Ok, I adimit it.  I am always on edge when Eli stands back, tries to guess what the defense is giving him, while all our players fidgit and sqirm while they try to figure out in the last four seconds before the snap what they are suposed to do. Inevitably  the clock winds down to the last two seconds and everyone on offence is struggling to get set and prepare for the things Eli pointed out while the defense, under no such posture restrictions gets a good running start since with two seconds left they know exactly when to start their rush.

When the shotgun first came into vogue, teams like the Cowboys used it primarily when they had to pass and both teams knew it.  Defenses weren't all that sophisticated then and guys like Staubach used the quick look at the field while they were taking the snap to determine what coverage he was up against.

Now that Peyton has taken the shotgun to it's highest level everyone wants to imitate him.  Don't get me wrong.  I think the shotgun has it's place in the game plan.  I just think there is good reason to stay under center more often and these are the reasons why I think that.

1. Play action passing.   There is no better way to execute a play action pass than from under center.  Since the quarterback is running away from the defensive players they get less of a look at the ball and are more easily fooled.  In the game against the Cardinals I don't remember seeing one good play action fake in the entire game.

2.Time management.   When you just walk up to the line of scrimmage and have 15 seconds or so to snap the ball it gives the offense the edge.  This is true because inevitably the defense against our shotgun faints and dictates our plays by moving into what appears to be a certain look, then changes as the count runs down.  Suddenly Eli decides to change the play or (futily) point someone out who is setting up to blitz.  This gives the defense the edge since they might as well  know the snapcount when the clock is nearly zero.

3.  Offensive mindset.  I think we are often tentative while in the shotgun, trying more to finess the defense rather than making them reacdft to us.  In Sunday's game aginst the Cardinals my favorite series was the one where we put in two tight ends and blasted the run at the defense.  This resulted in two good runs and left us a third and two.  As I recall we didn't run for the two yards and endied up punting one more time.  As good as the Cardinal defense is against the run, I think we could have run the ball enough had we tried to make our passing game more effective.  Personlly I think we can run against any team in the league if we just commit to it.

Well, what do you think?