THN.com Top 10: Offense ideas for the NFL

David Tanabe and the Coyotes celebrate. Maybe the NFL should take offense advice from the NHL.

Brian Costello
2007-11-28 12:19:28

Hockey isn’t the best game around for nothing. Yes, we’re having a few problems getting more offense, but we sure don’t have a lot of 3-0 games like there was in the NFL Monday night.

The NHL produces well over five goals on average per game. So seeing that the NFL is having some serious issues generating points, they might want to borrow some of the ideas hockey people have been suggesting to promote more offense.

Top 10 offense-generating ideas to lend to the NFL:

10. Make the field goal posts wider. Heck, if some hockey people are crying to make the nets wider, super wide goal posts would almost guarantee a three-point result anytime a team pushed inside the 40-yardline.

9. Move the goal posts up 10 yards to the goal line, just like the cutting edge Canadian Football League. Now any drive to midfield is worthy of a field goal attempt.

8. Take out the first three rows of seats and make the field wider. I know, it’s starting to sound CFLish, but more room to roam for receivers makes defending a tougher job.

7. Go to 4-on-4 play permanently. Four receivers against four defenders. The other seven players per side must remain within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.

6. Make the equipment smaller. They wear almost no equipment in rugby and you don’t see any 3-0 games.

5. Get rid of clutching and grabbing. Touch a receiver before he has the ball and the defender is gone for two minutes.

4. Incorporate the instigator rule. Any defender who tackles a ball-carrier and follows up with trash talk and arm-waving gets banished for two minutes.

3. Make trap defenses illegal. No gang tackles anymore.

2. Implement the hurry-up offense. The hurry-up faceoff seems to take advantage of tired defenders in hockey. Do you think those big lumbering defensive linemen are going to be so eager to rush the quarterback if they have to run back to the line of scrimmage for the quick snap every down?

1. Get rid of all the assistant coaches. Does the left tackle really need his own assistant coach? Too many assistant coaches result in too much planning on how to shut down the opposition. All defensive coordinators in the NFL should be sent to youth soccer camps.

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