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Why the NFL is so obsessed with the Wing T offense
No run, no fun. In 2024, the best offenses in the league run the ball. This statement might sound like it’s coming from the ’90s, but with how defenses are prioritizing stopping explosive pass plays, living through the air is a hard way to live. However, the best offenses aren’t just lining up in an I-formation and calling iso and power over and over again. To be a good running team, you have to be creative and deceptive. Offensive coaches are looking for ideas anywhere, and multiple teams have turned to one of the original offensive systems: the Wing T.
The Wing T is a three-back offense. The original formation has two backs in the backfield and a wing lined up outside and behind the tight end. The wing serves as a third back who goes in motion to receive handoffs or fake like he’s getting a handoff. Though the formation and plays can vary from iteration to iteration, the core principles are deception, sleight of hand and speed. The goal is to displace linebackers with motions and fakes and quickly hit the defense with runs away from the fake.
The Arizona Cardinals are bludgeoning defenses with an offense that resembles a single-wing offense, which is the original offense the Wing T evolved from. Mike McDaniels’ Miami Dolphins offense ranked first in yards per carry (5.1) last season by integrating Wing T principles, ideas and plays. Matt LaFleur won games with his starting quarterback hurt by transforming the Green Bay Packers offense into a modern Wing T offense. Some of the league’s top play callers — Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Ben Johnson, and Kyle Shanahan — have sprinkled Wing T concepts into their play sheets for years. Today, we’re seeing Wing T plays all over the league.
Why is the Wing T making its way into the NFL?
The prominence of the jet sweep — in which a receiver goes into a motion and gets a direct handoff running to the perimeter — comes directly from the Wing T. During Jim Harbaugh’s first stint as the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, he started running wide receivers fly sweeps for Ted Ginn Jr. Harbaugh credited Sacred Heart Prep’s Pete Lavorato with teaching him the fly sweep after Harbaugh attended a clinic on Lavorato’s offense, a version of the Wing T.
A Jet(tas) sweep for the lead!@JJettas2 | @Vikings
📺: #MINvsNO on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/rvQRHI7Cq9 pic.twitter.com/kf2HLyMupQ— NFL (@NFL) October 2, 2022
Now, every team has the jet sweep in its offense. The play keeps defensive ends honest. Faking the jet sweep to receivers, then handing off the ball or tossing it to running backs displaces linebackers. The misdirection gets them looking and leaning the wrong way, which is one of the core features of every Wing T offense.
16th TD on the season for Raheem Mostert!
📺: #MIAvsWAS on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/xvCjbLUIcN pic.twitter.com/YYOK0FZFNt— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
Wide receivers as runners and run game diversity
Dan Casey built his reputation by posting interesting plays on social media. He now consults for NFL teams, helping them add new ideas to their playbooks.
“There’s just a greater need for run game diversity and being able to get multiple guys touches,” Casey explained. “I think the days of being able to just line up in single back and run wide zone are over. Defenses just gobble that up.”
Casey talked about what Liam Coen is doing with their two-back sets, using Rachaad White and Bucky Irving at the same time. Neither back specializes in lead blocking, so you can’t just have one of them block for the other one. You have to find ways to stress defenses to create an advantage for whoever the ball carrier is. Wing T plays help you do that.
Shanahan started using Deebo Samuel as a runner years ago in the 49ers’ Deadpool package. That has stressed defenses because they have to treat him as a wide receiver and trot out their nickel (five defensive backs) personnel when Samuel is part of a three-receiver set, but San Francisco can still run two-back plays when he’s on the field.
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“You just switch some guys up, and whatever runs look good versus fronts you are going against,” Shanahan explained.
“In just the conversations I’ve had with a lot of NFL guys … obviously, you have your running back, and then every team wants a receiver that they can hand the ball off to. Not just on sweeps, but on inside handoffs as well,” Casey said.
In the above clip, the Detroit Lions are running a direct rip-off out of the Wing T playbook: a staple concept called a “Sally” variant. On the play, there needs to be an outside-run-fake element with a handoff to a player in front of the quarterback, typically with pulling linemen either trap blocking or lead blocking. The Lions ran it with Jared Goff faking a pitch to the running back before handing it off to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in front of him, with the center and tackle lead blocking for him. Sally is the most prominent Wing T play you’ll see across the NFL on Sundays.
Giving defenses new looks and adding layers to plays
“Defenses have gotten really good at fitting this, the basic version of run plays,” Casey said. “So you do have to change the math or change the fit somehow. The nice thing about these Wing T concepts is there’s not a paradigm for defenses fitting it. It’s not like they’re seeing it every day in practice. So when I talk to NFL guys, a lot of times they’re like, ‘I just kind of need something that people haven’t really seen much of because once they see it and rep it, they can kind of squash it.’”
Of course, running a basic inside zone play will still work if you block it right, but defenses have seen it so many times that they can instinctually play it and get to the right places. Whether they can hold their ground, shed blocks and make tackles is a different story, but just getting defenses to second-guess where they need to be or where their run fit is gives the offense an advantage. That’s where these Wing T backfield actions come into play.
In this clip, the Kansas City Chiefs are simply running an inside zone play. Still, before Patrick Mahomes handed off the ball to the running back, he turned his back to the defense to fake a reverse to a wide receiver before completing his spin and getting back in position to hand off the ball to the running back. The Chiefs also added another layer of deception because typically teams run inside zone away from the side that the back is offset to. So if the back is lined up to the quarterback’s left, they’d run zone right. In the clip, the running back was lined up to Mahomes’ left but ran inside zone left.
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Another core tenant of the Wing T is the quarterback turning his back to the defense to execute fakes. Many Wing T playbooks have a whole series of plays called “spinner,” which involve the quarterback spinning to hide the ball from the defense. With the increase in shotgun formations across the league, quarterbacks will usually hand off the ball with the ball carrier coming in front of them. By integrating spinner concepts into the shotgun, they get the element of deception back even from the gun.
Taking it to the next level
The greatest lesson to take from Wing T offense isn’t the play but the sequencing. With every play, there’s a counter and another counter. If a defense overplays the outside, it can fake an outside play and hit you inside, or vice versa. McVay took the league by storm when he was first hired by the Los Angeles Rams, building his playbook with this philosophy in mind. With the Dolphins, McDaniel has taken the deception and layering element to another level. The footwork and sleight-of-hand ball fakes Tua Tagovailoa is executing are an elevation of the techniques the Wing T has established.
Week 10, 12:09 remaining in the first quarter, first-and-10
On this play, Tagovailoa first faked an inside handoff to the running back to his left before tossing the ball to receiver Malik Washington on a reverse. The ingenious part of this play is having the center and guard fake like they are down-blocking before leaking out to the perimeter to block for Washington.
Tagovailoa reversed out to fake counter to the left. The right guard and tight end also false-pulled to the left to get the linebackers to step in that direction. Tagovailoa hid the ball after his pivot before tossing the ball to Washington. He did a good job of barely moving his body while facing the sideline so the defense wouldn’t suspect he had the ball and made as little movement toward Washington as possible.
Rookie Malik Washington takes the ball 18 yards to the house! @MiamiDolphins get the scoring started.
📺: #MIAvsLAR on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/zv7bB0aGDx— NFL (@NFL) November 12, 2024
This play is directly from a Wing T playbook but with some tweaks.
The quarterback turning his back to the defense and all the fake possibilities adds more layers of deception when teams want to pass the ball, leading to better play action.
Here, the Packers’ Malik Willis turned his back to the defense to fake an outside handoff before throwing a screen.
In today’s age of easy access to information, offenses are looking everywhere for inspiration and ways to throw defenses off. Naturally, they’ve returned to football’s origins for inspiration because the principles of the offense never go out of vogue. Deception and sequencing with speed are a lethal combination. Wing T offenses weaponized those elements near perfection decades ago. Modern offenses are taking notes and adding their own spin to them.
(Top photo of Tua Tagovailoa: Bryan Bennett / Getty Images)
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The wait is officially over. The FIFA World Cup has arrived.
For the first time ever, three nations—the United States, Mexico, and Canada are co-hosting the tournament. It is also the largest FIFA World Cup in history, expanding to a 48-team field. Squads from around the world have arrived in North America with one ultimate goal: capturing the iconic World Cup trophy.
Here’s the latest look at some of the most notable news surrounding the World Cup.
June 12:
Official Injury Update On Neymar
Brazilian star Neymar Jr. will officially miss Brazil’s opening match against Morocco on Saturday. Neymar was named to Brazil’s 2026 FIFA World Cup squad despite a calf injury, and now won’t be available early on. Manager Carlo Ancelotti said that “Neymar is working very hard to recover as quickly as possible.
“The expectation is that he will recover and rejoin the group next week.”
Google Doodle Has World Cup Fever
In case fans didn’t already have World Cup fever, they can open their web browser.
Google is officially ready for USA’s opener against Paraguay, as the home page features a custom, USA-themed Google Doodle.
The Doodle features red text with a blue outline, as well as a soccer ball along with an interchanging USA crest replacing the “O’s” in Google.
James Cordon Stretches With Christian Pulisic
James Corden joined Christian Pulisic and the United States men’s national team for a training session ahead of their World Cup opener against Paraguay.
After meeting with head coach Mauricio Pochettino and going through a film session with the players, Corden and Co. hit the pitch for practice, where he helped serve as a water boy.
Corden tried to help Pulisic stretch out his legs after practice before he was stopped by a member of the coaching staff. As Corden walked off, Pulisic sprayed him with a water bottle.
DR Congo Arrives to the World Cup in Style
The DR Congo men’s national team isn’t set to play until Wednesday, June 17, against Portugal in Group K, but they’ve already made a statement upon arrival in Houston, Texas.
The squad arrived in style, stepping off the plane in striking black, jaguar-inspired outfits that quickly turned heads. The bold look fits their nickname, Les Léopards, and sets the tone for their World Cup presence before they even face Portugal.
DR Congo may be heavy underdogs, but they’re already winning where it counts off the pitch, taking the fashion battle before kickoff.
Canada’s Jesse Marsch Takes Dig At USA
The Canadian men’s national team is set to face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday afternoon. Ahead of the match, head coach Jesse Marsch took a subtle jab at the United States men’s national team during his remarks on Thursday.
“In the U.S., we had to beg players to sing the national anthem,” Marsch said.
The United States conducted a months-long search for a new head coach in 2023, with Marsch emerging as the frontrunner and making it clear he wanted the job. Instead, they chose to rehire Gregg Berhalter, a decision that may have left Marsch with some lingering resentment.
Marsch’s subtle jab could take on added stakes if the United States and Canada meet during the FIFA World Cup. The two nations could potentially face off as early as the Round of 32 or the Round of 16.
June 11:
The pressure of competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup is high, but that hasn’t stopped players from enjoying some downtime with their teammates. Norway star Erling Haaland was spotted at the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Haaland appeared to be enjoying himself as the Hurricanes secured a Game 5 victory, taking a 3-2 series lead over the Golden Knights. The Manchester City striker drew plenty of attention from fans in attendance as he took in the action from the stands.
The Norway star was seen celebrating in the stands before turning his attention back to international duty, with Norway set to face Iraq in Group 1 play on Tuesday, June 16.
Australia Coach Popovic Signs Extension
Australia coach Tony Popovic has signed a contract extension through early 2027 on the eve of his team’s World Cup opening match against Turkey on Saturday.
Football Australia said Friday that the 52-year-old Popovic’s deal now extends through the Asian Cup, which will take place in January and early February in Saudi Arabia.
The former Australia international was hired in September 2024 and led the Socceroos to qualification for the 48-team tournament.
“I’m proud to lead my country into a World Cup, but most importantly, I want to ensure that our team is fully prepared and focused on our group matches against Turkey, the United States, and Paraguay,” he said of Australia’s opponents in Group D.
Canada Captain Sidelined For Opening Match
Canada’s captain and star defender Alphonso Davies will miss Canada’s World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Davies’ status has been questionable due to an ACL tear and other injuries during the club season, which limited Davies to appearing in two of Canada’s last 21 games.
Davies is one of the co-host’s more valuable players in terms of talent and experience, including 58 appearances in nine years with the national team. However, Davies’ injury does not rule him out of the entire tournament. His injury update and restraint from the opening match serves as a caution to heal his injury as the group stage unfolds.
After playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS, Davies transferred to Bayern Munich, where he’s played since 2019. Canada is set to play Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, followed by Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.
Captain Wataru Endo Withdraws From World Cup
Just ahead of Japan’s opening match against the Netherlands on June 14, captain and midfielder Wataru Endo has withdrawn his name from Japan’s World Cup squad and paired it with his national team retirement, per his statement on X. Endo has been dealing with an ongoing ankle/foot injury since February.
Endo has played for the Japan national team for over a decade, where he made 73 appearances and scored four goals. As a veteran anchor in the midfield, Endo has also served as Japan’s captain since their previous World Cup in 2022, where they reached the Round of 16.
As for Endo’s professional career, he first played for Shanon Bellmare from 2010-15, followed by the Urawa Red Diamonds from 2016-19, VfB Stuttgart from 2019-23 and has played for Liverpool FC since 2023. With Liverpool, Endo played a prominent role in the team’s Carabao Cup victory in 2024.
With Endo out, Japan has officially called Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Shuto Machino to join the 26-man roster. Machino is entering his second World Cup and his fifth year with the Japan national team.
Marco Senesi Called Up To 26-Man Roster
Following the injury of defender Leonardo Balerdi, Argentina has officially called up defender Marcos Senesi to the 26-man roster. Argentina is set to open their World Cup campaign on June 16 against Algeria.
Senesi has been training prior in case of a last-minute call-up, and was named to the roster after Balerdi’s muscle injury was ruled out. Senesi has played professionally since 2016, playing for clubs like San Lorenzo, Feyenoord, AFC Bournemouth and is currently with Tottenham Hotspur.
Joining Senesi in the back are defenders Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Otamendi and Cristian Romero.
In what’s likely to be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup, Argentina will look to repeat their historic 2022 World Cup win this tournament.
Tyler Adams, USA Celebrate Shocking Knicks’ W
Tyler Adams, United States’ midfielder, is a fan of the National Basketball Association’s New York Knicks. The Knicks are in the NBA Finals, on the eve of the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, so members of the United States’ squad gathered together to watch what turned out to be the largest NBA Finals comeback in history, with the Knicks coming out on top.
When New York won, the room erupted, with Adams especially going wild. And we know this because the reaction was caught on camera in the moment.
That couch is destroyed, but at least no one watching the game ended up as damaged as it did after Adams went climbing and kicking all over it! If the United States ends up having a major comeback or win in the World Cup, maybe keep the players away from any obstacles like that, though. Just to be safe.
Morocco Loses 2 Players To Injury Before World Cup
Morocco replaced two injured players in its World Cup squad ahead of an opening game against Brazil, including star winger Abde Ezzalzouli.
FIFA confirmed late Wednesday that former Barcelona player Ezzalzouli and Marseille defender Nayef Aguerd were withdrawn from the Morocco squad for the tournament.
Ezzalzouli helped Real Betis qualify for next season’s Champions League and was a potential breakout star at the World Cup. Aguerd was a cornerstone of Morocco’s historic semifinals team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
They were replaced by Amine Sbai of French club Angers and Marwane Saadane, who plays in Saudi Arabia for Al Fateh.
Morocco opens against Brazil on Saturday at MetLife Stadium near New York, then plays Scotland on June 19 near Boston and finishes Group C against Haiti on June 24 in Atlanta.
Ezzalzouli injured his right knee in a warmup game against Norway last weekend, though initial tests suggested he could be retained in coach Mohamed Ouahbi’s squad to play in the knockout rounds.
Surprise World Cup Comeback For Austrian Midfielder
The last time Dejan Ljubicic played for Austria was nearly three years ago. Now a teammate’s injury has given him a surprise comeback at the World Cup.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick called up Ljubicic late Wednesday to replace key midfielder Christoph Baumgartner, who injured his right thigh while warming up for a pre-World Cup friendly against Tunisia last week and needed surgery.
Ljubicic is set to join Austria at the team camp in Santa Barbara on Thursday, ahead of the team’s first game on Tuesday against Jordan. Austria also plays Argentina and Algeria in Group J.
He’s more of a defensive midfield option than Baumgartner, who scored 17 goals in all competitions for Leipzig in Germany last season and has remained in camp to support the team.
Ljubicic also plays in Germany on the Schalke team which secured promotion from the second division last month.
Ljubicic has nine games for Austria but none at a major tournament. His last appearance was in a friendly against Moldova in September 2023, and he wasn’t in the squad for any World Cup qualifiers.
CHICAGO — Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup Friday against the White Sox after exiting the game before with discomfort in the back of his left knee.
Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani had imaging done on the knee and showed “the normal wear and tear.”
“He feels fine-ish,” said Roberts, who hopes Ohtani will be back in the lineup this weekend. Ohtani remains in line to make his next pitching start on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium.
Especially at this point in the season, the Dodgers have incentive to play it safe with Ohtani’s recovery. Pushing him to return early and exacerbating the injury would be a larger blow to a team seeking its third straight World Series championship.
With Ohtani out, left fielder Alex Call was in the leadoff spot, and Santiago Espinal served as the designated hitter.
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With the largest World Cup field in the history of the tournament, 32 of the 48 teams will be fighting for a spot in the knockout stage.
66.6% of nations will advance out of the group stage this summer, which is a massive upgrade from 50% in past World Cups. Because of this, sportsbooks have adjusted with less favorable odds.
Prior to the start of the tournament, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, England, and Germany entered with the strongest odds to advance from the group stage, supported by recent major-tournament success and talent-rich rosters.
All five nations are heavily favored at -10000 to advance to the knockout round.
The Spaniards are the defending European Champions while the Argentinians are looking to win back-to-back titles. Germany has not made it out of the group stage in the last two World Cups, but has always been a perennial contender— having won four titles in its history. And then of course there’s Brazil, which has more titles than any country with five.
Now, after the conclusion of the first day of the World Cup, Mexico has joined the group at the top. El Tri has surged to -10000 to advance to the knockout stage after initially being just -1400. Mexico’s huge leap up the oddsboard is a direct result of its dominating 2-0 win over South Africa.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the odds for each team to advance to the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as of June 12.
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Odds to Advance to Knockout Stage
Spain: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Argentina: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Brazil: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
England: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Mexico: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Germany: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Portugal: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
France: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
Belgium:-3500 (bet $10 to win $10.29 total)
South Korea: -2500 (bet $10 to win $10.40 total)
Switzerland: -1800 (bet $10 to win $10.56 total)
Netherlands: -1400 (bet $10 to win $10.71 total)
Morocco: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Colombia: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Uruguay: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Canada: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Ecuador: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
Norway: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
United States: -750 (bet $10 to win $11.33 total)
The U.S. men’s national team is currently -750 to advance from Group D (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
Croatia: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Austria: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Türkiye: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Ivory Coast: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Japan: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Egypt: -340 (bet $10 to win $12.94 total)
Algeria: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Scotland: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Senegal: -230 (bet $10 to win $14.35 total)
Sweden: -230 (bet $10 to win $1435 total)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: -220 (bet $10 to win $14.55 total)
Paraguay: -205 (bet $10 to win $14.88 total)
Iran: -200 (bet $10 to win $15 total)
Czechia: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Ghana: -140 (bet $10 to win $17.14 total)
Australia: -110 (bet $10 to win $19.09 total)
DR Congo: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Raúl Jiménez helped propel Mexico to a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup (Photo by Yair Gonzalez/Jam Media/Getty Images).
Saudi Arabia: +105 (bet $10 to win $20.50 total)
Tunisia: +140 (bet $10 to win $24 total)
New Zealand: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total)
Uzbekistan: +180 (bet $10 to win $28 total)
Cape Verde: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Panama: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Qatar: +275 (bet $10 to win $37.50 total)
South Africa: +320 (bet $10 to win $42 total)
Jordan +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Iraq: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Haiti: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Curaçao: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
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