Arthur Smith is Bringing the Pistol to the Steelers (+)

Now that training camp is under way in Latrobe, we’re getting our first real look at the new-look Steelers offense, coordinated by Arthur Smith. Preseason is a good way to get a feel for the base install on what a unit will look like, where it’s more singularly focused on base concepts rather than specific gameplans focused on attacking a particular opponent.

One thing that we’ve already seen a heavy dose of thus far is the pistol formation, which is one of the ways that Smith’s offense has evolved over time to fit his personnel. With that being said, I wanted to do a deep dive on the pistol: covering the origins of the formation, the benefits of the alignment and most importantly, how the Steelers will use it to attack defenses on Sundays.

Origins

When it comes to offensive architecture, the pistol is actually one of the more “new” inventions that we see today at all levels and the genesis of the formation can be linked back to former Nevada head coach Chris Ault. In his return to his alma mater in the mid-2000s, he created the pistol. He recruited a dual-threat quarterback named Colin Kaepernick, who was a total freak show from a physical tools standpoint, with a strong arm while also being a dynamic runner at 6-foot-5, 233 pounds.

Their partnership not only brought an outside the box idea to life, but created an attack so dynamic that Nevada led the entire NCAA in rushing yards (345 yards per game). The following season, the Wolfpack went 13-1 and that run of success not only led to many records being shattered, but his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Believe it or not, creations in football tend to have a trickle up effect, with NFL offenses quickly taking note of what is successful at the collegiate level. As Kaepernick was entering the NFL, offensive gurus around the league were in the lab trying to implement the pistol into their offensive scheme. Many coaches began to tinker with the idea but Kyle Shanahan, one of the best offensive minds in the modern football era, started to use the formation as their base offense attack with a rookie named Robert Griffin III, who would win Rookie of the Year honors while leading Washington to the playoffs. Since then, we’ve seen other coaches such as Andy Reid and now, Arthur Smith, lean into the philosophy and have success.

Smith’s Falcons Usage

2022 was the season that Arthur Smith began to incorporate the pistol into his offense and led the NFL in snaps from this alignment according to SIS, as the Atlanta Falcons moved on from a pocket passer in Matt Ryan to a mobile quarterback in Marcus Mariota. The following season, there was a slight uptick in usage with 271 of their called plays being from the pistol, accounting for roughly 25% of their total snaps from scrimmage. There aren’t many stats that favor the Falcons offense last season but they did average a very healthy and respectable 4.5 yards per carry while in the pistol, with it being one of their most effective rushing formations.

Run Game

Before getting into the specifics, it’s worth mentioning some of the more basic advantages of running from the pistol as opposed to running from shotgun. In a traditional shotgun formation, the running back while align directly beside the quarterback in a sidecar starting position. The issue with that is you can only run in one direction for the most part, so if the back is aligned on the quarterbacks left side, the ball is headed to the right and vice versa. This is information that the defense can use against the offense, whether that’s how they align their front or just tipping off the front seven on what is to come once the ball is snapped.

There are many benefits to running out of the pistol, specifically as it relates to Smith’s core rushing concepts: both mid and wide zone. Most teams at the NFL level, don’t like running outside zone out of the shotgun because of how long it takes the play to develop, with the running back having to cross the quarterback’s face to receive the handoff, traveling laterally for quite some time before arriving at his landmark. NFL defenses are incredibly fast at all three levels and the east-west nature of this play allows for quick run throughs from the defenders at the second level which can disjoint the timing of the play and muddy the read for the back. The pistol fixes that issue.

In the pistol, the quarterback aligns four yards behind the center with the tailback another three yards or so directly behind him. The biggest benefit to this is that everything happens quicker, with the back receiving the handoff quicker than he would from under center, with a more downhill path that allows him to get north almost instantly. That split second difference may not seem like much but this can be the difference in a negative play and an explosive one. From there, the typical outside zone rules will apply, with the back responsible for reading each gap from outside-in. Again, with the alignment of the back, the play caller is free to direct runs to either direction, keeping the defense guessing and off balance.

When ault invented the pistol, the inside zone play was an integral part of his offense and when combined with all of the variations off it, this became his go-to concept. Smith’s offense is the most zone-centric rushing attack in the league and he will sprinkle in some inside zone from time to time. This concept gets downhill in a hurry and is particularly effective against light boxes and over fronts specifically. On the play below, you’ll see that they have the tight end seal off the edge defender but there are a number of ways to control that defender, whether by having the quarterback read him or with a slice block from the opposite side. Against those looks, you should get multiple double teams inside to create a running lane for the back. There are a myriad of different ways to run this concept and by aligning in the pistol, you aren’t tied to having to run it in one direction like you would be from the gun.

Beyond the core elements of his run scheme, Arthur Smith has some changeups in his bag. His most creative curveball is the windback counter play. Traditionally, windback was referred to at times as counter without a puller. The offensive line blocks with the same exact footwork that mimics outside zone but the running back counters to the backside. Where his design differs from others is that he choose to pull an interior lineman to kick out the edge defender, while using a lead blocker to spring the back into daylight. The flexibility of this concept is what makes it special, as it uses covered/uncovered rules and gives the offense the option to pull the center or guard on any occasion depending on the front. It’s an excellent compliment from his base runs and one that the Steelers will assuredly deploy in some form or fashion this season.

While not a huge gap-scheme guy overall, Smith will call some duo out of the pistol as well. These plays typically came out of 12 personnel, while using insert motion from one of the tight ends. Duo is often referred to as power without a puller, relying on the offensive line generating vertical displacement with their double teams and leaving the mike linebacker unblocked. That player is the running backs responsibility and this requires patience similar to what you were used to seeing when Le’Veon Bell was running amuck on this play during his days as a Steeler. The mike eventually has to make a decision on his path and it’s the backs responsibility to make him wrong. This concept is always run to the side of the tight end so it’s incredibly important that the tight ends in the offense are capable of base blocking an edge player one on one.

Pass Game

The entire premise of the pistol formation is that it bucks the predictability of under center and shotgun formations. We have a plethora of data available that shows us that most quarterbacks are way more effective throwing off play action than they are in straight drop back situations because of the stress that it puts on a defense. The issue with the gun is that while you can still run play-action, the effect is somewhat dampened by position of the back and timing of the fake which doesn’t allow for deeper route concepts that offensive coordinators lean on to create explosive plays. You often hear about how successful coordinator marry the run and pass game together with play action being a main factor in that equation. Because of your staple under center runs are available in the pistol, it keeps the menu completely open and allows you to blend pro-style and spread ideas together via this formation.

One big complaint that some quarterbacks have with play action is that they are turning their back to the defense and with defensive coordinators changing the picture post snap these days, it can challenge the quarterbacks processing speed and field vision. In the pistol, the quarterbacks receives the snap just a little bit quicker than he would in a traditional gun formation and his back is turned to the defense for less amount of time than if he were under center. The play fake from the pistol has a gravity to it, often times pulling the linebackers towards the line of scrimmage, opening up space over the middle of the field and the threat of the run can slow down pass rushers from simply pinning their ears back to meet the quarterback at his landmark.

The play action element has been missing in the Steelers offense for quite some time and Smith’s offense should bring this back to relevancy. Even with his preference for heavier personnel groupings, he will still throw the ball out of those sets with an emphasis on pushing the ball down the field to hunt big plays. Because of the tight splits of the receivers, emphasis on being a run-heavy team from a play calling perspective and other factors, his offense saw more cover-3 than anyone else in the league last season. These regulated looks can foster opportunity because there’s so many concepts that work well versus this defense, particularly when you can factor in play action. Below, is an example of him flexing out Kyle Pitts to the slot on the post-wheel route combination (Sean Payton calls this Flutie-Sting). This is nice counter to his sail concept variations that are a huge staple of his passing game attack.

In free agency, the Pittsburgh Steelers picked up a pair of quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, both of whom are gifted deep ball throwers in their own regard. However, neither of them have been known for attacking the middle of the field and while that isn’t likely to change drastically, Smith does have ways of helping his quarterbacks attack between the hashes. One concept that he likes quite a bit is dagger, which is a vertical clear out and a dig route breaking in to the intermediate middle portion of the field. In the clip below, you’ll notice the offensive line blocking line it’s wide zone before setting a max protection pocket. The gravity of the play fakes pulls the linebacker out of the middle of the field to the point where he can’t recover. This ball is intended to go to dig and if for some reason it’s covered, the ball can easily be checked down to live to fight another day.

In terms of passing the ball, there’s more that you can’t do out of the pistol. The bootlegs off outside zone to punish defenses for being overzealous in pursuit and your full menu of quick game and drop back passing concepts are all on the table. The possibilities are essentially endless. But in terms of why you’d use the pistol over a regular shot gun formation boils down to a more effective version of play action pass game. There’s no doubt that we’re going to see more of this formation than we ever had with the Steelers and hopefully that leads to more success on the offensive side of the ball.