[QUOTE=Usram]
I guess what puzzles me a bit about American football compared to Rubgy Football (and yes, I realise that this is probably down to ignorance on my part) is why they don’t try rugby-style chains of backwards passes more often. When they get to the fourth down, they so often punt. Wouldn’t it be worth trying a fancy passing move sometimes? Too risky, maybe.
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I used to wonder that too, when i first moved to the US. But after watching American football for a while you soon realize that, despite many superficial similarities, the game really is so different from rugby that you can’t apply the same thinking.
First, and perhaps most basically, is the fact that NFL players don’t really have any experience passing. In rugby, you grow up learning how to pass the ball accurately, and even the biggest, most uncoordinated prop gets to pass every now and again during the game. NFL is a much more specialized game, and in most typical games the only guy that ever hands the ball off to someone else with a throw is the quarterback.
Second, and probably more important, is the different rules concerning how possession works in the NFL. If a team tries a whole bunch of laterals, the opposition is usually up in their faces very quickly and can shut the play down. The play linked in the OP probably never would have got that far in the NFL. Also, because each lateral has to go sideways or backwards, every time you pass you are giving up ground, and in a field position game like the NFL it’s generally better to punt it 50 yards downfield than it is to go backwards 15 yards and risk being tackled.
And this ties into the structure of the play itself. In rugby, during a long series of passes, any breakdown or tackle can be overcome by the team with the ball by creating a ruck or maul. So, if someone gets hit or knocked over by a defender, and can’t get the ball away, his forwards will arrive and help him out. Not only does this allow the attacking team to set the play up again, but it forces the members of the defending team to come back onside, and thus gives the attacking team more room to move.
In the NFL, this isn’t an option. As soon as you’re tackled, that’s the end of the play, so keeping the ball alive in such situations is much more risky than in rugby, especially given that possession is a more precious commodity in NFL than in rugby. Also, once the play starts, there is no offside, and the defending team has no obligation to leave room between themselves and the attacking players.
[QUOTE=Usram]
OTOH, American football fans watching rugby are perhaps shocked at the relatively casual way the teams give away possession.
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I’d actually be interested to know what the average number of possession changes is for a game of rugby, compared to a game of American football. My hunch is that there are probably at least twice as many in a typical rugby game, but that’s just impressionistic guessing.
). Stamps Trey Young had been blocking for Carpenter, so Carpenter lateralled the ball to him just before Joseph tackled Carpenter, and Young ran it the rest of the way for a touchdown.
Well played sir. As an aside, in old school rugby, you got your retaliation in first 