Testers - week 3 is played. Please log in, then click the yellow "Replay week 3" button near the top right and watch your team's game (weeks 1 and 2 are still there too). Then watch another one - click Scores. We need feedback on the replay viewer - identify the Play number (it is right below the time remaining on the scoreboard) and add that play number and details on what you think is an issue at the very bottom of the page as a comment please. Thanks!
Week 4 — game plans due from:
6 of 48 in
· Sunday 11:59pm
Colossal Heads
Season 1
4
// Week 4 of 16
The Defense Key
Your offense calls a named play; the defense doesn't. It sets tendencies in the game plan and reacts to what it sees. But on every snap it still commits to a front and a coverage before the ball moves — and those now show up right in the play-by-play. This is the companion to the Play Key.
How to read a defensive call
In the play-by-play
«D: Blitz / Zone»
Every snap ends with the defense's commitment in guillemets.
Front = Run-stop, Balanced, Pass-rush or Blitz · Coverage = Man, Zone or Match
A Blitz reads as its own front — it overrides the base call.
Front = Run-stop, Balanced, Pass-rush or Blitz · Coverage = Man, Zone or Match
A Blitz reads as its own front — it overrides the base call.
What it's telling you
The defense guessed pass, sent extra pressure,
and dropped the rest into zones to guard the field behind the rush. Scout a team's
calls over a few games and you'll see its habits — then build the game plan that
punishes them. That's the whole mind game.
Fronts · how the front seven commits
Run-stopvs the run
Sell out to stop the run
Crash the gaps and squeeze the line. Wrecks the run — but a defense leaning downhill is the one play-action and the deep ball were designed to punish.
Balancedneutral
Read first, react second
No commitment either way. Gives up nothing cheap and takes nothing cheap — the front you call when you don't yet know what's coming.
Pass-rushvs the pass
Get upfield after the QB
Ends and tackles pin their ears back and hunt the quarterback. Smothers the pass and lifts the sack rate — at the cost of the running lanes it vacates.
Blitzhigh risk / high reward
Bring extra pressure
Send a linebacker or a back on top of the front. The fastest way to a sack or a hurried throw, and the fastest way to give up a big one if they pick it up. Capped at half your snaps.
Coverages · how the back end plays
Man coverage Chase your guy
Every defender travels with a receiver. Tightest coverage there is — and the one double-moves, rubs and pick routes are built to break.
Line technique — how you play the receiver at the snap
Press — Get hands on the receiver and wreck the timing of the route. A clean jam kills the play; a whiff and he's running free deep.
Bump-and-run — A shove at the line, then run with him. The middle ground — some disruption without fully selling out over the top.
Off — Play off the line and keep everything in front. The short throw is free; nothing gets behind you.
Zone coverage Guard grass, eyes on the QB
Defenders cover areas, not men, and watch the quarterback's eyes. Sees the whole field and breaks on the ball — but the seams between zones are always soft.
Coverage depth — where the zones sit
Squat short — Sit on the short routes and take them away. Death to a dink-and-dunk offense; vulnerable over the top.
Level — Zones drop to their normal landmarks. No tell, no extreme — the honest zone.
Bail deep — Get depth immediately and keep a lid on. No bombs — but the checkdown is free all day.
Match coverage Zone until they cross, then man
Play zone until receivers cross your face, then pass them off like man. The modern default — but it lives and dies on reading the routes right. Takes both a coverage depth and a line technique.
Match takes both a coverage depth and a line technique — it plays zone rules until receivers cross, then trails them like man, so it borrows from each side.
The support cast · dials that flavor the front & coverage
Run keys · Who the front watches
Key the running back
Spy the primary back — stuffs him, but bites on counters and the fullback.
Key the fullback
Watch the lead blocker — strong against power, loose against a feature back.
Read and react
Commit to nobody — no big loss, no big win.
Pursuit · How they run to the ball
Fly to the ball
Swarm at full speed — great against straight-ahead runs, burned by misdirection.
Stay balanced
Under control, no tell.
Play it safe
Hang back and stay assignment-sound — nothing big either way.
Bracket · Double one named receiver
Bracket a target
Put two defenders on the opponent's best pass-catcher for a share of snaps (up to half). Erases him — and leaves someone else in single coverage. You name the target in your game plan.
The mind game
Before any of the above, your defensive game plan makes a prediction: on each down and
distance, how likely is the offense to run? That guess — not your own tendencies
— steers the whole defense. Guess run and you'll be right to crash the front and jump the
short routes; guess pass and you'll be sitting in coverage when the draw breaks. The closer your
read matches what the offense actually does, the more your front and coverage tilt in your favor.
It rewards scouting over luck: a coach who has studied his opponent is a step ahead all game,
and a coach who guesses is a step behind. Read the calls in the play-by-play, find the tendencies,
and set your read to beat them.
Reading the log: dial up Blitz and you'll see more «D: Blitz / Man»; sit back in Match with a deep bail and you'll see «D: Pass-rush / Match» while the checkdowns move the chains. Set your defense in the Game Plan.