May 10, 2013; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith (7) talks with offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg (right) during New York Jets rookie minicamp at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

This afternoon, we are going to take another look at Marty Mornhinweg and his West Coast offense. Yesterday, we broke down 2 different games to look for patterns in how the offense is run.  We looked at how drives started, the average yards per pass, among other things.

Today we are going to get even more specific.  We are going to break down a drive from last season, and look at what plays were run.  During the drive, we are going to take a look at a play, in pictures, which will show you a prime example of how the West Coast offense works.

The drive we are going to look at takes place in week 4 of the 2012 season.  There are just about 6 minutes remaining in the first half, and the Eagles and Giants have played to a 0-0 tie.  The Eagles have taken over at their own 30 yard line.

First and 10-Eagles 30 yard line: Mike Vick takes a quick three-step drop and throws an incomplete pass to the left.

Second and 10-Eagles 30 yard line:  We are going to look at this play in pictures, to see how the West Coast offense works.  Here is the formation:

Mike Vick is under center, 2 backs are behind him in the I formation.  2 receivers are set to the left, and one to the right.  Let’s role the play forward, and you will see what I mean about the West Coast offense.

Take a look at what we have this time.  Take a look at the players in the green circles.  3 receivers and 2 backs have entered into the pattern as available options for Mike Vick to throw to.   And the characteristic of the WCO comes out if you look at how far they are from the line of scrimmage.  Notice that nobody is farther out than 10 yards.  Short passing game, a hallmark of the West Coast offense.  How does it end up?

Vick hits Shady McCoy for 6 yards to set up third and short.  My point?  The West Coast offense is built on multiple options for the quarterback to choose from, a short distance down the field.  Back to the drive.

(Defensive offsides sets up first and 10 for the Eagles)

First and 10-Eagles 41 yard line: Vick throws incomplete down the field to DeSean Jackson.

Second and 10-Eagles 41 yard line: From the shotgun, Vick takes a quick drop and hits Johnson on the right side for a 17 yard pickup.

First and 10-Giants 42 yard line: Vick comes under center this time, takes a quick 5 step drop, hits LeSean McCoy in the left flat and McCoy runs ahead for 12 yards.

First and 10-Giants 30 yard line: Vick in the shotgun, takes a 3 step drop, hits Jason Avant on a quick slant for 7 yards.

Second and 3-Giants 23 yard line: Again, Vick is in the gun, but tries to cross up the Giants by calling a draw to “Shady” McCoy.  Unfortunately, McCoy trips and falls for a loss of one.

Third and 4-Giants 24 yard line: Vick drops back to pass, but in the face of the pass rush, scrambles around left end and out-of-bounds, just far enough for the first down.

First and 10-Giants 20 yard line: From the shotgun, Mike Vick surprises by handing to McCoy coming from the left side.  He runs around right end to pick up two yards.

Second and 8-Giants 18 yard line: Once again from the shotgun, Vick takes a 3 step drop and hits McCoy in the right flat.  However, the defense was ready and stopped McCoy for a loss of one.

Third and 9-Giants 19 yard line: Vick takes the snap from the gun, and hits DeSean Jackson for the 19 yard TD pass.

This drive is exactly how the West Coast offense is designed to work.  It consists of flooding the defense with many options in the short passing game, set to overload the other side with too many players to cover.  That done, is set up the rushing attack.

This is not the Jets’ offense that we have become accustomed to, ladies and gentlemen.  I can’t wait to see it in action.

May 10, 2013; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg (left) watches as New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith (7) drops back to pass during New York Jets rookie minicamp at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets’ offense is going through a metamorphosis. Gone are the days of the Eastern style of pounding the football, and in is the West Coast offense under the direction of Marty Mornhinweg. We have talked about how the West Coast offense works, in terms of being based on a horizontal passing game, and quick decisions.

We can talk in generalities about the characteristics of the WCO, but why not go deeper? Why not take a look at how Marty Mornhinweg calls a game? Are there any trends that we can look at, that may translate into the upcoming season, and hopefully years to come?

To analyze, I went back to two games in 2012, a win (week 1), and a loss (week 8). Let’s look at these games and see if the numbers tell us anything.

First we look at play distribution. In both of these games, the emphasis was on the pass. In week 1, Marty called 58 pass plays against only 30 rushing plays. In the week 8 loss to Atlanta, Marty ran 38 passing plays against only 24 rushes. This is all very typical of a West Coast offense, as it is always built on the short passes setting up the run.

Look at the average gain per pass play as well. In the week one win, the Eagles averaged 5.3 yards gained per pass play. In the week eight loss, the Eagles averaged a gain of 4.7 yards per pass play. This tells us, as expected, that there are a lot of 3 step drops happening here, with quick decisions. Little slants, in-cuts, screen passes, etc., are always going to be prevalent here. The passing game is based horizontally, not vertically, which is what keeps the average down.

Now you go to the play by play and look at trends. In the week one win, every drive except for three began with passing plays. All of those passes except for one went for over 10 yards. Same idea in the game from week 8 against the Falcons. All drives but two went for passes, and the completed passes to open a drive went for no longer than 12 yards. This is classic West Coast offense. Bill Walsh would be proud.

And screen passes? Always, there are screen passes. In week one, I counted 10 targets to running backs in the short passing game. In the week 8 matchup against the Falcons, there were only 2 short passes thrown to running backs, but the lead sustained in double digits for most of this game, so there was a mitigating factor that kept the passing game away from the running backs, but that doesn’t change the fact that Marty is fond of using the backs out of the backfield. He once had a fullback with 60 receptions in one year, which tells you all you need to know about the philosophy.

Some takeaways as far as the Jets are concerned? Well for one thing, be ready to see an offense that looks like nothing we have seen in the past with these guys. The days of 1st and 10, run, second and 7, run, and third and 5, pass, are over. The Jets are going to pass early on in their series, and will spread the ball around.

Another obvious point is that the passing game will consist solely of 3 and 5 step drops at the most. No longer are we going to see deep drops with Mark or Geno getting a long time to think about what they are doing. Instead, we will see quick drops, and quick decisions, not giving the quarterback too much time to out think themselves.

Finally, Chris Ivory and company had better have their hands ready. We see in these games that Marty uses the running back a lot in the passing game, and overall, we see that the running back is always near the top of the team in receptions. They are going to be active this fall, no doubt about that.

Bottom line is that the new Jets’ offense is not even going to resemble the offense of the past. Is this a good thing? Absolutely, AM I RIGHT?

May 10, 2013; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith (7) talks with offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg (right) during New York Jets rookie minicamp at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

What will the Jets offense look like in 2013? No one quite knows yet, but it will be an amalgam of the philosophies of new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and head coach Rex Ryan. Who the starting quarterback will be is still up in the air but if Geno Smith wins the job both coaches have been down the road of having to start rookies. The meshing of these two coaches’ philosophies will decide what direction the Jets go this year and how rookie QB Geno Smith develops.

In 2009, the Jets started Mark Sanchez immediately after being drafted in the 1st round. Rex Ryan decided it was in the best interests of that year’s team to run the ball behind the league’s best offensive line and take advantage of having Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene and Leon Washington in the backfield. The Jets ran the ball 607 times compared to only 393 passes, a 60/40 split. Sanchez’s role was minimized and it was made clear that his job was not to lose games for a team that revolved around defense and running the football. His 6.7 yards per attempt showed that he was throwing short passes and trying not to make the big mistake. Sanchez had his ups and downs with 12 touchdowns compared to 20 interceptions but the team finished 9-7, made the playoffs, won two road playoff games and were one win away from the Superbowl.

With the Eagles last year Marty Mornhinweg had the unenviable task of reworking his offense on the fly when an injury to starting quarterback Michael Vick in Week 10 forced rookie Nick Foles into the starting lineup. While Vick is the gunslinger who scrambles out of trouble and throws the deep ball proficiently, Foles is a pocket quarterback who likes to throw in rhythm and is limited athletically. Mornhinweg took advantage of Foles skill set and hid his inexperience by having him throw 157 of his 238 throws either at the line of scrimmage or short routes. This quick, short passing game (a staple of the West Coast Offense) helped Foles complete 77.7% of those short throws and allowed him to complete 61% overall for 1699 yards in just 7 games (6 starts). The Eagles passed 613 times overall and ran 413 times for a 60/40 ratio favoring the pass. Foles also had 6 touchdowns to 5 interceptions during that period as well. The Eagles defense and offensive line play were their ultimate downfall as they finished the season 1-5.