Run-And-Shoot -- Catchy, Hopeful Spread Offense Lends New Look To Staid Playbook

Since the average NFL team goes through offenses faster than Madonna goes through hairdos, it should be no surprise that - for the second straight year - the Seattle Seahawks have added another chapter to their playbook.

In 1989 it was the one-back formation. This year it is the spread offense, Seattle's rendition of the run-and-shoot.

Yes, the run-and-shoot. The same offense high school teams have been running since the Hop was hip. The offense NFL experts have giggled at. The offense that features a frantic quarterback and a foursome of receivers who zig-zag through the defense like buses in downtown traffic.

Actually, until the ball is snapped, the spread looks a lot like the one-back formation introduced by offensive coordinator John Becker a year ago.

But read Becker's lips: The Seahawks have never run anything like the spread.

``This isn't even remotely close to the offense we ran last year,'' said Becker, in his second year with Seattle. ``This is totally different in concept, and the audible system is different. They're nothing similar. The only thing similar is there's one back in it. That's the only thing.''

The spread is potentially dangerous in several ways:

-- Adding another formation will make it more difficult for opposing defenses to prepare for the Seahawks.

``If you're a defensive coach, how much time do you devote to practicing against it?'' Becker asked. ``You might see it the whole game and potentially allotted very little practice time to it. So you look like a fool. On the other hand, what if you spent all week practicing to defend it and we never run it?''

-- The alignment, as the name indicates, spreads the defense across the field by using four wide receivers (as well as five linemen, a quarterback and a running back).

Defensive units are faced with a dilemma. Do they cover the receivers one-on-one, making themselves vulnerable to the pass? Or do they add a fifth defensive back, shoring up the pass defense but weakening against the run?

More often, the extra defensive back is used. It might take the arrival of a defensive mastermind to keep runners such as Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions - the first NFL team to institute the run-and-shoot full time - from trampling the record books.

``What the backs like about it is you're not running into a clogged-up line,'' Becker said. ``Without even having to block, there's going to be room.''

-- The passing game is even more wide open than the run.

One reason comes in what Coach Chuck Knox calls the ``moving launching point.'' Defensive linemen can no longer take for granted that Dave Krieg drops straight back into the pocket every pass. More often, he will roll left or right before passing.

The receivers, however, could wreak the most havoc on defenses. On each play from the spread, a Seahawk receiver has two to five patterns he could run, depending on how the defensive backs react. It takes the principle of audibles one step further.

``Essentially what you're telling a receiver is, `I want you to run to get open and, based on what you see as the play develops, you're taking the best route,' '' Becker said.

There is potential for error, of course. If the quarterback and receiver read the defense differently, the pass could land in the wrong place.

Another cause for Seahawk concern: Can they successfully learn a run-and-shoot offense and continue to run their old pro sets with success?

For every minute Seattle spends practicing the spread, one less minute is spent doing something else.

The spread is a watered-down version of the run-and-shoot. And that's a plus.

As receiver Paul Skansi said, ``We're not putting all our eggs in one basket. We have that formation plus our regular pro-style sets.'' Knox said there could be games when the Seahawks use it 50 percent of the time, and games when it's used no more than 10 percent.

Even if there is enough time to practice the spread, there is no guaranteeing it will work. Until recently, the NFL saw the run-and-shoot as an archaic offense better suited for the playground than the Kingdome.

Mouse Davis has nurtured the run-and-shoot since 1962, when he introduced it to the Milwaukie (Ore.) High School team. It was a big hit there.

Davis took his run-and-shoot act to the college level from 1975-1980, when he coached at Portland State University. The NCAA Division I-AA record books haven't been the same since. Twenty team records were broken, and Portland State led the nation in scoring three times.

Neil Lomax, who later became a dropback quarterback with the NFL's St. Louis and Phoenix Cardinals, ran and shot his way to 8,044 yards and 63 touchdowns passing in the 1979 and '80 seasons. Portland State's average points per game in 1980: 49.2.

Next up for Davis was the Canadian Football League. The Toronto Argonauts, cellar dwellers before Davis arrived in 1982, advanced to the league's championship game both years Davis was there. They won the league title in 1983.

The CFL's wide-open style of play (12-man offense, unlimited motion before the snap, and larger playing field) gave the run-and-shoot new possibilities.

``Everywhere it stops, hopefully, it gets a little more sophisticated,'' Davis said.

Davis jumped to the United States Football League's Houston Gamblers in 1984. Quarterback Jim Kelly threw 83 touchdown passes to a corps of receivers called the Mouseketeers.

The Denver Gold hired Davis as head coach in 1985, and were rewarded by an improved record (11-7) and playoff bid.

After the 1985 season, Davis traveled around the country as a run-and-shoot salesman. A few colleges bought the offense, and one of them, the University of Houston, particularly benefited.

``We got the NCAA record book out the other day, and took a high-lighter to the records broken last year,'' said Richard Kilwien, assistant sports information director for Houston. ``Pretty soon it looked multicolored.''

The Cougars went 22-11-1 under Jack Pardee. They were 9-3 in 1988 and 9-2 last year. Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware set national records with 4,661 total

yards and 46 passing touchdowns. Manny Hazard caught a record 142 passes, 22 for TDs. Chuck Weatherspoon averaged 9.4 yards per run, another national record.

Across town, at the Houston Oiler camp, the NFL finally bought the run-and-shoot.

June Jones, All-American at Portland State under Davis, was hired by Oiler Coach Jerry Glanville in 1987. The Oilers, using the run-and-shoot on a limited basis, went 9-6 and appeared in the playoffs for the first time in seven years. In 1988, another playoff year, they went 10-6.

Notice a pattern? Everywhere the run-and-shoot went, success followed.

``It had plenty of time to develop,'' said Davis, 58. ``I think if I did have all those years in the NFL, the media scrutiny would have buried it. It would have been discontinued.''

The offense was 27 years in the making when Davis reached center stage at last. Before the 1989 season, Coach Wayne Fontes of the Lions named Davis the quarterbacks and receivers coach, a sort-of offensive coordinator. The Lions became the first team to install the run-and-shoot as the main offense.

Media scrutiny, was plentiful after eight games yielded some pretty ugly numbers: one victory, seven losses, 30 turnovers by quarterbacks (16 interceptions, 14 fumbles) and only three passing touchdowns.

``My initial impression of Detroit last year,'' Pardee said, ``was that they were bad before that.''

``You have to remember,'' Davis said, ``I came in there and the Lions were 28th in offense the year before. So where were we coming from?

``It was slow, but that has to be expected.''

The second half was not expected. The Lions went 6-2, winning their last five games. Sanders rushed for 1,470 yards during the year. In the 13th week, the Lions threw for 316 yards against the Saints.

The NFL finally seemed ready to embrace the run-and-shoot. Sort of.

Glanville left Houston and took the run-and-shoot to Atlanta. The Oilers, now coached by Pardee, will continue to use it. Several other teams have incorporated ideas from the run-and-shoot into their offenses.

In March, Knox approached Becker with the idea to work it into the offense in Seattle.

``When he told us that was what we were going to do, most of us were happy,'' Becker said. ``I know I was happy.''

And if the spread doesn't work for the Seahawks, they can always try something new next year.