RULES, REGULATIONS AND COACHING POINTS - WEEK 3

Delay, offence 5 yard penalty.  Repeat the down.

 

What causes a delay?  QB’s get tens of millions of dollars and have played the game since they were 8 years old but can’t get everyone lined up and ready in 40 seconds, that’s plenty of time right?  Let’s look at the penalty on the Dolphins this week which nullified a touchdown to Malik Washington. Its was an illegal shift which means the offense was not set correctly at the snap.

 

As a QB your week sometimes starts on a Tuesday (for a Sunday game) with some potential film study on the coming weeks opponents.  Wednesday is the installation of the first part of the game plan with practice focused on all the plays for first and second downs, what defences they are likely to face, check downs and audibles for those situations and is run with the 1’s, which is the starting offence, against the scout team (the non-first team and practice squad players) acting as the opponent’s defence.  The audible options are significantly less that the number of plays the coaches have decided will work depending on field position, personnel, score, weather etc,

 

After practice the coaches meet and decide what plays they like, what audibles need included/excluded, and so on.  Then on Thursday the third down plays are installed and the same process for first and second down is followed.  Friday is goal line, short yardage and the two minute offence.  Practice time is limited and precious so a strict agenda and timing is followed and the QB specifically needs to know every play that will be used on game day.

 

So let’s see what happens when the game is on, the offense just gained a first down and the 40 second clock starts to tick.  The personnel changes and runs on the filed while the QB checks the field position and covers his helmet to hear the call e.g. Gun, Doubles right, Z Jet, 60 slide Y cross, Smoke.  The QB walks to the huddle and repeats the call with a snap count ‘’ Gun, Doubles right, Z Jet, 60 slide Y cross, Smoke.  On two, on two.  Break’’ and walks up to the line.  Tick, tick, tick.  He’s now told everyone the formation, shotgun snap, receivers patterns, what the RB needs to do and what blocking assignments the linemen have.  But the RB is out injured and Ollie Gordon is in, he checks, did he practice this play as he’s not in the 1’s and Achane got most of the snaps? 

 

He checks everyone is where they should and surveys the defence.  Tick, tick, tick.  He sees the defence is lined up perfectly against the play called and he thinks about the receives who need to adjust their routes, do they all know what the adjustments are considering Caleb Douglas is out injured and Willis previously practiced perfect timing with Douglas?  Tick, tick, tick

 

Willis decides against calling an audible and hopes the Centre, who has just called out a different blocking scheme and hopefully identified the same ‘Mike’ (middle linebacker) as Gordon, has said it loud enough for Gordon to hear, register and change his block to fit in with the blocking scheme now called.  And the defense just shifted to confuse everyone but its too late to change the play and the adjustments agreed in practice are now live, did everyone know them?.  Tick, tick, tick.  This is where you see players pointing and shouting to others as some recognise the adjustments and some don’t (especially at an away game with the crowd noise).  Tick, tick, tick.

 

And just to add another complication, there is motion in this play so he needs to wait until everyone is set, start the motion by indicating to the motion man (usually lifting his heel up on the side of the motion man) and shouts ‘hut, hut’ at the precise point of the motion position he needs.  On this occasion, too many people were not set and the TD was called back.   But next time there is a ‘delay of game’ a ‘timeout with 1-2 seconds on the play clock’ or an ‘illegal shift’  lets have some sympathy for the man who has a little bit to think about in 40 seconds or less with a huge clock in front of him tick, tick, tick.