[81alum]

This whole debate is ancient, although it is nice to see 538 discovering what Bill Walsh discovered in the 1970s.  Walsh emphatically thought you had to pass to set up the run--much more than the other way around.  This was true both at Stanford and later at the 49ers.  Pass blocking, he said, exhausts a defensive line more effectively than run blocking.  You pass first in the first half to get a lead, and with the defensive line worn down you run the ball late in the game to eat clock and seal the win.  Having been victimized by the pass for a half, the defense will respect it and be even more vulnerable to the run. 

I'm going to give Shaw credit for this season.  He adjusted to the personnel and the success we were having.  It certainly felt to me that as the season went along he became far less predictable and abandoned the run-first mentality that has so often typified him.

[81alum]

This whole debate is ancient, although it is nice to see 538 discovering what Bill Walsh discovered in the 1970s.  Walsh emphatically thought you had to pass to set up the run--much more than the other way around.  This was true both at Stanford and later at the 49ers.  Pass blocking, he said, exhausts a defensive line more effectively than run blocking.  You pass first in the first half to get a lead, and with the defensive line worn down you run the ball late in the game to eat clock and seal the win.  Having been victimized by the pass for a half, the defense will respect it and be even more vulnerable to the run. 

I'm going to give Shaw credit for this season.  He adjusted to the personnel and the success we were having.  It certainly felt to me that as the season went along he became far less predictable and abandoned the run-first mentality that has so often typified him.