Rushing & The WCO

I have recently barrowed a book from my dad called "Portrait of Victory--The Season" which chronicled the entire 1984 season. It includes a stat breakdown of every game. I was surprised when I saw these stats. When most people think of the West Coast Offense, they think of prolific passing. If you are one of those that are not that enamored with our Harbaugh/Roman offense because of so much rushing, consider these stats from the 1985 Super Bowl winning season:

Week 1 Lions
Rush 32-124 Pass 16-25-0 174

Week 3 Saints
Rush 32-148 Pass 13-26-1 159

Week 4 Eagles
Rush 37-177 Pass 17-34-0 221

Week 5 Falcons
Rush 32-161 Pass 13-25-0 149

Week 11 Browns
Rush 39-213 Pass 24-30-1 255

Week 12 Bucs
Rush 38-190 Pass 19-23-0 238

Week 13 Saints
Rush 33-219 Pass 15-32-0 188

Week 14 Falcons
Rush 31-143 Pass 12-24-2 147

Week 15 Vikings
Rush 40-184 Pass 25-35-337

NFC Championship Bears
Rush 29-159 Pass 19-25-2 228

Super Bowl Dolphins
Rush 40-211 Pass 24-35-0 326



Some of these games look like they could have been played during the 2011 season.

"we will score"

Should have posted all the game statistics.

Originally posted by Youngb:
Should have posted all the game statistics.

I thought about that, but I wanted to emphasize the point and I didn't need all the games for that. There is enough there, and it would have taken.....more.....time.....

You can't compare statistics from 1984 and 2011.

The 1984 49ers had the 4th best passing offense in football. To be sure, Tyler and Craig had amazing seasons, but the '84 team was about defense.

The reason the WCO is regarded as a passing offense is because it was one of the first and certainly the most successful that made the passing game efficient and effective. Back in the early 80s passing was still not done well. Walsh and the WCO offense showed everyone that a short, accurate, timing passing offense could be near unstoppable with the right players. All the passing that has come since has been born out of this. Timing is everything in the offense now, but offenses have evolved past the WCO. Many of the principles still apply but they have been built upon. Think of the WCO as the ground level that holds up the passing skyscrapers that exist today.

If you had Wendell Tyler and Roger Craig, with OL probowlers Jim Fahnhorst, John Ayers, Fred Quillan, and Randy Cross, wouldn't you want to run more than pass? I sure would.

Originally posted by redrathman:
You can't compare statistics from 1984 and 2011.

The 1984 49ers had the 4th best passing offense in football. To be sure, Tyler and Craig had amazing seasons, but the '84 team was about defense.

What do you think the 2011 team is about?

I can compare '84 and '11. Rushing effectively and often plus great D equals wins. The point was that running the ball is a necessary component of an effective WCO. There are six games there, were it is evident that rushing was the preferred mode of attack. Less then 200 yards passing? Walsh did it.

I was too young at the time (4 years old), but my dad has always told me that the '84 team was the best 49ers team -- everything was in synch -- perfect execution in all phases. The late 80s/early 90s 49ers were more talented, but the '84 team was just perfection.

We ran for 150 yards per game that year and played physical defense -- we sacked the Bears QB in the championship game NINE TIMES.