How to Identify Football Formations

You don’t just get into the football pitch without having a wing to set. So when footballers get into the field, the position in certain places. Sometimes it can be on or behind the line of scrimmage. However, these positions are called formations. So are you ready to detect the football formation? We will look at a brief overview of the lineups for both the offense and defense side of the field.

Offensive Formations

What is an offensive formation? An offensive formation is how the offense positions 11 players prior to using a particular play. However, it lies in the hands of the team to choose the type of formation they will use. There are just three important formations to talk about. They include;

• Shotgun Offense: don’t be carried away by the name. The shotgun offense is often used on passing downs. The settings have a way to give room to the Quarterback more time to visualize the defense, suitable for the secondary’s alignment. Let’s take a look at what you will see.

1. The QB lines up 5 to 7 yards behind the Center
2. The center makes a long snap to the QB.

• Split-back Formation: the split-back formation is most in use because it’s difficult for the defense to estimate whether the offense is running or passing further details:

1. The runners are arranged behind the two guards about 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
2. The backfield is balanced which means that there is no wing linking. In order words, it craves a difficult to view for the defense to detect what the play will be.

• I formation: the I formation is suitable to a team that has a well developed running back because this lineup allows him to have a complete vision of his blockers and also oversees the first reactions of the defensive players. Below is what you will see:

1. The tailback (TB). This is the person that will carry the ball. There is a chance of him placing himself as deep as 7 yards from the line of scrimmage.
2. Assuming the blocking holds, the runner can be in a full pace while approaching the line of scrimmage.
3. While the play is about to set, you will notice the need and reason behind why it is called I formation. Thus, the QB and the Fullback (FB) will form an “I” with the fullback in-between the quarterback and tailback.

Defensive Formations

The defensive formation is determined by what the offensive players are up to. So they make a move based on the actions of the offensive players. Their target is to stop the opposing team and get the ball trapped to their offense. Below is a group is lineups that defenses make use of in order to keep the offense in check.

However, most of the defense is named by their fronts or the number of defensive linemen and linebackers who are place in front of the defensive backs.

• 4-3 front: thus, this is a well-balanced defense on paper. It comprises of; two defensive tackles (DT), and two defensive ends (DE), Two outside Linebackers (LB), a Middle Linebacker (MLB), Two Cornerbacks (CE), two safeties (S).

N/B: The 4-3 defense requires a good and strong end in order to obtain a strong-rushers and physically tough defense over the run. However, they can overcome pass-rush pressure provided they have an agile defense. What happens is that the stronger linebackers of the two outside lines up over the tight end, thereby leaving the other quicker outside linebacker to play role in pass-rush?

• 3-4 Front:  this front is suitable for defending multiple offensive formations. How does it achieve this? It makes use of
• Three defensive linemen. The one in the middle is called the nose tackle (N).
• Four linebackers (LB)
• Two defensive linemen (DE), which consists of one superior pass-rusher and an agile run-defender.
• Cover two: the cover two is a 4-3zone defense designed to stop short passes. Instead of cover receivers man to man, then the defensive side of the field should be divided into zones. However, each of the zones bears the value of safety, cornerback, or linebacker. Let’s see the zones.

1. The deep part of the field- however, is divided into two large zones, and they function to take care of safety. The deep part of the field is the area starting from about 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. It is divided into two large zones, each of which is the responsibility of safety. However, the cover two derived its name from these two large zones – The safeties guard against receivers running downfield to catch long passes.
2. The other part is the area between the line of the scrimmage and the deep part of the field. It is divided into five small zones, each of them having the responsibility of a cornerback or Linebacker. The central aim is to stop the short pass and to also tackle so that if the receiver succeeds in getting the short passes, he can make a way for more than a yard
3. The other part says, assuming a receiver breaks a tackle and gets downfield, one of the two safeties is supposed to stop the receiver from breaking off a long gain.

• For the cover two defenses to obtain pressure over the quarterback into throwing the ball before receivers can break into the open areas between zones requires a strong talented linemen

A basic punt formation

In the formation of a basic punt, the players on the punting unit line are up against what coaches refer to as many coverages.

• X is the center (or snapper); he stands over the ball.
• PP is the punter’s personal protector.
• P is the punter.
• Ws are the wings.
• The Es (ends) are on the line of scrimmage about 10 to 12 yards away from the wings.

Check for this link for better imagery explanation!
https://media.wiley.com/Lux/assets/48/322948.Football%20Format

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