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Introduction to American Football Strategy

This section aims to give some guidance to the basic (and I mean basic) ideas about the strategy of American Football games.

What does "strategy" mean?

Strategy is the long term plan, used to reach a desired goal or result. A strategic plan is usually complex and made up from a number of smaller simpler plans. In football terms this means the overall game plan used to get the desired result at the end of the game.

A game plan could be: using more running plays than passing plays, controlling the clock, or playing defensively and trying to score late in the game.

Don't worry if you don't understand some of these terms or concepts, this is where you'll discover what they mean as we learn about strategy.

For now we've included sections on offense / defense balance, run and pass balance and controlling the clock.

Offense and Defense Balance

A key part of any team is to have a balanced offense and defense. You may think that if you had a great offense, you don't need to worry too much if your defense isn't too good. But, there are a number of reasons to make sure the balance is right. If either the offense or defense is on the field too long, they can get overtired and start making mistakes.

Containing an offense is hard work, the offense are pretty much calling all the shots, and the defense is having to read and react to the offense. Your offense may score a lot but if your defense can't contain the oppositions' offense, you could end up conceding more than you score, thus limiting the advantage of your great offense.

Run and Pass Balance

The balance between passing and running (rushing) the ball is important for a number of reasons.

Firstly, running is safer than passing. In running plays, the quarteback (QB) either puts the ball in a running back's hands (called handing-off) or tosses the ball a short distance back to a runner. So, it relies only on the dexterity of the QB and the running backs. In passing plays, the ball is in the air and therefore, literally, up for grabs by anyone who can get there.

Switching between running and passing plays keeps the defense guessing.

Different players are involved in running and passing plays allowing them to get a vital breather.

Most people agree that the your offense must establish their running game before the passing game.