NEW ORLEANS – The only thing simple about the Pistol offense is the genesis of its name.
Created by former Nevada head coach Chris Ault in late 2004 to stimulate a flaccid offense, Ault put his quarterback in a shortened shotgun formation with a running back behind him rather than at his side, the normal placement in the shotgun.
That led Ault to one obvious conclusion. He named his offense the Pistol because a pistol is shorter than a shotgun.
“It’s tough,” Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata admitted. “When we played Washington with RG3 (Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III), they hit us in the beginning of the game with a bunch of read option and Pistol formation plays and we had to adjust. Hopefully, it doesn’t take us too long to adjust (Sunday).”
The unusual foot speed and mental dexterity of quarterback Colin Kaepernick is why the 49ers brought this offense into the NFL but not the only reason it has been successful.![]()
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