What is the Denver Broncos' Wild Horses Offensive Formation

Many people are wondering about the Wild Horses Formation which the Denver Broncos unveiled in their 20-17 win against the New England Patriots. The Broncos ran the Wild Horses extensively on the first drive of the game to great success and New England was very confused. The formation was run here and there throughout the rest of the game.

Basically, the Wild Horses formation calls for the tailback to line up to take the direct snap (like the wild cat). The quarterback lines up as a wide receiver. The big difference in the Wild Horses offense is that the quarterback has the option to come in motion and take the snap directly from under center. If the quarterback does not take the snap, then the ball is snapped directly to the running back who can run the ball.

It is a variation of the wild cat offense.

Josh McDaniels is the inventor of the Wild Horses Formation and it played a part in the biggest win of his coaching career to date. It kept New England off guard, forced Bill Belichick to burn a timeout to adjust, and forced New England to simplify it's defensive scheme. In the first drive, it was very effective with the run. Later in the game, it was very effective with the pass.