The most surprising part of Steve Spurrier’s high octane offense, is that it can be stopped with the same fundamentals used to stop all other offenses in the NFL - and actually is more susceptible to them than the West Coast style offense the 49ers play, because of the propensity of the long pass.

The biggest part of Spurrier’s offense is that it goes with the flow. Pass when you should run, and run when you should pass - this ultimately is the same idea as the West Coast Offense that Bill Walsh designed. The only way to account for this is for the defense to hold its point of attack and not over commit. Once a defense over commits against either of these offenses, two many wholes open up for a cutback style of play.

Aggressive pursuit of the quarterback is an extremely important step in defeating the Redskin’s, or any team’s offense. The problem with the ‘Skins offense is because the team likes to go deep, the extra second in the pocket is often enough time to disrupt the quarterback throw. Hence the defense needs to bring constant pressure all game.

Wining the field position battle is more important than you may think. When backed inside their redzone Spurrier’s offense will typically throw, which is against the common idea of running the ball to create some room. Forcing a throw so close to your endzone can often result in a game breaking turnover.

Finally the offense has to be able to generate first downs and keep the ball away from the Redskins. This is simple football. If the offense doesn’t have the ball, it’s much harder to score. Move down the field in 10 yard chunks and your team will be in good shape.