Football Glossary
The words you'll hear on a broadcast, in plain English.
- Assignment
- A player's one job on a play: a man to cover, a zone to drop into, or a gap to fill.
- Used in:Man vs zone
- Base defense
- A defense's standard eleven, with four defensive backs. A 4-3 base has four linemen and three linebackers; a 3-4 base has three and four.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's who
- Blitz
- Sending extra rushers - a linebacker or defensive back - after the quarterback, on top of the defensive line. It trades defenders in coverage for pressure.
- Used in:What's a blitz?
- Box
- The area near the ball, about as wide as the offensive line and tight end and a few yards deep. "Seven in the box" means seven defenders there.
- Used in:Words you'll hear on a broadcast
- Carry
- To run with a receiver who goes deep out of your zone, rather than letting him go, until a deep defender can take him.
- Used in:Cover 3
- Cornerback (CB)
- A defensive back who usually lines up across from a wide receiver, near the sideline. Often just "corner".
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's whoMan vs zone
- Curl/flat
- An underneath zone near the sideline, from where a receiver's curl route ends out to the flat - the area just past the line, near the sideline.
- Used in:Cover 3
- Deep third
- One of the three deep zones in Cover 3. The two cornerbacks and the free safety each take one.
- Used in:Cover 3
- Defensive line (DL)
- The defenders who line up on the line of scrimmage, usually with a hand on the ground. Defensive tackles (DT) play inside, defensive ends (DE) outside.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's who
- Dime
- A defense with six defensive backs, one more than nickel - more help in coverage, less against the run.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's whoWords you'll hear on a broadcast
- Disguise
- Lining up to look like one coverage or pressure, then playing another at the snap.
- Used in:What's a blitz?Words you'll hear on a broadcast
- Four verticals
- A pass play with four receivers running deep. Built to beat Cover 3, which has only three deep defenders.
- Used in:Cover 3
- Free rusher
- A pass rusher nobody blocks - what every blitz is trying to create.
- Used in:What's a blitz?
- Hook
- An underneath zone in the middle of the field, inside the curl/flat zones, usually played by a linebacker. Also called hook/curl.
- Used in:Cover 3
- Hot throw
- A quick throw to the receiver a blitzer left uncovered, to beat the blitz before it gets there.
- Used in:What's a blitz?
- Line of scrimmage (LOS)
- The imaginary line across the field where the ball sits before the snap. Neither team may cross it until the ball is snapped.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's whoMan vs zone
- Linebacker (LB)
- A defender who lines up behind the defensive line. Linebackers stop the run, cover backs and tight ends, and sometimes rush the passer. The MIKE is the middle linebacker; the WILL plays on the weak side.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's whoMan vs zone
- Nickel back (NB)
- A fifth defensive back, usually covering a slot receiver.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's whoMan vs zoneWhat's a blitz?
- Off coverage
- Lining up several yards off a receiver, giving ground in exchange for protection against the deep ball.
- Used in:Man vs zoneWords you'll hear on a broadcastCover 3
- Passing off
- In zone, letting a receiver go as he leaves your area, trusting the next defender to pick him up.
- Used in:Man vs zone
- Personnel
- Which players are on the field. On defense: base (four defensive backs), nickel (five) or dime (six).
- Used in:Words you'll hear on a broadcast
- Pre-snap
- Everything before the ball is snapped: alignment, motion and disguise. Most reads of a coverage start here.
- Used in:Man vs zoneWhat's a blitz?Cover 3
- Press
- Lining up right on a receiver at the line, to jam him and throw off his timing.
- Used in:Man vs zoneWords you'll hear on a broadcast
- Pressure
- Any time the pass rush hurries the quarterback, hits him or forces him to move, whether or not it ends in a sack.
- Used in:What's a blitz?Words you'll hear on a broadcast
- Protection
- How the offense blocks the pass rush: which blocker takes which rusher. When it slides the wrong way, a rusher gets through free.
- Used in:What's a blitz?
- Rotation
- Safeties moving at the snap, so the coverage after the snap is different from the look before it - two-high turning into single-high, for example.
- Used in:Words you'll hear on a broadcast
- Sack
- Tackling the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw.
- Used in:What's a blitz?Words you'll hear on a broadcast
- Safety (FS, SS)
- The deepest defensive backs, usually 10-15 yards off the ball. The free safety (FS) is usually the deeper one; the strong safety (SS) lines up toward the offense's strong side, usually the tight end's, and comes down toward the line more often.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's whoMan vs zoneCover 3
- Seam
- The vertical lane between the hash marks and the numbers. Seam routes run up it, in the space between deep zones.
- Used in:Cover 3
- Secondary
- The defensive backs as a group: cornerbacks, safeties, and any nickel or dime backs.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's who
- Shell
- How the deep defenders line up before the snap - a two-high shell or a single-high shell.
- Used in:Words you'll hear on a broadcast
- Single-high (MOFC)
- One safety deep in the middle of the field. Cover 1 and Cover 3 are single-high coverages. Also called MOFC: middle of the field closed.
- Used in:Words you'll hear on a broadcastCover 3
- Strong side / weak side
- The strong side is the side of the formation with the tight end, or with more players; the weak side is the other one.
- Used in:Meet the defense: who's who
- Two-high (MOFO)
- Two safeties deep, splitting the field between them. Cover 2, Cover 4 and Cover 6 are two-high coverages. Also called MOFO: middle of the field open.
- Used in:Words you'll hear on a broadcastCover 3
- Zone coverage
- Each defender guards an area of the field and covers whoever comes into it.
- Used in:Man vs zoneCover 3