Never played organized football, but I’ve seen this 100 times, always wonder what is going on.
The offensive lineman are down in 3 point stance. The Quarterback comes up to the center and then starts shouting and pointing to someone on the defensive side. He goes under center, the ball is snapped and the play occurs. So questions.
• What the hell is the quarterback pointing at ?
• If the QB is yelling and pointing at someone would not that person be on extra alert for something coming his way ?
• Or, is the QB sometimes making a fake issue and pointing somewhere the play will not go to try and fool the defensive players?
• How can the offensive linemen, down in the 3 point stance, and with a helmet on actually see where the QB is pointing ?
The QB is likely seeing something in the defense (the position of one of the defensive players, or how that player is reacting to the offensive formation) that he wants his teammates to note (as modern offenses, at least in the NFL and college ball, frequently have different options for the players, based on what they see out of the defense). The actual play that’s been called may or may not be actually heading in the direction that the QB is pointing.
However, it’s probably not the linemen to whom he’s pointing this out – it’s probably the receivers and / or backs, who either (a) aren’t in three-point stances, or (b) are behind the QB, and thus, can see him. (If the line needs to be reacting to something, which would be affecting their blocking assignments, it’s the center who would be pointing this out to them.)
OTOH, yes, it’s possible that it’s just a chess game, and the QB is bluffing, and hoping that his pointing will cause the defense to make an adjustment which winds up being favorable to the offense.
(Also, flagging this for a move to The Game Room.)
Usually, the pointing is at the middle linebacker, or whomever the offense designates as such. This determines the protection or attacking scheme, which defender each offensive lineman should block depending on a run or pass play.
Right, the offensive players will have assignments based on standard defensive roles/positions (‘block the nose tackle’ or ‘if the middle linebacker rushes the passer, block him, but otherwise help block the defensive end’ or similar), and I believe generally the central middle linebacker is a key position – lots of assignments are different depending on what he does. But in modern defenses, it’s not always clear which defender is playing what position/role, so the QB is basically saying “OK, let’s all get on the same page here: for the next play, do your assignments treating that guy as the middle linebacker.”
He’s often shouting at the same time as pointing. In fact, if you listen to plays where Tom Brady is audible before the snap, he’s almost always yelling “Number 57 is the Mike!” or something similar (‘Mike’ being a football term for middle linebacker). I assume the linemen can generally hear him-- after all they can hear him do the snap count.
That said, the QB could also be changing the whole offensive play based on what he sees, though in that case he’s probably not pointing at a defensive player, but rather making some kind of hand sign or yelling a code word.
And yes, a good QB will do that occasionally even if he’s not really changing anything. And some defenses will try and change their play (or pretend to) when a QB looks like he’s changing the offensive play.
One thing he may be doing is pointing out an ‘overload’ - a defender that may be able to come through the offensive line unblocked, because it appears that the defense will bring more blitzers than the members of the offensive line. The reason for this is so that the halfback or the fullback can pick him up. What it means can change a lot based on what kind of play was called, and so the defense has a hard time really gaining anything from it (for example you would call it the same way even on a running play where it didn’t matter).
Lots of film (video/computer files) gets watched as teams prepare for the other team. Some QBs are as good as coaches in recognizing certain defensive packages. Based on who he sees in what position, the QB may see that the up the middle run he called won’t likely work, so he calls an “audible” and throws a long bomb over the linebackers or a screen set up to the TE backing up off the line.
Of course, defenses know this, too, and might show a blitz to force an ill advised change of play.
At the NFL level, it’s more than just being amazing physical athletes, they also have to know their game inside and out. Sometimes the chess match play and play changes comes from the coaches, sometimes from the players.
Watching Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, etc… is exciting not just for the long pass, but also for the football smarts they show.
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Also, watch the QB on the sidelines when their D is on the field. You will sometimes see the QB looking at photo print outs of the field and Defensive set ups and discussing things on the phone with a coach/assistant up in a press box, or in person with a coach on the sideline.
To reiterate, though, what you’re specifically seeing when the quarterback is shouting and pointing is that he’s setting the mike; that’s all. Audibles and things happen at the line, too, but when he’s pointing and shouting at the offensive line he’s establishing who the offense is treating as the middle of the defense. A blocking scheme will be based inside-out and the individual blockers’ assignments (assuming it’s man-to-man blocking) will all be keyed to a number that corresponds to a defensive player’s distance from the middle.
If there are seven men in the box and seven blockers against a traditional defensive front, it’s probably the case that the offensive tackles know they’ve primarily got the defensive ends and the guards know they’ve primarily got the tackles. But the center and the backs/tight end don’t know who they’re blocking until the middle of the defense is established and they have a sense for who the quarterback wants accounted for - if the quarterback sees a blitz coming and says OK, let’s make that blitzing linebacker the mike (the middle of the defense), then all different kinds of things might happen based on how the protection scheme is set up. The center might have responsibility for the mike, the back might have responsibility for the next blitzer out from the middle or for chipping on a defensive end, the tight end might have an assignment or he might know that based on the scheme, the blitzer from his side is unaccounted for, so he’ll have to break his route off and be the hot read, and so on. It’s not automatic, because the quarterback might decide based on the defense’s look that he wants a certain guy not to be blocked, so he might adjust the protection to let that guy come free. If a running back steps up to block that guy instead of doing what the quarterback expects him to do (i.e., his job), something bad is going to happen.
In the 1992 NFC Champ game, Dallas VS. San Fran. It was late in the game and the play called in the Huddle had Michael Irvin Lining up on the left side, with Alvin Harper on the right side. But since that play always went to Harpers side, Irvin told Harper to switch sides because he wanted the ball.
Well, as it turns out as Aikman is walking up under center he see’s the coverage that the 49ers are gonna play and that means that the receiver on the left, now Harper, has to run a different route than the play originally called for because of the coverage. Aikman later said that he KNEW that Irvin would see it and make the correct route adjustment. But he wasn’t sure about Harper. So if you get a chance to see that play again, you’ll see Aikman motioning to Harper to take the underneath slant pattern on the play. Harper does, the play goes for 70 yards, leads to a Cowboys Superbowl, and Irvin is STILL kicking himself for switching places with Harper for that play!