Offense
In American football, the offense is the side which is in possession of the ball. It is their job to advance the ball towards the opponent's end zone to score points. Broadly speaking, the eleven players of the offense are broken into two groups: the five offensive linemen, whose primary job is to block, and the six backs and receivers whose primary job is advance the ball by means of either running with the ball or passing it. The backs and receivers are also commonly known as skill position players or as eligible ball carriers (offensive linemen are not normally eligible to advance the ball during each play).
The organization of the offense is strictly mandated by the rules; there must be at least seven players on the line of scrimmage and no more than four players (known collectively as "backs") behind it on every play. The only players eligible to handle the ball during a normal play are the backs and the two players on the end of the line. The remaining players (known as "interior linemen") are considered "ineligible", and may only block. Within these strictures, however, creative coaches have developed a wide array of offensive formations to take advantage of different player skills and game situations.
The following positions are standard in nearly every game, though different teams will use different arrangements of them.
Read more about this topic: Defensive Line Coach
Famous quotes containing the word offense:
“Crude men who feel themselves insulted tend to assess the degree of insult as high as possible, and talk about the offense in greatly exaggerated language, only so they can revel to their hearts content in the aroused feelings of hatred and revenge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900)
“Comparatively, we can excuse any offense against the heart, but not against the imagination. The imagination knowsnothing escapes its glance from out its eyryand it controls the breast.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven,
It hath the primal eldest curse upont,
A brothers murder.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)