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In an attempt to understand the game of football, there are several basic offensive plays that you should know and be able to recognize. While it often seems perplexing and difficult to understand, it is quite simplistic at its deepest roots. For the amateur viewer or participant, the offense is trying to score touchdowns by moving the ball down the field within specified parameters. The offense either runs the football, or throws it.

A running play occurs when the quarterback hands the ball to his running back, who then follows the play design and runs to a specific location, which hopefully has been cleared of defenders. When passing the pigskin, the quarterback surveys his options, and then tries to complete a pass to one of his receivers moving down the field. The offense needs to go ten yards in four plays to regain a new set of downs. If they do not gain the ten yards, they are forced to kick the ball away, or try for a field goal.

Since offense tends to be the most exciting facet of football (my sincerest apologies to the defensive pundits), this article shall focus on some of the basic plays that an offense will employ in an attempt to quickly and methodically move the ball down the field, culminating in a touchdown, ultimately.

Assuming that you have a smidgen of knowledge about the game and the scoring, most offenses tend to run several plays in an attempt to read the defensive schemes of the opposition. The offensive coordinator will run many plays only on specific downs, or with specific yardage needing to be amassed for a first down. Some trickery and deceit aside, offenses generally run typical plays trying to gain a certain amount of yardage.

Most offenses tend to want to establish the run, or at least present a facade that they have every intention of running. This keeps the defense honest, and freezes the linebackers momentarily. Teams that like to pass often use a shotgun formation hoping to provide enough breathing room for the quarterback, leaving him ample and sufficient time to pick apart a defense. Passing out of the I-formation freezes the defense, as they assume a running play is about to happen, and allows the running backs to also become offensive weapons out of the backfield as receivers.

Screen passes are an effective means of producing potentially big plays. The screen pass works best if the defense assumes a passing play downfield is about to occur. Offenses study defenses all week prior to gameday, and therefore will run the plays

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