Passing plays
Screen Pass
Hail Mary
In American football, a Hail Mary pass is a forward pass made in desperation, with only a very small chance of success. The typical Hail Mary is a very long forward pass thrown at or near the end of a game where there is no realistic possibility for any other play to work. The phrase derives from the name of a prominent Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary. The point is that the success of such a pass is so unlikely that it would need divine intervention to work.
Although the Hail Mary has a low percentage chance of completion, it is generally a standard play in every playbook at the professional and college level. Generally, three or more eligible receivers are lined up on the short side of the field and all run a flag pattern. The running backs are kept in to block. The quarterback throws towards the end zone and prays that the pass is completed (this last part is optional, but recommended).
Defending against the Hail Mary is straightforward. The first priority is to ensure the defensive backs are in zone coverage, and that they keep the receivers well in front of them until the ball is thrown. Second, generally no more than four defensive linemen rush the quarterback, with all the linebackers dropping back to prevent a shorter pass. Hail Mary passes are most successful when the defense is in the wrong alignment. If the defense is in man-to-man coverage, and a receiver manages to break coverage by getting further downfield than the nearest defensive back, the chance of success is greatly improved.
Arguably, the most famous Hail Mary pass came in a 1984 game between Boston College and the University of Miami. With almost no time left on the clock, BC quarterback Doug Flutie threw a desperation Hail Mary pass which succeeded primarily because Miami’s secondary stood on the goal line to keep the receivers in front of them, and failed to cover a post route being run by Gerard Phelan. Miami’s defense was based on the assumption that Flutie would be unable to throw the ball as far as the end zone, but Flutie hit Phelan in stride against a flatfooted defense a yard deep in the end zone.
The term “Hail Mary pass” is often incorrectly believed to have been coined by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, referring to his desperation (and Catholic beliefs), for his game-winning touchdown pass in a December 28, 1975 NFC semifinal playoff game. With only 36 seconds remaining, Staubach threw a desperation pass to receiver Drew Pearson, who was being covered by cornerback Nate Wright. Pearson pinned the slightly underthrown ball against his right hip and ran into the end zone for the winning touchdown. In discussing the play during a post-game interview, Staubach told reporters that he closed his eyes, threw the ball as hard as he could, and said a Hail Mary prayer. Although the term dates farther back, originally to high schools across the country, Staubach did popularize it.
Down and In
Down and Out
Down and Out is a passing play in American football where the quarterback passes to a pre-arranged wide receiver. The quarterback calls “down and out” (and “to right or left”) in the huddle. It’s understood that the best receiver on the pre-arranged side will be the target. The timing and location of the throw is extensively practiced beforehand.
This is a quick execution play; if the ball is thrown correctly usually a defensive player can’t respond quickly enough to interfere. It is often called in a 3rd-down situation where the full ten yards are needed.
Post pattern: A predetermined amount of yards is run (usually 5, 10 or 15) before a 45 degree cut towards the middle of the field (ie. the posts in the endzones) is made. This allows the receiver to run in front of a person in the opposing defenses’ secondary, making it harder for the defense to prevent a completion or intercept the ball. This pattern can be run a quick, short route for fast yardage or on a long, deep route for large amounts of yardage. As a result, the pattern is very versatile and can be used effectively in anything from professional football to casual touch football.
Flag pattern: A route run where the receiver breaks towards the back corner marker of the endzone. At one time these were marked by small flags, giving the route its name.
Slant pattern: A route run by the offensive team’s receivers in which they push downfield briefly (2-4 yards) then cut towards the middle of the field at an acute angle to the line of scrimmage. Slant routes are used to beat blitzing defensive schemes that attempt to pressure the quarterback into throwing the ball quickly to avoid being sacked.
Checkdown
A checkdown pass is when the quarterback attempts to complete a short, accurate pass to a running back or tight end as a last option when the wide receivers are covered. The term means that the quarterback has “checked down” his list of receivers. because the quarterback does not look for the check down pass until after he has scanned for open wide receivers down the field for about 3-4 seconds, the defensive line has had time to get into the backfield and so a checkdown pass is often thrown in the face of pressure from the defensive line. For this reason, the ability to complete check down passes, while not as dramatic as longer completions, is often seen as a key sign of an effective and efficient quarterback.
Wheel pass: This route is used to get fast backfield players such as running backs the ball downfield. It is a pass route that is shaped (when you draw it) like a big curve (like a wheel). The running back runs directly toward the playside sideline thus drawing his defender laterally, then curves up the sideline and heads for goal. This route is usually combined with the playside receiver running a post or slant designed to draw the cornerbacks and safeties (whoever has responsibility to cover the deep outside of the field) toward the middle of the field while isolating a quick, explosive player on a slower linebacker. This route is used a lot in play-action to the fullback as the receiving back’s action looks like he may be blocking to the playside.
Play Action Pass
A play action pass is a type of American football play. The play action, or “PA” for short, is the opposite of the draw play. Whereas a draw play tries to fool the defense by looking like a pass play, then becoming a running play, a play action pass appears to be a running play, but is actually a pass play. Play action passes are usually used against defenses that gear up to stop the run. By looking like a run at first, the offense hopes to get the defense to “bite” on the run fake and be out of position downfield for the pass.
Offensive action during a play action pass
* The quarterback takes the snap and drops back to hand-off to the running back.
* The running back gets ready to take the hand-off.
* The quarterback quickly pulls the ball back from the hand-off position, trying to hide it from the defense. He then looks downfield for an open receiver.
* The running back continues to move upfield as if he has the ball in his hands.
* The offensive line comes off the ball to run block, but goes into pass protection soon afterward.
* The receivers “sell” the running play by appearing to block at first, then break off into their routes.
If the defensive players fly to the ball in order to stop the run, the offense hopes to have receivers either open or in man-to-man coverage. Other times, the offense is just hoping to get the linebackers to move up just a bit in order to give the receivers more room (and time) to get behind them.
Play action passes are difficult to run effectively if a team does not have at least a threat of a running game. A team without a good rushing attack will have a hard time fooling the defense into thinking a run is coming.
A run-oriented team will tend to employ play-action passes in order to keep the defense “honest” and, in fact, most teams actively watch the defensive reaction to their running plays waiting for the opportunity to call a play-action pass and take advantage of a defense that is reacting too aggressively to the run.
August 13th, 2006 at 5:14 am
would u plaese send me some good passing plays and running plays thank u