Half the NFL Is Running "Clippy" Offenses and Defenses Are Eating Them Up, Seriously
Okay, 12s, we gotta talk about something that's been bubbling under the surface in the league, and it's got me fired up. You hear a lot of coaches and teams claim they're running a cutting-edge offense, right? But what if I told you that a shocking number of them, like, 50% of the entire NFL, not even counting the real deal like McVay and Shanahan themselves, are basically running a dusty old version of what these guys did *last year*? It's like bringing a flip phone to the iPhone 15 party, and honestly, it's getting kinda embarrassing for some teams out there.
The League's Copycat Problem Is Getting Real
Think about it. Last year, Sean McVay started leaning heavy into 13-personnel, and what happened this offseason? Teams everywhere went scrambling, trying to find tight ends like their lives depended on it! That's the problem, though. While everyone else is busy trying to replicate last season's secret sauce, the actual OGs, guys like Shanahan and McVay, are already stretching the limits of what their offenses can be. They're constantly molding them, breaking them down, and building them into something new and hopefully stronger. They're not just iterating, they're reinventing. They're not stuck in the past, and that's the difference.
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"Microsoft Clippy" Offenses Are Giving Defenses the Edge
So, what does this mean for everyone else? Well, a lot of these teams are essentially running the "Microsoft Clippy" version of the offense. Remember Clippy? He was helpful once, maybe, but then he just became predictable. And guess what? This Clippy-level offense, while shockingly effective for a while, is starting to show its age. It's making defenses look brilliant, not because they're suddenly geniuses, but because the offense became predictable. That's the kicker, folks. When you're not evolving and tailoring your scheme to your *own* personnel, whatever "parlor trick" McVay or Shanahan pulled off last year, it just becomes predictable.
Take that move, for example, where an offense would use a heavier, more physical wide receiver as a blocker. The goal was to make it look like they were in 12-personnel when they were actually in 11-personnel, totally messing with the defense's reads. They'd be screwed whether they put heavier or lighter personnel on the field. Genius, right? For a minute, yeah! But when everyone starts doing it, and nobody innovates *beyond* it, it just becomes another banal play call. Outside of the actual creators, it's losing its punch.
What This Means for Our Hawks
Look, the takeaway here for us, for our Seahawks, is clear. With Mike Macdonald running the show and Brian Fleury as our OC, we can't afford to be a Clippy offense. Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, Cooper Kupp, they need an offense that's evolving, that's tailored to *them*, not some warmed-over hand-me-down from last year. We're in the early days of the season, and it's the perfect time to show we're on the cutting edge. We need to be the innovators, not the imitators. Keep that innovation coming, Hawks, because the rest of the league is catching up to old tricks.
This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.