Glossary of American Football - C

C

carry or carries

A statistic referring to the number of times a rushing player attempts to advance the ball. A ballcarrier can be any player that attempts to advance the ball during an offensive play, regardless of position.

center (C)

A player position on offense. The center usually snaps the ball. The middle lineman is not always the snapper.

center-eligible

A trick play where the entire offensive line is to one side of the center at the snap, so that the center is an extra lineman on the end, and therefore an eligible receiver. A center-eligible play was featured in the film M*A*S*H.

centre

Canadian "center"

chain

The 10-yard long chain that is used by the chain crew (aka "chain gang") to measure for a new series of downs.

chip shot

A very short field goal, usually of 25 yards or less, that is almost certain to be successful. (This also applies to almost all extra point kicks as well.) Named after the golf term of the same name (see wedge (golf)), for the ball's high and short trajectory.

chop block

Similar to a cut block in which one offensive player blocks a defensive player below the knees and another blocks him above the waist. It is illegal to block low if a team mate is already engaged with the defensive player blocking high to prevent knee and ankle injuries.

chuck and duck

A degrading way to refer to the Run And Shoot offensive strategy.

checkdown

The checkdown pass is when the quarterback has to complete a short pass to a running back or tight end as a last resort to avoid a sack. Handling a checkdown situation is for a running back to catch this short pass, then use his speed, agility and power to run for extra yardage.

clipping

An illegal block in which the victim is blocked from the back and at or below the waist; the penalty is 15 yards. Originally, clipping was defined as any block from the back, but is now restricted to blocks at or below the waist. Other blocks from the back are now punished with 10-yard penalties.

coffin corner

The corner of the field of play between the end zone and the 10 yard line. A punter, if he is close enough, will often attempt to kick the ball out of bounds close to the receiving team's goal line and pin them back near their own end zone.

comeback route

A receiver or tight end route where the player runs straight upfield a specified number of yards (could be a short or medium route), plants hard, and turns and runs back towards the sideline at a 45 degree angle. Often confusingly named, a wide receiver doesn't come back towards the quarterback, instead he tries to catch the ball and guarantee getting out of bounds.

completion percentage

The percentage of passes completed from passes attempted.

contain

A defensive assignment. On outside runs such as the sweep, one defensive player (usually a cornerback or outside linebacker) is assigned to keep the rusher from getting to the edge of the play and turning upfield. If executed properly, the rusher will have to turn upfield before the design of the play calls for it, giving the linebackers a better chance of stopping the play for little or no gain.

cornerback (CB)

A defensive back who lines up near the line of scrimmage across from a wide receiver. Their primary job is to disrupt passing routes and to defend against short and medium passes in the passing game, and to contain the rusher on rushing plays.

cover

To cover is attempt to prevent a receiver from catching a pass. There are two general schemes for defending against the pass:

1. Man-to-man - each eligible receiver is covered by a defensive back or a linebacker.

2. Zone - certain players (usually defensive backs and/or linebackers, though occasionally linemen as well) are assigned an area on the field (Flat, Hook, Curl and Deep) that they are to cover.

Common types of coverage:

1. Cover Zero - Strict man-to-man coverage with no help from safeties (usually a blitz play with at least five men crossing the line of scrimmage)

2. Cover One - Man-to-man coverage with at least one safety not assigned a player to cover who can help out on deep pass routes.

3. Cover Two - Zone coverage with the safeties playing deep and covering half the field each. Can be Cover 2 man, where every receiver is covered by a defensive player, or Cover 2 Zone (also known as Tampa 2), where CB covers Flat zone, OLB Hook Zone and MLB Curl Zone.

4. Cover Three - Zone coverage as above, but with extra help from Strong Safety/Cornerback, so that each player covers one-third of a deep zone.

5. Cover Four - As above, with the corners and safeties dropping into deep coverage, with each taking one-fourth of the width of the field. Also referred to as Quarters.

counter

A running play in which the running back will take a step in the apparent direction of the play (i.e., the direction the line is moving), only to get the handoff in the other direction. Weak side linemen will sometimes pull and lead the back downfield (sometimes called a counter trap), but not necessarily. The play is designed to get the defense to flow away from the action for a few steps as they follow the linemen, allowing more room for the running back.

crackback block

An illegal block delivered below the opponent's waist by an offensive player who had left the area of close line play and then returned to it, or was not within it at the snap. The term is also used to describe a legal block (delivered from the front, or from the side with the offensive player's helmet in front of the blocked player) by a wide receiver on a player who lined up inside of him.

cut

A sharp change of direction by a running player. Also called a cutback.

cut blocking

A blocking technique in which offensive linemen, and sometimes other blockers, block legally below the waist (i.e., from the front of the defensive player) in an attempt to bring the defenders to ground, making them unable to pursue a running back for the short time needed for the back to find a gap in the defense.

The San Francisco 49ers of the 1980s and early 90's were noted for their cut-blocking (and leg-whipping, which is illegal), a tactic that was later adopted in mid-90's by the NFL's Denver Broncos. The Broncos gained a degree of notoriety for their cut-blocking techniques (often called "dirty" play by their opponents) which produced the NFL's best rushing attack for a decade, but also resulted in several defensive players opponents of the Broncos being injured by cut blocks. In a Monday Night Football game in 2004, defensive lineman Anthony Williams of the Cincinnati Bengals was lost to the season on a block (by the Broncos tackle George Foster), and in 2005, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive lineman Paul Spicer was badly injured on block by Broncos tackle Matt Lepsis. Responding to the criticism, in 2004 Broncos coach Mike Shanahan showed local reporters some NFL game film (only seen and used by coaches) that demonstrated how nearly every team in the NFL uses cut-blocking.