmage
Smash mouth offense focus on winning the line of scrimmage. Since this style of offense is so focused on running the ball, winning the line of scrimmage is important.
Teams with this style of offense will invest heavily into offensive lineman as well as blocking tight ends as these players can help them win against their blocking assignments.
By focusing on talent around the line of scrimmage the offense will be able to more effectively beat opponents with their play style.
Most defenses these days are built to stop the pass, meaning the use of high quality run blockers may give your team a noticeable advantage.
Additionally, the more times that the offense runs against the defense the more physically affected they will become. By the end of the game, the opposing defensive line should be exhausted due to the physical nature of this offense.
Change Of Personnel
Another major difference in a smash-mouth offense is the personnel used on their roster. When looking at a roster of this offensive style versus a spread offense for example you will see noticable differences.
A run heavy offense is going to feature more offensive lineman as well as more blocking tight ends and fullbacks.
These roster spots are created by carrying fewer wide receivers and tight ends that specialize in catching the ball.
When on the field this change of personnel is going to greatly affect their ability to run the ball. The increased size and weight of these positions is going to make blocking much easier on running plays.
The defense will attempt to match up with their bigger players but since most defenses are built to stop the pass they will not be able to matchup with these larger players.
This is what can make this offense so deadly. They are built for a specific purpose and since most teams do not play this style it gives them a personal advantage when running the ball.
