The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. – Vince Lombardi
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Friday, January 22, 2016 (DAYS 1,417 & 1,418)
As the AFC and NFC Championships for the NFL are quickly approaching, I've recently gained a new client that I was expecting to do more business consulting work with, but as life always surprises you, this particular CEO is more interested in learning and understanding American Football! Yes, for sports fanatics–this is one of the ultimate paid jobs in a sense, talking my all-time favorite sport! I already knew my friends used to despise me when I was being paid to watch television for years as the Quality Control Specialist for HDNet. Yes, that's also a real PAID job, to watch television! However, it's not nearly as exciting, fun, or interesting as you may imagine all of the time. You aren't watching television leisurely, but in an extremely technical format. I will share a secret though. From 2001-2004, with the inaugural inception of HDNet, the first all-high-definition #HDTV television network in the United States, I had watched more HD programming than any other person in America! I had QC'd every one of HDNet's programs before they went to broadcast or hit air, such classics as; Get Out!, Art Mann Presents, HDNet World Report, Dan Rather Reports, Inside MMA (before we began broadcasting this weekly sports show live from our LA studio), and some of our older and more obscure shows such as Square Pegs, Eye for an Eye with host Kato Kaelin, whom I randomly met at the high-limit blackjack table at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas where he was with his producer and as soon as I mentioned I worked for HDNet they began chatting my ear off about the show and couldn't believe I was the person that not only watched every one of their, hmmm hmmm, incredible shows, but I also had the responsibility upon approving the QC of their show and by doing thus, I held in my hands the ability of approving or rejecting their show for technical or content issues and therefore this went through our in-house legal department and accounting that would release payment for their final product or program production costs. At times I was often paid–less just say an amount per hour for overtime that was probably anger most individuals–for QC'ing or watching every single episode of Prison Break, Star Trek Enterprise, Arrested Development (even the episodes that never aired on FOX and before Netflix chose to produce a fourth season), Smallville, and many, MANY, MANY other series!
As the AFC and NFC Championships for the NFL are quickly approaching, I've recently gained a new client that I was expecting to do more business consulting work with, but as life always surprises you, this particular CEO is more interested in learning and understanding American Football! Yes, for sports fanatics–this is one of the ultimate paid jobs in a sense, talking my all-time favorite sport! I already knew my friends used to despise me when I was being paid to watch television for years as the Quality Control Specialist for HDNet. Yes, that's also a real PAID job, to watch television! However, it's not nearly as exciting, fun, or interesting as you may imagine all of the time. You aren't watching television leisurely, but in an extremely technical format. I will share a secret though. From 2001-2004, with the inaugural inception of HDNet, the first all-high-definition #HDTV television network in the United States, I had watched more HD programming than any other person in America! I had QC'd every one of HDNet's programs before they went to broadcast or hit air, such classics as; Get Out!, Art Mann Presents, HDNet World Report, Dan Rather Reports, Inside MMA (before we began broadcasting this weekly sports show live from our LA studio), and some of our older and more obscure shows such as Square Pegs, Eye for an Eye with host Kato Kaelin, whom I randomly met at the high-limit blackjack table at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas where he was with his producer and as soon as I mentioned I worked for HDNet they began chatting my ear off about the show and couldn't believe I was the person that not only watched every one of their, hmmm hmmm, incredible shows, but I also had the responsibility upon approving the QC of their show and by doing thus, I held in my hands the ability of approving or rejecting their show for technical or content issues and therefore this went through our in-house legal department and accounting that would release payment for their final product or program production costs. At times I was often paid–less just say an amount per hour for overtime that was probably anger most individuals–for QC'ing or watching every single episode of Prison Break, Star Trek Enterprise, Arrested Development (even the episodes that never aired on FOX and before Netflix chose to produce a fourth season), Smallville, and many, MANY, MANY other series!
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But once again I have digressed, as I was mentioning how to explain some of the most common American Football formations. Growing up in one of the–if not THE greatest football city in America, Denver, you KNOW I had to throw that in there–I used to spend countless hours talking #DenverBroncos football with my friends and especially my brothers, Mike and Dave. We would analyze every detail of the game, trades, and of course how frustrated this team we often shared a love/hate relationship with. However, I feel that this is true of any eccentric sports fan of a specific team. I found this great article by Howard Cosmell, however, when I went to try and print this the format was not so friendly, plus I will be recreating my own graphics below of the various formations, but I wanted to of course, as usual, to give full credit to others when using their material by reformatting it for easier print, so with that said please check out his website. *All writing below is the FULL credit of Howard Cosmell AND I will be updating the below with better graphics soon.
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© www.deeyung.com
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You’re probably a macho guy (or a really cool chick) who knows football inside and out. But just to make sure we’re on the same page here, let’s run through some of the basic rules of football formations before we have a look at the formations themselves.
Offensive Positioning
There must be 11 total players. Of these, 6 positions are always the same. They are the five players make up the offensive line (OL)—1 center (C), 2 guards (G), 2 tackles (T)—plus 1 quarterback (QB).
The other 5 positions can be any combination of the remaining positions: 0-3 tight ends (TE), 0-5 wide receivers (WR), and 0-3 backs (FB/HB).
For any given play, there must be at least 7 players on the line of scrimmage—the 5 on the OL, plus at least 2 more. These two can be either TEs or WRs. A team can place more players on the line of scrimmage, but the rule is that only the two players on the ends are eligible receivers. So, most often, to maximize the number of eligible receivers, teams place the minimum 7 players up front, leaving 4 in the backfield.
These are the possibilities a coach has to work with when choosing how his team lines up on
offense.
Defensive Positioning
Obviously, there are also 11 total players on the defensive side of the ball. However, unlike offensive formations, in the NFL there are no rules regulating where defensive players must be positioned (as long as they are on their side of the line of scrimmage). They can be in “the box,” which is just an area within 5 yards of the ball and the line of scrimmage, or in the “secondary,” which is anywhere else. And after the snap, any player can go anywhere and do anything. Thus, coaches have a lot of leeway in drawing up defensive formations.
Still, there are 3 basic types of defensive positions: defensive linemen (DL), who line up right across from the OL in the box; linebackers (LB), who are positioned behind the DL, but still in the box; and defensive backs (DB), who are positioned in the secondary.
Players on the DL are called defensive ends (DE) if they are on the ends of the line and defensive tackles (DT) if they are in the middle. Often, if there is an odd number of tackles (i.e., 1 or 3), the middle/only tackle lined up over the ball is called a nose tackle (NT).
LBs are either strong (SLB), middle (MLB), or weak (WLB), depending on where they are relative to the offensive formation—if a linebacker is lined up opposite the offensive team’s TE, he is the SLB.
Players in the secondary are either cornerbacks (CB), who cover WRs, or safeties, who defend against the run and pass. A player is a strong safety (SS) if lined up on the same side as a TE or a free safety (FS) if free to roam wherever he is needed.
Now, let’s look at 9 football formations every man should know.
Offensive Positioning
There must be 11 total players. Of these, 6 positions are always the same. They are the five players make up the offensive line (OL)—1 center (C), 2 guards (G), 2 tackles (T)—plus 1 quarterback (QB).
The other 5 positions can be any combination of the remaining positions: 0-3 tight ends (TE), 0-5 wide receivers (WR), and 0-3 backs (FB/HB).
For any given play, there must be at least 7 players on the line of scrimmage—the 5 on the OL, plus at least 2 more. These two can be either TEs or WRs. A team can place more players on the line of scrimmage, but the rule is that only the two players on the ends are eligible receivers. So, most often, to maximize the number of eligible receivers, teams place the minimum 7 players up front, leaving 4 in the backfield.
These are the possibilities a coach has to work with when choosing how his team lines up on
offense.
Defensive Positioning
Obviously, there are also 11 total players on the defensive side of the ball. However, unlike offensive formations, in the NFL there are no rules regulating where defensive players must be positioned (as long as they are on their side of the line of scrimmage). They can be in “the box,” which is just an area within 5 yards of the ball and the line of scrimmage, or in the “secondary,” which is anywhere else. And after the snap, any player can go anywhere and do anything. Thus, coaches have a lot of leeway in drawing up defensive formations.
Still, there are 3 basic types of defensive positions: defensive linemen (DL), who line up right across from the OL in the box; linebackers (LB), who are positioned behind the DL, but still in the box; and defensive backs (DB), who are positioned in the secondary.
Players on the DL are called defensive ends (DE) if they are on the ends of the line and defensive tackles (DT) if they are in the middle. Often, if there is an odd number of tackles (i.e., 1 or 3), the middle/only tackle lined up over the ball is called a nose tackle (NT).
LBs are either strong (SLB), middle (MLB), or weak (WLB), depending on where they are relative to the offensive formation—if a linebacker is lined up opposite the offensive team’s TE, he is the SLB.
Players in the secondary are either cornerbacks (CB), who cover WRs, or safeties, who defend against the run and pass. A player is a strong safety (SS) if lined up on the same side as a TE or a free safety (FS) if free to roam wherever he is needed.
Now, let’s look at 9 football formations every man should know.
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I-FORMATION (Offense)
The I formation is a “traditional” modern offensive formation that gets its name from the I-shaped alignment of the QB, FB and HB. Using 2 backs and, typically, 2 WRs and 1 TE, this formation is conducive to both running and passing plays. When the latter is chosen, the back without the ball—usually the FB—will block for the back with the ball. The I Formation isn’t all that common in the NFL today, as the pro set formation (#7 below) can accomplish pretty much the same thing. However, the I formation is still sometimes used for play-action passes or short yardage running situations. (Source)
PRO SET FORMATION (Offense)
The pro set formation is another “traditional” modern offensive formation. Like the I formation, the pro set is a balanced formation that usually features 2 backs, 2 WRs, and a TE. The main difference between the pro set and the I is simply that the two backs are on either side of the quarterback. Thus there is a bit of a tradeoff when using the pro set: you lose the blocking of the FB in the I formation, but you gain some uncertainty, as the defense doesn’t know which side of center the ball will go to. (Source)
SHOTGUN FORMATION (Offense)
You have a shotgun formation any time the QB lines up about 5 yards behind the center and receives a snap rather than a handoff from the C. Typically, this formation uses only 1 back with 3 WRs and 1 TE, although any variation of players in the backfield is possible. The advantage of the QB’s position on this formation is that he can see the defensive alignment more clearly and has more time to throw the ball. Teams with excellent QBs and an aggressive passing game—like Indianapolis and New England—have used the shotgun as their standard offensive formation in recent years. (Source)
SPREAD FORMATION (Offense)
The spread formation is a particularly aggressive variant of the single set back formation (which is just like the standard shotgun formation, only the QB lines up immediately behind the C). Where the spread formation differs from the standard single set back is in its use of 4 WRs and 0 TEs. The idea is that this formation spreads out the defense, creating more space. Though typically used for passing plays, the spread formation can also occasionally creates big holes in the DL for effective runs. Also, it’s more common in college than the NFL. (Source)
4-3 DEFENSE (Basic)
4-3 DEFENSE (Strong Side Shift)
The 4-3 defense is the most common base defensive formation in the NFL. With 4 defensive linemen, 3 LBs, and 4 players in the secondary, it is just about as balanced a defensive alignment as there can be. It is also versatile in that LBs can shift to the strong or weak sides, depending on the type of play they anticipate from the offensive team. (Source)
3-4 DEFENSE
The 3-4 defense is the other basic defensive formation, along with the 4-3. The 3-4 basically takes one of the DLs away from the 4-3 and adds a fourth LB, still leaving 4 in the secondary. While the 4-3 is more common in the NFL today because it is often stronger against the run, teams with exceptionally quick LBs might choose the 3-4 because it can offer a bit more versatility. (Source)
NICKEL DEFENSE
The nickel formation is any formation that has 5 players in the secondary instead of 4. (Get it? 5 cents in a nickel, 5 players in the secondary?) Basically, to better defend against a passing formation put in place by the offensive team, the defensive team sacrifices either a DL or a LB in favor of either an additional CB or safety. The additional defender is called a “nickelback.” The 4-2-5 nickel formation is like a 4-3 defense, only 1 LB becomes a third CB. On the other hand, the 3-5-3 nickel is like a 3-4 defense, only 1 LB becomes a third safety. (Source)
DIME DEFENSE
The dime defense is typically used against the most aggressive offensive passing formations. Whereas the nickel defense adds 1 more defender to the secondary (called a nickelback), the dime defense adds 2, bringing the grand total to 6. Just as two nickels equals one dime, two nickelbacks make a dime formation. Most often, what this all adds up to is 4 DLs, 1 LB, 4 CBs, and 2 safeties. But theoretically you there could be 3 DLs, 2 LBs, 3 CBs and 3 safeties. All that matters is that there are 6 in the secondary to defend against desperation passing plays. (Source)
GOAL LINE DEFENSE
The offensive and defensive versions of the goal line formation are basically the same: when the ball is within a few yards of the end zone, both teams will forget about the secondary and cram the box with as many bodies as possible. Offensively, this means 0 WRs with 3 TEs and 2 backs (plus the 5-man OL and the QB, making 11). Defensively, this means 0 safeties with a 5-man DL, 4 LBs and 2 CBs. (Source)
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