Jackson Free Press

Know what this means?

"There we were on the four-yard line with less than a minute to go in the game. Our quarterback was in our spread offense in the shotgun when he took the snap. Everything went wrong from the offensive line, and the running back performed poorly and missed the blitz."

"Our quarterback scrambles out of the pocket and throws the ball up to the wide receiver. The other team intercepts the ball and runs it back for a pick six."

Have no fear. Let's break down the scenario above.

"Yard line" tells you where the ball is. Here, it is four yards from the defense's goal line.

The quarterback is the leader of the offense. When his team has the ball, he leads the offense down the field to score. You need to know who he is and watch him closely.

Anytime you hear the "spread" or "west coast," it tells you what offensive system a team uses to move the ball toward the goal line.

Being in the shotgun means the quarterback did not put his hands between the legs of the center to grab the ball at the snap. Instead, the quarterback positioned himself five to eight yards behind the offensive line.

The play starts when the center snaps the ball to the quarterback, and the offensive line protects the player with the ball.

Offensive linemen can only block defensive players, most of the time. In special situations, they can run or catch the ball.

Quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs ("skill players") can run, catch or throw the ball.

While running backs and wide receivers can block, their main job is to advance the football by running or catching it.

Scrambling means a quarterback or ball carrier is running from the defense because his blockers did not protect him.

Interception or pick means the opposite team's defensive player has caught a pass instead of the offensive player. It is one of three ways the defense can stop the offense.

The other two are: not allowing the offense to travel 10 yards within three plays, so they have to punt the ball on their fourth play; forcing the offensive player to fumble or drop the ball on the ground after he had possession of it.

When a defensive player runs the ball back for a touchdown, it is also known as a pick/interception-six, or just pick-six. The six refers to the fact a touchdown is worth six points.

Previous Comments

ID

159546

Comment

A six time winner of the Super Bowl is a Pittsburgh Steelers. Go Steelers. It's your birth day!

Author

Walt

Date

2010-08-26T17:07:38-06:00