No-huddle offense fits Colts perfectly.(Indianapolis Colts football team)(Brief Article)

When I watch the 2001 Colts, I can't help but reflect back to 1989, when I was a scout with the Browns. We played the Oilers in the last week of that season with the AFC Central title on the line.

Houston scored 20 straight points, the last coming with 4:46 left in the game, to go ahead, 20-17. Still trailing with 2:30 remaining, our coach, Bud Carson, ordered a no-huddle offense. Houston had its dime defensive personnel on the field--six defensive backs, only one linebacker and a four-man pass rush--because the Oilers assumed we had to throw to win. We did throw five times, but on a drive that lasted 1:51 and took nine plays we also ran the ball--quite effectively--four times. As we moved rather easily down the field, there was a quarterback sneak by Bernie Kosar and three productive runs by Kevin Mack, including a game-winning, 4-yard touchdown run.

It was a brilliant coaching move by Carson. Not the no-huddle, but running the ball when the Oilers were set up to deal with the pass and they couldn't adjust their personnel.

Since then, many teams have flirted with using the no-huddle offense as their base package. The Bills had great success using it with Jim Kelly at the helm.

This system is more commonly known as the two-minute drill, but when used in normal game situations it can sustain mismatches against a certain defensive package--as the Browns did in that 1989 game.

And when you have the exceptional variety of talent as the Colts do, why let opponents substitute personnel to fit the situation?

Quarterback Peyton Manning is practically an extension of coordinator Tom Moore on the field. Manning loves operating tins system, because it allows him to call his own plays and dictate the ...