Question for those with coaching experience on this board

[starkvegasdawg]

I have noticed almost every team when they get down close to the goal line almost always go into a power run formation with extra tight ends and linemen all bunched in tightly. The defense invariably bunches all their players in tightly too and then a massive pile of humanity ensues. If you trust your QB and he has some running skills, wouldn't a 5 wide formation be much more effective in say a goal to go situation inside the three? By having 5 wides they are forced to put 5 people on the receivers. That only leaves them 6 more players. Assuming a 4 man front that then leaves two extra players for them to work with. If they put both in as LB's in run support then they only have a one person advantage on a QB sneak. It also leaves all 5 receivers in man coverage with they only need the smallest of separation to get a completed pass for a score. If they drop one of those as a safety to one side or the other then it is their 4 linemen and one LB against your 5 offensive lineman on a QB sneak. I'll admit I have no coaching experience but it just seems to me that I would rather have my ball carrier facing as few potential tacklers as possible and that spreading the defense out is how you do that in a goal to go scenario. What say you?

[codeDawg]

Not a coach, but that's exactly why we go 5 wide on the goal line and short yardage situations often, and it usually works.

[thedawg]

In theory it would be better to spread them out but the problem is they dont necessarily spread out with you... If you go five wide they probably wont play man but play zone with means that they will put one outside linebacker over a three receiver side with a corner deep... essentially you have improve their numbers for them in the box by putting three offensive players out of it to that side... The easiest answer is the reason that the wide open spread works so well up and down the field is you make the defense cover more real estate with vertical routes.. as you get closer to the goal line the field shrinks and the backline becomes the twelfth defender... with the vertical aspect of the offense gone windows become much tighter and safeties can play closer to the box... As has already been said having a 230 pound tailback playing qb helps and thats why we spread out on the goal line some.. but if you had Tyler Russel for example the windows are just really tight to throw in

[Political Hack]

Not a football coach, but a lot of times that can kill the outside run and allow the six in the box to fire off and sell out against the inside run. however, if you have a QB like Dak it makes sense because you can roll the pocket with a run pass option, which I would anticipate seeing some tomorrow (more than we have seen).