Lets admit, it is different....

My take on it is, it is with 3 players lined up wide right, and 3 players lined up wide left, leaving not as many blockers over center, my guess is that it is to set up a quick screen to either side and if it's not covered, it can go the distance with that blocking.....I know it spreads the field.....I do worry about a 1985 Bears blitz up the gut with less blockers, but maybe that is what Hue is trying to bait defenses into....

I'm still not sure this formation works, but it is very different. I saw the Houston Oilers try this separated O Line stuff in the very early 1970's, but I never saw it work.  If Bengals make it work, it will be the first time I've ever seen it work. ...Bengals are 6-0, but I'm not sure how much the split O Line formations have contributed to the 6-0 start....I'm hoping for the best on this strange formation, but still not sure what the heck it is suppose to do against the defense. I'm only guessing at what it is I'm seeing, and maybe only Hue and the Bengals know what the heck it is. ...So far, the best part of this thing to me is that they don't use it all the time, lining up in many other formations. The Bengals do line up in many formations and I have seen 2 tight ends on plays, I have seen 4 man backfields like old 1960s college ball....and this split O line thing.....One thing about the 6-0 Bengals, you never know what is coming next as far as offensive formations. It is a very Multiple Attack Offense.  Hue said he would use everything and the kitchen sink, and he sure as heck is. 

Emory and Henry formation
It's a pure #s game, and 4 option play, and the option goes towards the more confused side or where the numbers are best. Once they split out, if they are not prepared, the defense scatters to cover ground. Occasionally numbers or matchup favour one side and a screen pass is thrown that way. Typically as we've seen this year it's been an option run. 3 players and a QB vs 4 defenders. This turns into a read option, with the OL blocking everyone but one of the DEs, and Andy Dalton reads the DE.
While it's not typically the most explosive play, it's a very good way to get 5-10 yards based on matchups and it forces the defense to think about the option of the team doing that throughout the game

(10-22-2015, 12:14 PM)eoxyod Wrote: Emory and Henry formation
It's a pure #s game, and 4 option play, and the option goes towards the more confused side or where the numbers are best. Once they split out, if they are not prepared, the defense scatters to cover ground. Occasionally numbers or matchup favour one side and a screen pass is thrown that way. Typically as we've seen this year it's been an option run. 3 players and a QB vs 4 defenders. This turns into a read option, with the OL blocking everyone but one of the DEs, and Andy Dalton reads the DE.
While it's not typically the most explosive play, it's a very good way to get 5-10 yards based on matchups and it forces the defense to think about the option of the team doing that throughout the game

OK, what if a defense goes 1985 Bears and just sends everybody fast up the gut to clobber the QB with less blocking ?......or is it designed to beat exactly that ?...Then there are D Lineman such as that monster with Houston, and those guys with no blocking, I would not want to be the QB. 

It really helps to have a QB who has the ability to get rid of the ball really quick and who can tell when to tell the difference in coverage and protections. I wouldn't trust to many QBs to pull it off, but I'd trust Andy to spot that weakness and exploit it.

(10-22-2015, 12:17 PM)kevin Wrote: OK, what if a defense goes 1985 Bears and just sends everybody fast up the gut to clobber the QB with less blocking ?......or is it designed to beat exactly that ?

Then you would get it out to the sidelines immediately. The numbers dictate where to go, so if they don't follow guys out wide you go wide, if they spread out wide with the numbers you go to a run.  If you don't like the look you audible the Tackles back in.

I feel like part of it is just Hue wanting to make other teams spend valuable practice time learning how to defend a formation that will probably rarely have anything used out of it. 

This ain't your father's run run pass offense of one Robert Bratkowski..

(10-22-2015, 12:17 PM)kevin Wrote: OK, what if a defense goes 1985 Bears and just sends everybody fast up the gut to clobber the QB with less blocking ?......or is it designed to beat exactly that ?...Then there are D Lineman such as that monster with Houston, and those guys with no blocking, I would not want to be the QB. 

What AU said. That ball gets out in a second to a wideout and with Andre and Zeitler against two defensive backs with Marvin Jones receiving, that is an easy TD

(10-22-2015, 12:22 PM)grampahol Wrote: This ain't your father's run run pass offense of one Robert Bratkowski..

Hey now! Have some respect! It's the "run-run-shovel pass" offense.

(10-22-2015, 12:21 PM)Au165 Wrote: Then you would get it out to the sidelines immediately. The numbers dictate where to go, so if they don't follow guys out wide you go wide, if they spread out wide with the numbers you go to a run.  If you don't like the look you audible the Tackles back in.

Yes, I have seen them audible the tackles back in, or just go ahead and run the play with the split O Line across the field...It is very different....As I say, The Houston Oilers tried this thing about 45 years ago, but I never saw it work, and it was mostly just laughed at by the Monday Night Team of Howard and Don and Frank. ...If Bengals make it work, it will be the first time I've ever seen it work. ....It is indeed a change-up. Not a formation Bengals use that much in a game. 

I do appreciate the feed back because even the TV announcers don't know what this thing is and offer little info on it. The Emory and Henry Formation, it has a name. Most TV announcers can't give you that info. If I ever see this thing work for a big play, unlike the old Oilers, I may have to do the Dr Frankenstien and yell at the TV, " It's Alive, It's Alive ". 

It's a formation almost immune to the blitz. At worst, the play is broken up and incomplete. At best, you get some decent blocking and break one. If a defense sees the offense so spread out though, I doubt they bring the house. Too risky.

They have run out of that formation a couple times for 4 yard gains. Not sure you'd call that "successful" but it gives the D something to think about and if a tackle is broken by the RB they are spread out and he gets to the second level.

(10-22-2015, 12:17 PM)kevin Wrote: OK, what if a defense goes 1985 Bears and just sends everybody fast up the gut to clobber the QB with less blocking ?......or is it designed to beat exactly that ?...Then there are D Lineman such as that monster with Houston, and those guys with no blocking, I would not want to be the QB. 

Then you audible back to a traditional alignment, and run a play as normal.

I love this formation because it's almost guaranteed to pick up positive yards, simply because the ball goes wherever there's a numbers advantage. Not to mention it's just a cool looking formation.

Hue is the maestro....

(10-22-2015, 12:17 PM)kevin Wrote: OK, what if a defense goes 1985 Bears and just sends everybody fast up the gut to clobber the QB with less blocking ?......or is it designed to beat exactly that ?...Then there are D Lineman such as that monster with Houston, and those guys with no blocking, I would not want to be the QB. 

In the shotgun, Dalton would get the ball out quicker than a defender could get to him.