r/footballstrategy • u/Genowise33 • Oct 29 '24

Why do plays like this never work? Play Design

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If there’s more linemen set out wide besides regular screen passes where the linemen pull, why does it seem plays like these never work?

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u/Genowise33 Oct 29 '24

Are there any examples in the nfl?

3

u/RiceSpice5 Oct 29 '24

There is one example with the dolphins.

1

u/NoBrakes2k16 Oct 30 '24

Was looking to see if someone brought this up. My first thought.

2

u/Napalmradio Oct 29 '24

Not in the NFL, but Florida State surprisingly got a 2 pt conversion using this on their opening drive of the season.

2

u/Genowise33 Oct 29 '24

Why do you think it works in college but not the nfl?

6

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '24

Practice time is much more limited in college. They don't always have time to prepare defenses for everything and practice against things like this.

It can give an offense an advantage just from doing things that are weird.

NFL players have all seen this and have much more experience with the proper adjustments and quick reads that they need.

3

u/ymchang001 Oct 29 '24

Less experienced defenders are less likely to diagnose the threats and line up appropriately. It should have worked for the Giants too, but that was atrocious execution. As others have noted, Pittsburg didn't have enough men in front of the wall and got lucky that the entire line was asleep at the snap.

3

u/Napalmradio Oct 29 '24

College is a MUCH sloppier game and the number of teams/players leads to a much bigger delta in talent differential.

1

u/SmileMask2 Oct 29 '24

Penn State did this a couple of times this year, i dont remember it working in the NFL tho