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JamesJM
Surprise is great... a plethora of possibilities from the 'same look' is terrific... BUT....

Execution is the key ingredient. And I think Sean is more than aware of that.

As you can tell I'm a bit unsettled by what "SEEMS TO ME" to be this label being stamped on McVay as mostly being "tricky". I think he's anything BUT that. - JamesJM

Jimmy, I can see how one might read what I am saying as you appear to have done. But, to me, it's not about surprise or trickery.

McV has been called a genius. But I don't think it has been because of trickery.

What McV has been good at, I think, has been forcing defenses into indecision. They could be seeing X or Y or Z. It's going to be one of them--not really a surprise. But which will it be?

The problem, I think, is that defenses worked out ways to contain the options to handle whichever one it was. Gurley going off tackle? Jet sweep? OK. We have both covered. As college defenses learned to handle the triple option, I think defenses began last year to handle the subtle options McV was trying to present as a dilemma.

This is why I think spacing is so important. The narrower the scope of the attack, the easier it is for defenders to contain it. Create horizontal space, and otions open up that defenses will find hard to handle.

I don't think that excellence in running an offense can ever be based on trickery. and it can take many forms. However, I think it always involves keeping a defense off balance and uncertain. A good boxer throws the same 3 or 4 punches that all boxers have known for centuries. But he uses patterns and combinations that break down the other boxers defenses.

A good offense always keeps the defense off balance. In the NFL, no level of execution can overcome defenses that are sitting on the plays as they come. I think this is what McV has been talking about regarding constant adjustments.