For those who are relatively new to the NFL or who haven’t seen the television series ‘Friday Night Lights,’ Smashmouth Football is a popular American Football term.
It’s where the name of our website comes from!
It simply refers to an offence that relies heavily on a strong running game.
The reasoning behind it is by running the ball, you keep the clock ticking and results in a higher time in possession. This psychical style of offense also results in long drives which wears down the opposing defence by keeping them on the field.
The term itself was coined during the 1984 football season after Texas Christian University football coach Jim Wacker used it to describe his Horned Frogs.
Smashmouth Football, or power-football, is often run out of the I-formation or the wishbone formation with the tight-ends and receivers used primarily as blockers. Traditionally in this scheme, most of the football plays run by a Smashmouth Offense were hand-offs to a full-back or tailback.
Also by having a run-heavy offence provides opportunities for quarterbacks to run play-action, where the defence expects a run so the linebackers come closer to the line of scrimmage, which leaves spaces behind them in which to attack by throwing the football.
This approach was often used in the NFL by Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi, after whom the Superbowl trophy is named.
In recent weeks, the New England Patriots have been the most prominent example of a team using Smashmouth Football, especially since both their starting and back-up quarterbacks, Mac Jones and Brian Hoyer, were sidelined through injury and they called upon rookie Bailey Zappe to start under centre.
Welcome to Smashmouthing Football 