We'll break this lesson into three parts; offense, defense and special teams (still to come). Each setup has its own basic strategy and ideology. Without any further ado, this is the real essence of football.
Offense:
Offensive gameplay can be broken down into two distinct ideologies. These determine the way in which the game progresses. Most teams (and all professional teams) use a mix of styles, so to ensure full understanding I'll cover all styles.Running Plays
As previously explained in this series, running plays are plays that do not involve a forward pass. Most often used in tighter formations, running plays are not commonly going to gain huge yardage. Most professional teams view 4-5 yards per running play as a positive outcome. I'll set out a couple of formations, and detail the types of running play that are traditionally run from them. |
| I-Form Strong Left |
This first formation I've selected is a staple at all levels of football and is used across the board for both run and pass plays. This will suffice for this lesson, as it can be used effectively to run a whole manner of plays. The Quarterback works from "under centre", meaning that the ball is handed off to him as opposed to being passed back. He has two Running Backs lined up behind him, a Tight End on the left side of the offensive line and a receiver wider out on each side of the formation. This is called I-Form as all players in the backfield are in a straight line, and is characterised as "Strong Left" because there are more players on the left of the formation than on the right.
The first play I've selected may look daunting, but I'm going to talk through each aspect of the play and with any luck you'll be able to follow it if it's run during a game. Each black route on this diagram is a blocking route, which means the player is to actively seek out a defender and prevent them from getting to the ball carrier. The Quarterback hands the ball off to the deeper of the two Running Backs, called the Tail Back (TB).
The Tackle and Tight End on the left are to initially double team the Defensive End, while the Guard and Centre double team the Nose Tackle. The Guard on the right pulls around, and clears the gap between the Left Tackle and Left Guard. He is closely followed by the Full Back, who will either aide the Guard in blocking a linebacker, or will search further down field for a defensive back. The two Wide Receivers are sent down the field, mostly as a distraction to bait the Defense into playing the down as though there were a pass.
There is a lot going on, but each individual effort is easily followed, and it all fits together very well (that's the plan at least). The diagram below is a progression of the play after two seconds, so you can see the running lane open up.
As should be evident now, there is always something going on in each position on the football field. There is not a play where you get a free ride or are not involved. I will go into more complex ideas as time goes forward, but I believe this does a good job of explaining the fundamental ideas behind running the football.
Passing Plays
Now onto the forward pass game. This game is not about combining blocking patterns, but about combining receivers running patterns. Since passes can be made over large distances the field of play is a lot less compact. The diagram below details a basic pass-oriented formation. I'll break it down, add a play and break that down in the last panel.
The offensive line is very similar to the first formation, with the Tight End being moved to the other end of the line. From there, everything is different. The centre snaps the ball by passing it backwards 3-4 yards to the quarterback. To the left of the QB is a Running Back, in this formation the running back is generally positioned here to protect the QB although does occasionally catch passes or run with the ball (we'll get to that much later). In this formation there are three wide receivers, as they are the fastest and most agile players on the field they are much better suited to the passing game.
As I said with regards to the first formation, this may look daunting at first but there is an explanation to every part of it. It will all make sense come the end of it.
I'll start with the offensive line again. Here we see blocking lines extended backwards (to the QB) as opposed to being aggressive. This is to ensure that the QB is protected while he looks for a receiver to throw the ball to. Having the line sit back and wait for the defense to come to them gives them a better idea of where to block to give more time. And time is what is key here.
All modern passing plays are built on timing. The QB has a certain number of steps he will drop back (in order to put distance between himself and the defense), this tends to be three steps. When he has dropped back, he will look to his primary receiver (indicated in red). The primary receiver is the player for whom the play is designed. He is meant to catch the ball, the other route runners are merely distractions to enable him to have enough space to comfortably make a catch.
The QB will then also have a second option identified if the primary receiver doesn't look able to catch the ball (due to a close by defender). On this particular play, that would be the WR to the left of the primary receiver.
When the receiver turns to the outside, the QB will be ready to throw to him. The receiver must be ready for the ball as soon as he turns.
That's as much as I think I can manage to fit into one post. On the defensive side of this post, I'll explain common defensive formations/strategies to deal with these offensive plays.