Fiction and Non-Fiction on NFL's Air Raid
Bears coach Matt Eberflus went out to Arizona to interview former Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury for the vacant offensive coordinator job on Friday, much to the chagrin of some Bears fans and delight of others.
Kingsbury is associated with what some consider a wide-open, gimmicky style of attack known as the Air Raid offense. There are many myths about the offensive style, but what he ran in the NFL was different than the old Air Raid.
It's really not that gimmicky and the way Kingsbury modified it for the NFL, it sometimes looks like any other modern spread style of attack in many ways.
Kingsbury had actually modified it while coaching Texas Tech when his QB was Patrick Mahomes so that it was more pro-oriented.
The goal of the offense is to spread out the defenders and get the quarterback to face man-to-man coverage while picking out favorable matchups.
One of the key tools in the passing game is the shallow cross with receivers running underneath zones or beating man coverage short as they run cross routes a few yards past the line of scrimmage.
If they're facing zone, there are specific ways to attack this with the passing game as well. It's known for an ability to attack cover-2 zone as well as man coverage.
Here are myths and realities about the Kingsbury offense, a pro version of Air Raid.
Myth: Teams Using This Offense Don't Run the Ball
Reality: The Cardinals did run the ball plenty.
Arizona ranked 19th in rushing attempts wth 396 the first year Kingsbury used the offense. They had been 28th in attempts the year before he arrived.. He adjusted the offense and also personnel improved to fit the attack more for the NFL by Year 2, the 2020 season. They ran the ball the sixth-most times in the league (479) then. In 2021 they ran it the seventh-most times (496).
Myth: Air Raid Teams Might Try But Can't Run
Reality: When the Cardinals were sixth in attempts they were seventh in yards rushing with 2,237 in 2020. When they were seventh in attempts in 2021 they were 10th in yards rushing. The effectiveness of their rushing attempts depended more on personnel. The year before they switched to Kingsbury's offense, the Cardinals were last in rushing.
Myth: Kingsbury as Coordinator Means Justin Fields is Traded
Reality: The assumption is if they hire Kingsbury, they'll be drafting Caleb Williams and trading Fields. That most likely would be the case but it doesn't have to be. Fields doesn't have Williams' experience in the offense but because of his speed he could be a better runner in this offense with defenders spread out more. Also, with opponents in a man-to-man defense more, their backs are turned to the running QB. So he has a head start more often. The Cardinals used this offense with Kyler Murray as one of their rushing leaders each season.
Still, it is more than likely to mean Williams will be Bears QB because Williams has run this offense since before Kingsbury was at USC as an advisor last year. He ran it at Oklahoma and at USC under coach Lincoln Riley.
Myth: Air-Raid Running Backs Are Useless
Reality: Actually, if you're not versatile in the Air Raid and you're a running back then you are useless. The back becomes a receiver or blocker even more often than in a conventional attack. They can split out to a wide receiver spot or run routes out of the backfield.
Myth: Tight Ends Really Are Useless in the Air Raid
Reality: Hardly.
The assumption is they'd be running four-receiver or five-receiver sets all the time. That might be true often but one of those receivers could be the tight end. In Luke Getsy's two seasons with the Bears offense, they targeted tight ends 82 times and 112 times. When Kingsbury took over, the Cardinals threw to tight ends only 56 times in 2019. That had more to do with their personnel than the position. The tight ends were Charles Clay, Maxx Williams, Dan Arnold and Darrell Daniels. They got Zach Ertz and after that threw it a total of 115, 108 and 86 times to tight ends in three seasons.
Myth: Offensive Linemen Must Be Wide Bodies as Pass Blockers
Reality: Being big can be important. They do need to move, though. There is double-teaming, a power-blocking scheme. There just isn't the wide run to the outside all the time with linemen taking the bucket step and then sliding down the line of scrimmage. All the running comes between the A-gap or the back choosing to cut off that to the B-gap. It's more between the tackles and not much time for moving linemen around. So in the future, Bears offensive linemen drafted or brought into camp might have to put the weight back on the way they were before Getsy was offensive coordinator.
Myth: Air Raid Means the Bears Need to Change the Receiving Corps
Reality: They do have to change it but not because they would be using Kingsbury's offense. When DJ Moore had more targets than all of the rest of their wide receivers for the entire season combined, something has to change.
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