You can figure out whats happening on the field just from what they show on TV. I wrote an answer on quora on how to do this:
What I enjoy in a football game is understanding the strategy thats being carried out and the efficiency of execution on every play. I've broken down a list of positions/schemes/plays to look for below.
The following applies when watching a regular play from scrimmage - ie one that will be either a run or a pass.
_The offense_
1. First pick out the number of tight ends and their position on the offensive line. This will tell you what base formation the offense is "telegraphing" to the defense. 2 or more tight ends implies that the offense is showing "run" unless its the damn Patriots of 2010.
2. Look at where the running backs are - the full back and the half back. This along with the above, will give you an idea of whether the offense is hedging towards a run or a pass. If they are in line, in front of the QB then you can safely assume a pass or trick play.
3. Next the formation of the wide recievers. Are they split, with a slot or are they bunched on one side.
_The defense_
1. Due to camera angles you wont be able to see some of the players on the defense. But its okay because you can workout where they would be (except for how deep they are playing) based on the offensive formation.
2. The rectangular area in front of the offensive line is called "the box". This is where the running back is expected to try to make a run. Count the number of players in the box. A fast way is to group the players in 3s going from bottom edge of the offensive line to the top.
The number of players in the box will tell you what the defense is showing the offense. If the number of players is >=8 then the defense is expecting a run.
Using the following formula, you'll be able to figure out the number of safeties.
Number of safeties = 11 - (the number of players in the box + the number of wider receivers on offense )
_Position of the safeties_
* 2 Safeties
If you've figured out there are two safeties then this implies that the defense is looking to take away big passing plays but give up the middle of the field.
This will usually be a cover-2 formation or a derivative. If you see that a line-backer is cheating towards the safeties then you know its tampa-2.
* 1 Safety
If there's only one single safety then this usually means that the defense is being aggressive, ie they want to blitz, or are showing that they are expecting a run.
_Blitz_
If the number of players on the line of scrimmage for the defense outnumbers the number of players on the offensive and in the vicinity of the QB then this implies the defense is showing a blitz. Picking out the blitzing player is a lot of fun when watching the Jets, Eagles or Ravens play.
Player in motion
On a passing play, most teams will use the player in motion to figure out if the defense is in zone or man coverage. (They are mostly always in zones but do use man coverage to shake things up.)
So as the offensive player in motion moves, watch who covers him. Does he get handed off from one player to another on the defense or does the same defensive player follow him as he moves from one side of the field to the next. If the same player moves to cover the man in motion then it usually implies that the defense is playing a man-coverage. If the man in motion is handed off between players then this usually implies a zone.
Of course there could be special cases in which the defense chooses man/zone depending on which player is in motion at the time of the snap.
_Exercises_
How do you know if your seeing/understanding enough of the action:
1. On regular plays you should be able to see the "hold penalty" at the same time as it happens and before the commentator explains it on TV.
2. You should be able to call some percentage of the plays as you get familiar with understanding the strategy your team plays as well as the play callers idiosyncrasies and the players who get the most attention on the team.
3. Figure out if the defense is in a zone or man coverage. This will take a while because most defenses dont run a scheme which is instantly recognizable.
As you enjoy more aspects of the game, you'll realize the true brilliance of Peyton Manning, the genius of Rex Ryan and you'll be baffled by how precise these NFL plays are.
These are the basics and there is so much more happening on the field. If you have any questions then please ask them here and I'll update this answer.
Here's a question: Where can I buy the equivalent of this post, but in video form with actual illustrative game footage?
I've wanted to see that for some time. Want it for every sport on earth, really.
I've thought about trying to watch a bunch of coaching videos for my sport of choice, but was never sure it would help. They aren't designed for me. I don't need to know how to think like an above-average high-school coach or player; I want to admire the work of top-level pros.
If you have an xbox or playstation buy Madden and try learning to play the game it a bit. The formations, plays, and strategy are pretty much all real. You'll learn about different formations, routes, zone defense, etc.
Agreed. I really didn't understand football much at all until I started playing Madden with a group of friends. They helped me out in the beginning by answering questions like "why are there two different colored lines for the QB routes?" (it's an option play). By learning the game of Madden, I learned the game of football and now have an appreciation for the sport.
Interesting that this didn't occur to me. An artifact of being just a little too old, I think. (In the Atari 2600 days one did not play sports games for the knowledge...)
What's sad is that I read a whole
article about how much hard work it is for sports-game programmers to get all this stuff perfect and I still didn't get it until now!
Coaching videos might still be illustrative, though more for the finer points of technique, which matter more than one might think. Not even pros have perfect fundamentals every time.
There is a plethora of this material for soccer, Zonal Marking (zonalmarking.net) is one major blog that covers apparently every match in most major world leagues.
Hmm I've never actually seen anything put together like this. But you can follow Chris Brown on Grantland.com who breaks donw plays (with video and diagrams) from each NFL week and you'll slowly figure out what to look for and understand the strategy within the game. Also nfl.com has PlayBook (show) videos which break down different plays from the week.
A great tool to watch plays in stop motion so you can figure out whats happening is NFL Game rewind.
What I've written here is more a structured way of breaking down an NFL play as its taking place.
I actually found The Triangle on Grantland through Chris Brown's blog: http://smartfootball.com/. He has a large archive covering both offensive and defensive strategy, well worth a look.
A number of posts have diagrams as well as a video. Some of the older posts point to videos that are broken now, but I was able to find most of them with a google search like "2009 Brady 46-yd TD". You'll find the video clips on youtube or NFL.com.
The picture pages are college football, not pro, but it is the closest I've seen to what you're asking for. Each post describes the details of a given play, and visually shows you each step. Then, you can watch a video of the play in real time at the end.
> I've wanted to see that for some time. Want it for every sport on earth, really.
For tennis I recommend a book by Brad Gilbert called "Winning Ugly". A treasure trove of tennis tips and tricks; opens up a whole new perspective at the tennis game - both yours and the pros' you watch on TV.
Thanks for this. I have basically never watched tennis. But now I've read the late David Foster Wallace on the subject, and I'll be damned if that guy couldn't sell anyone on tennis, especially a geek. So maybe I'll take your advice and learn something about tennis...
Your information is interesting and useful, but I am inferring that you're saying that we don't need an expanded view. If this your point, then I disagree with you.
There's a lot you can't see with the standard TV view that you get, and sure you can discern some things, but as the article says, a lot of the plays happen off camera, because the view is centered around the QB. You can see the QB throw the ball, and you can see running plays but you get no information on longer plays, or how the defense actually works.
As the article says, watching what's happening in the secondary has become a lot more important given that the NFL basically wants to turn itself into a passing league. More and more often, the action happens off camera and you only get a better view on replays.
The one thing I like about watching Sunday Night Football on NBC online is that you can actually change the view to the "Madden" view, so that you're right behind the QB and you can see the entire field. This gives a lot better insight into what the QB sees, and there you can really appreciate things like how even 1-2 feet of separation gives a skilled QB just enough space to throw a well placed ball away from the defender, etc.
What I'm saying is that you could layout the top down view from whats shown on TV but it requires a lot of pre-processing. Things like mistakes and dept of the safeties etc cannot be made out and do play a part in how the QB processes information but I dont think its that much more.
Also the overhead view can get boring for fans who are looking more at the ball and the action around it rather than the strategy being run.
Exactly! You also get to see the third dimension a bit better and understand how skilled QBs are at not just putting the throw on a spot, but also the arc on getting it there.
Watch the offensive linemen. If any one of them fires forward and crosses the line of scrimmage, it's a run. If either guard (guys to either side of the center) starts running to one side or the other, the play is almost certainly going that way. If the offensive linemen stand up and move backwards, it's probably a pass.
The quarterback and running back do a lot of things to disguise which way the play is going, but you can almost always tell what kind of play the offense is running by watching the offensive linemen.
I know that's the rule, but my question is: how the hell does play-action even work? Can't the defense read the line instead of watching for a handoff?
1. The linebackers and safeties forget to watch the linemen, and watch the backfield. This isn't exactly dumb, because it's easy to take a bad angle on a runningback if you're paying too much attention to the linemen.
2. The linemen take one hard step forward, but not enough to get downfield, and then pass set.
One thing to remember about the NFL is that every single step matters. A linebacker doesn't have to run into the line and tackle the runningback for play-action to be effective. All he has to do is take one or two steps towards the line of scrimmage when he should be moving backwards and you can complete a pass over him.
Spot on. It's about deception and freezing a defender for a split second. Players at this level are very well matched physically and very few players can simply out run or overpower someone. You need to deceive defenders to get yourself that 1/2 step of space to gain an extra yard or two.
There are run plays (a draw for example) where the o-line blocks like it's a pass. They can also block like it's a run for a play action pass and still give the qb enough time to throw the ball.
One thing that isn't clear on TV is just how hard it can be during a play to see just where the ball is. Linemen are huge and RBs are typically shorter guys. When the play goes off it's often hard to see exactly what is happening and the defense is reacting to cues more so than seeing right where the ball is at that time.
No, that would be an ineligible receiver downfield. They have to stay behind the line of scrimmage until after the pass is completed. For a straight run they can just block forward.
A lot of running plays involve one or more o-linemen pulling to overload one side or the other. Many play actions pull a lineman or two but then back-fill the pass protection with the backs or tight end. This looks like a run even though none of the o-line go downfield.
> If they are in line, in front of the QB then you can safely assume a pass or trick play.
Not really, since defenses can see the same thing and know a team's tendencies from scouting. A better indication of pass vs. run is how far the tailback lines up behind scrimmage. For run plays, the RB tends to line up about 6-7 yards behind scrimmage to they can get up a head of steam as they go through the line. For pass and play-action the tailbacks line up closer (around 5 yards) so they can sneak through the line for pass routes or quickly block blitzers. It's harder for defenses on the field to see if a RB is lining up 5 yards deep vs 7 yards deep.
The defenses are quite aware if it's showing run. Unfortunately, they cannot always assume it due to play action passing because the formation is literally the same, including the depth at which the RBs will line up.
>* 2 Safeties
If you've figured out there are two safeties then this implies that the defense is looking to take away big passing plays but give up the middle of the field.
2 safeties is pretty standard and is just as much a run stopping defense. For example the corners in man on the exterior with the safeties in man on the interior is a run stopping defense. Backers often cover the apex or a safety roles to the center taking away the middle. Nice overal explanation but the strategy in football is to "show" one thing and do another which is why a pre-snap read only goes so far.
>> You can figure out whats happening on the field just from what they show on TV. I wrote an answer on quora on how to do this:
You've posted some great information here, but actually viewing all 22 players from a birds-eye-view affords an exponentially superior quality of analysis.
There are a bunch of things you can look for on punt formations:
1. See if they have the backup QB as one of the "backs" on a punt. This is hard to do on TV but the commentator will usually pick this up.
2. See if all players are matched up on the line of scrimmage. Especially the gunners who are out wide. If these guys arent matched out it might be a fake with a snap to one of the "backs" who throws it out to a gunner. (Similar to a smoke play a regular offense would run except much rarer).
Punters are very underrated by most NFL fans. You have to understand that a good punter can make the offense of the other team have to gain a whole hundred or more yards for the same, than they would have had to if they were facing a bad punter.
Thanks for that- I really havent been watching much college football. If this guy keeps it up he'll be the first punter to be taken in the top 20 of the draft! lol!
What I enjoy in a football game is understanding the strategy thats being carried out and the efficiency of execution on every play. I've broken down a list of positions/schemes/plays to look for below.
The following applies when watching a regular play from scrimmage - ie one that will be either a run or a pass.
_The offense_
1. First pick out the number of tight ends and their position on the offensive line. This will tell you what base formation the offense is "telegraphing" to the defense. 2 or more tight ends implies that the offense is showing "run" unless its the damn Patriots of 2010.
2. Look at where the running backs are - the full back and the half back. This along with the above, will give you an idea of whether the offense is hedging towards a run or a pass. If they are in line, in front of the QB then you can safely assume a pass or trick play.
3. Next the formation of the wide recievers. Are they split, with a slot or are they bunched on one side.
_The defense_
1. Due to camera angles you wont be able to see some of the players on the defense. But its okay because you can workout where they would be (except for how deep they are playing) based on the offensive formation.
2. The rectangular area in front of the offensive line is called "the box". This is where the running back is expected to try to make a run. Count the number of players in the box. A fast way is to group the players in 3s going from bottom edge of the offensive line to the top.
The number of players in the box will tell you what the defense is showing the offense. If the number of players is >=8 then the defense is expecting a run.
Using the following formula, you'll be able to figure out the number of safeties.
Number of safeties = 11 - (the number of players in the box + the number of wider receivers on offense )
_Position of the safeties_
* 2 Safeties
If you've figured out there are two safeties then this implies that the defense is looking to take away big passing plays but give up the middle of the field. This will usually be a cover-2 formation or a derivative. If you see that a line-backer is cheating towards the safeties then you know its tampa-2.
* 1 Safety
If there's only one single safety then this usually means that the defense is being aggressive, ie they want to blitz, or are showing that they are expecting a run.
_Blitz_
If the number of players on the line of scrimmage for the defense outnumbers the number of players on the offensive and in the vicinity of the QB then this implies the defense is showing a blitz. Picking out the blitzing player is a lot of fun when watching the Jets, Eagles or Ravens play.
Player in motion
On a passing play, most teams will use the player in motion to figure out if the defense is in zone or man coverage. (They are mostly always in zones but do use man coverage to shake things up.)
So as the offensive player in motion moves, watch who covers him. Does he get handed off from one player to another on the defense or does the same defensive player follow him as he moves from one side of the field to the next. If the same player moves to cover the man in motion then it usually implies that the defense is playing a man-coverage. If the man in motion is handed off between players then this usually implies a zone.
Of course there could be special cases in which the defense chooses man/zone depending on which player is in motion at the time of the snap.
_Exercises_
How do you know if your seeing/understanding enough of the action:
1. On regular plays you should be able to see the "hold penalty" at the same time as it happens and before the commentator explains it on TV.
2. You should be able to call some percentage of the plays as you get familiar with understanding the strategy your team plays as well as the play callers idiosyncrasies and the players who get the most attention on the team.
3. Figure out if the defense is in a zone or man coverage. This will take a while because most defenses dont run a scheme which is instantly recognizable.
As you enjoy more aspects of the game, you'll realize the true brilliance of Peyton Manning, the genius of Rex Ryan and you'll be baffled by how precise these NFL plays are.
These are the basics and there is so much more happening on the field. If you have any questions then please ask them here and I'll update this answer.