Football contains an abundance of terminology specific to the sport. Understanding that terminology will enhance your knowledge of the game. To start, here is a list of offensive terminology.
GENERAL TERMINOLOGY
Playside:
The side to which a play is run
Backside:
The side away from a play
Weakside:
The side away from Y
Weak Flow:
When both backs go weak
Strong Flow:
When both backs go strong
Split Flow:
When the backs move in opposite directions
Counter:
Establishes flow to one side with the ball carrier cutting to the other side (misdirection play)
Stack:
When backers are lined up behind a lineman
Bubble:
When a backer is covering a center, guard, or tackle
BASIC FRONTS TERMINOLOGY
Even Front:
Center is completely uncovered
Odd Front:
Center is covered
E (Defensive Ends):
Outside men of down four
T (Defensive Tackles):
Inside men of down four
M (Mike):
Middle linebacker
S (Sam):
Linebacker on tight end side
W (Will):
Linebacker away from tight end side
C (Corners):
Outside men in secondary
SS (Strong Safety):
Inside man in secondary – SS on Y side called strong safety, away from slot called weak safety
F (Free Safety):
Inside man in secondary – F is away from Y, called free (or weak) safety
P (Plugger):
Weak inside linebacker on 50 front. Also weak side linebacker on goal line 6-2
GENERAL PASS OFFENSE TERMINOLOGY
Cloud:
The cornerback rotates up to force the run or plays short outside coverage in zone
Sky:
The safety rotates up to force the run or plays short outside coverage in zone
Bracket:
Two secondary men play a receiver in and out
“S” Walk Away:
S backer walked away from Y to the outside and slightly deeper
Bump and Run:
Cornerback playing up on wide receiver and covering him man to man. This can also be known as “Press Coverage”
Squat Technique:
Cornerback waiting for wide receiver to get to him before making commitment to cloud coverage
Underneath Coverage:
The short zones between the line of scrimmage and the deep secondary people, usually occupied by linebackers
Four Under:
Number of defenders occupying the underneath coverage in normal pro front zones
Five Under:
Number of defenders occupying the underneath coverage in a normal 34 front, total coverage zones
Nickel:
Refers to one or more extra defensive backs replacing linebackers or linemen in coverage
Windows:
Those areas between underneath defenders that are susceptible to pass completions
Seam:
A dead area between the deep coverage of the secondary
Soft Spot:
The area between the sideline and the defensive safety (2 deep)
Free Release:
A back coming out of the backfield without any blitz pickup responsibility
Hot Receiver:
A receiver who must look for the ball if a specific linebacker blitzes
Check:
A running back/tight end who must check a specific linebacker/s before going into his pattern
Split:
Width of alignment of receivers and backs
Depth:
The number of yards from the line of scrimmage you are to make your final cut on a pass route
Inside Out Technique:
A pass protection technique used by backs to pick up an inside blitz first, and if not there, to then check for an outside blitz
Scat:
Five man protection (Line Shifts)
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