Dr. Giganto

DK, keep an eye out for Troy Polamalu, a defensive player for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's a Pacific Islander with really long hair, and he flies all over the field making tackles. He's hard to miss, and pretty fun to watch. I'm sure they're going to be featuring him a lot when they show replays.

Oh, and remember that post on JVN, where I explained the rules and everything? You might want to take another look at that. Here are a few things I didn't touch on in that post...

A play-action pass is one in which the quarterback fakes a handoff to the running back to make the defense think it's a running play, but the QB keeps the ball and then attempts a pass.

A draw play is one in which the QB drops back like he's going to pass, and then quickly hands off to the running back.

A screen play is one in which the offensive line lets the defenders get past them, then the quarterback dumps off a short pass to the running back, who now has all of the linemen in front of him to block for him, and fewer defensive players to block (since the defensive players are already past the linemen and RB). There is also a wide receiver screen, but screens to the RB are most common.

If the coach of either team believes that the referees made a mistake, he is allowed to challenge the play. At this point, the referee will run off to the side, watch a replay, and decide if he should overturn the original call. Each team is allowed 2 challenges per game, and if they are successful on both, they are permitted a third challenge. However, it is rare that a team uses both challenges.

A blitz is when the defense sends more than 4 guys to rush after the quarterback. The advantage of this is that the quarterback will likely have less time to make his decision, and the receivers have less time to evade the defender that is covering him. The disadvantage is that there are less defensive players available to cover the receivers, so if one of the defenders gets beat, you run the risk of giving up a big play.

There are two basic types of defense that are played. Man-to-man is self-explanatory. A zone defense is when each defensive player is assigned a certain area of the field to protect, and he will not follow a receiver if he runs out of the zone. Instead, the person in the next zone is responsible for guarding the receiver.

An audible is when the quarterback gets up to the line ready to receive the ball from the center, but he realizes that the play he called will not work against the type of defense that he sees in front of him. The QB will then either call out another play, or make hand signals that signify that they are changing the play.

The QB may also send a reciever in motion. Basically, before the play starts, one of the receivers or tight ends will come into motion and run towards the opposite side of the field. The main reason why teams do this is to identify if the defense is playing zone or man-to-man. If the defensive player follows the receiver who goes into motion, it is man-to-man defense. If the defensive player stays put, it is a zone defense.

Here are some of the common penalties that get called during the game.

Offsides occurs when a member of the defensive team jumps across the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped, or if he makes contact with an offensive player. This is sometimes called encroachment or a neutral zone infraction. The offense gains five yards on this penalty.

A false start occurs when a member of the offensive line moves after getting in his set position, but before the ball is snapped. This penalty is in place so that the offensive linemen can't trick the defense into jumping offsides. The offense loses five yards on this penalty.

Holding is a tough penalty to explain. Basically, if you are blocking a player, you basically have to block him face-to-face. If he's going to get past you, and you grab his jersey or something like that, it is called holding. If the penalty is called on the offense, the offense loses ten yards. If it is called on the defense, the offense gains five yards and is automatically awarded a first down

Pass intereference occurs when a defensive player hits a receiver before the ball gets to him. Once the ball is in the general vicinity of the receiver, he is fair game. Also, if the contact is ruled as incidental (basically, unintentional, like if two guys running down the field get their feet caught up) it is not a penalty. If the penalty is called, the ball is placed on the spot of the foul, and the offense is awarded a first down. This penalty can also be called on the offense, if the receiver pushes the defender away from him to make the catch. This is a ten-yard penalty against the offense.

Unsportsmanlike conduct is called whenever the referee decides a player makes a dirty play, cheap shot, etc. This is a 15-yard penalty.

Delay of game occurs if the offense does not start a play within 40 seconds of the end of the previous play, or within 25 seconds of getting back on the field after a timeout.

Intentional grounding occurs when a quarterback is about to get sacked, and he just throws the ball away to no one to avoid the loss of yardage.

There are a few others, but those are the ones that are called most commonly.

If I think of anything more, I'll post again...