The West Coast offense is actually like this to an extent. The short passing game and screens is basically the running game. The reason why you haven't seen this much is because everyone has their version of the west coast offense and a true west coast offense doesn't really exist. Seattle is close wiht Mike Holmgrem but he has Shaun Alexander too.
The last one to look like this was probably Bill Walsh's whom was the inventor of the west coast offense. So as bad as the running game is, keep in mind that the short passes and screens are really our running game. If you can find tape on the old 49ers it's a good comparison. I'm not saying we're in that class but I think that's what we're going to have to do to win games.
Now another thing to factor in is eventually teams are going to have to play the pass against the Packers. That'll open up passing lanes. Green Bay will just pass the ball until teams can stop it and when they do the running lanes should open up.
It's going to be interesting to watch.
I remember the 49ers under Walsh one year won the Superbowl with a bunch of young noname guys...
The basic idea of the West coast offense popularized by Bill Walsh is to use short slants and short horizontal routes to stretch the defense and open up passing- and running routes, in fact forcing the defense to play honest by playing unpredictable, that is why you need good routerunners (and that is why we picked Jennings and Jones instead of other receivers the fans yelled for).
However in the true West Coast offense, the passing game is 65 - 80% of your offense.
The philosophy McCarthy is developing in Green Bay looks more like Bill Walsh's old West Coast offense than any other variant of it I've seen.
Remember a lot of HC's in the NFL actually derive from Walsh in one way or another.
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