No-huddle is the new black.
Poor metaphors aside, the proliferation of no-huddle offenses helped set records through the first two weeks of the NFL season.
St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher, whose team ran the no-huddle offense superbly in a failed comeback attempt Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, pumped the brakes on the Rams' up-tempo approach during a news conference Monday.
Fisher, who coached some very successful run-first Tennessee Titans teams, pointed to the scoreboard (the Rams trailed 21-0) as the impetus behind the attack. He cautioned that running no-huddle could give the ball back to the opposing offense quicker and added that high passing stats don't always equal wins.
"You look at Sam (Bradford's) 300-yard plus passing games over his career, they've won two," he said, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We have the ability to do it, and there's a time to do it and a time not to do it."
Many teams -- such as the San Diego Chargers during Sunday's win overChip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles -- use the no-huddle to keep the defense from substituting and allow quarterbacks to make adjustments at the line. It doesn't mean they snap the ball any sooner than if they huddled.
Fisher's team also is chock-full of offensive players who ran no-huddle (hurry-up or otherwise) in college.
"It kind of reminded me of West Virginia," rookie wide receiver Tavon Austin said.
"I obviously did it a lot in college," Bradford said.
"I think it's good for us," receiver Austin Pettis added. "We were able to do a little bit more offensively and throw defenses off so they can't necessarily play to our tendencies and that kind of thing."
Fisher might pump the brakes, but given the players they've cobbled together, we have a hard time believing the Rams' offense won't be pressing the gas pedal in future games.
The "Around The League Podcast" recapped every Week 2 game. Click here to listen and subscribe.
