Get in the Game

» Uncharted Territory for Fans Looking to Follow the Action

When a baseball fan goes to a ballgame, among the first things he often does is grab a hot dog, a beer, and a program before heading to his seat. Then he flips open the program and fills in the two starting lineups with his little golf pencil.

Already, there's a fundamental difference in the fan experience between baseball and football. The first pitch hasn't even been thrown and the baseball fan has had more of an interactive opportunity than the football fan will enjoy all day. There may be no crying in baseball, but there's no scorecard in football.

Until now.

Before we get to examining strategy and positional nuances and how off-the-field and off-season considerations shape the way games will unfold on NFL Sundays, let's start with an easy first step, a simple way to connect football fans to their game the way baseball fans connect to theirs. If you want to follow football like a coach up in the box, learn to chart a game — football's version of keeping score.

Just like a baseball fan diligently tracks each at-bat and records every 6-4-3 double play, you can compile the same data that coaches use to make decisions in their play-calling and begin to see trends emerge as a game evolves. You can track specific information for each play — the down and distance, the personnel on the field, and the result. And that running play-by-play will show you how the situation dictates the action and gives you a glimpse into how coaches are approaching a particular game, which will enable you to achieve a level of football sophistication that has been off-limits to too many fans through the years.

WHO'S IN, FIRST

Football, like baseball, is all about forecasting. Coaches build their entire game plans around tendencies — what their opponent's track record suggests they might do in a certain situation.

A baseball fan can look at a particular game situation — runners on first and second with one out — and predict what an infielder will do if a groundball is hit to him. Football provides the same opportunity to anticipate the action, and the empowerment of the fan begins with understanding the personnel in the game. It's not enough to know the fundamental concept that there are 11 players on each side of the ball; the composition of that 11-man unit will provide clues for what to expect on any given play.

On offense, there are five linemen and a quarterback on every play — with the exception of the Wildcat or derivations of it, which we'll get to later — leaving five interchangeable offensive pieces. Personnel groups are identified by the number of running backs and tight ends on the field on a given play, in that order. If a team sends out two running backs and one tight end, it's called 21 personnel. If it sends out one back and two tight ends, it's 12 personnel. In both cases, there will be two receivers on the field. The first indicator a defense looks for is the personnel package the offense is sending out. It should be the first thing you're looking for, too.

That's because personnel tips off strategy. If the 22 personnel is on the field — two running backs and two tight ends — it means there's only one receiver out there. Immediately, you can make an educated guess about what play a coach is likely to call — in this case, probably a run. You can make your prediction even before they break the huddle once you've noted who's in the game.

If you're in the stands, as soon as one play finishes, look over to the sideline and try to spot the offensive coordinator. There's probably going to be a group of rotational players standing together beside him — the second tight end, the fullback, and the third and fourth receivers — waiting to see who will get substituted into the game on the next play. It'll be harder to follow on TV, since the time between plays is filled with replays and cutaway shots of fans or players or coaches, but as soon as an offense gets into formation, you can quickly determine what personnel is in the game.

During every game that I watch — and I watch every game every week — I have a pad and a pen in hand to track the personnel used on every play. I keep a very basic chart for both teams, and for every possible personnel grouping — from an empty backfield with five receivers (00 personnel) to a jumbo lineup with two backs and three tight ends (23 personnel) — I mark how many times each team ran or passed the ball.

As soon as the half ends, I already know the run-pass ratio for both teams according to the personnel that's on the field.Now I can anticipate the halftime adjustments that coaches are discussing in the locker room, because they're utilizing roughly the same data to find an edge for the second half.

TRACK THE FACTORS

Identifying the personnel grouping is a starting point, but there are other factors you need to pay attention to. Down and distance, two factors that always go hand in hand, is perhaps the most significant in terms of influencing what play a coach will call (and what personnel he'll send out on the field). When formulating his game plan, a coach usually will categorize his options by down and distance. For example, his game plan may include four or five plays that worked in practice that can be used on 2nd downs between 5 and 7 yards; four or five plays that have been predetermined for use on 2nd downs between 1 and 4 yards; and four or five more plays for 2-and-8 or longer. And each play may be run from a different personnel group and formation.

As you chart the plays a team runs, tendencies reveal themselves and the game plan materializes before your eyes. The chess match is on — and if you can see what's coming all the way up there in Section 315, you better believe the defense does, too. The offensive coordinator knows that the defense is making...