Not all, but the majority of offensive coordinators script a certain number of plays to start a game. There are both positive and negatives to this.
On the plus side, scripting plays allows an offense to practice those plays in order on Thursday (assuming a Saturday game). Then, on Friday, they are able to walk through those plays in order at the hotel. Each position coach can talk to his group about what they need to do depending on certain fronts/coverages defenses show against those plays. Players can think about and walk through the first few plays in their head.
It gives players confidence as they know what they are going to be doing to start a game and get in the flow.
For an offensive coordinator, he can purposely show certain formations to see how a defense will line up against it. If you show a few different formations in the first few plays, it gives an OC an idea of how a DC will react to it. It's kind of a "feeling out" period of you will, much like boxers at the beginning of a match.
On the negative side, scripting plays ties you down. If you pick up 9 yards on a 1st down play, it would be a perfect time to take an early shot deep and still have a 3rd-and-short if it doesn't work. But, if you script a running or quick pass game as your second play, it's tough to change your script already.
Another downfall is if you encounter a defense which has a huge hole against a certain play, but you've already scripted a play and your offense is about to run it.
For instance, in the first play of the game, Purdue threw a pick-six interception. The announcers mentioned the OC had scripted the first handful of plays. In the picture below, you can see what the QB was looking at before the snap. He needs to identity what the defensive coverage is. Remember, he only has a few seconds to do this.
At first, it appears that due to the corners and one outside linebacker being pressed, they may be playing man free. But, since the slot receiver on the top isn't covered and the other linebacker isn't walked out over him, it probably isn't that. So, perhaps it is a cover 2 variation. 2-man is a coverage where the defenders play man-to-man, but the two safeties play a cover 2 over the top of it. But, again, it doesn't look like that because nobody is covering the top slot receiver. Is it 2-mini or just a regular cover 2? Probably not, because in a cover 2, the safeties would be outside the hashes. You can see that the safety on the bottom of the screen is well inside the hash (or at least his shadow is). It could be cover 4, but that isn't likely since the corners are pressed and not bailing before the snap. So, based on the reaction after the snap, it was clearly man-free; everyone plays man-to-man on their assignment with one safety on top of it. But, what about the slot receiver who is uncovered? Well, that is just a disguise. On the snap, the safety at the top sprinted over to cover him originally. That's his guy, man-to-man. The hint that gives away the coverage is that the other safety is cheated over towards the middle of the field. In a cover 2 scheme, both safeties would be outside of their respective hash marks. One safety wouldn't be floating near the middle of the field like one was.
Why does this matter? Well, if Purdue didn't script their plays, an OC would see the uncovered receiver. He would simply put him on a bubble route. The outside receiver would simply need to block the corner, which would be an easy blocking angle since he is pressed on him, and the slot receiver who caught the ball would be on a race down the sidelines with the safety who is supposed to be man-to-man on him. Based on that safety's positioning so far away, that slot receiver could have been left running a long ways before encountering a defender.
What turned into a 7-0 Marshall lead, could have easily been the other way, especially with how aggressive the safety was in reacting to the QBs initial shoulder angle.
On the plus side, scripting plays allows an offense to practice those plays in order on Thursday (assuming a Saturday game). Then, on Friday, they are able to walk through those plays in order at the hotel. Each position coach can talk to his group about what they need to do depending on certain fronts/coverages defenses show against those plays. Players can think about and walk through the first few plays in their head.
It gives players confidence as they know what they are going to be doing to start a game and get in the flow.
For an offensive coordinator, he can purposely show certain formations to see how a defense will line up against it. If you show a few different formations in the first few plays, it gives an OC an idea of how a DC will react to it. It's kind of a "feeling out" period of you will, much like boxers at the beginning of a match.
On the negative side, scripting plays ties you down. If you pick up 9 yards on a 1st down play, it would be a perfect time to take an early shot deep and still have a 3rd-and-short if it doesn't work. But, if you script a running or quick pass game as your second play, it's tough to change your script already.
Another downfall is if you encounter a defense which has a huge hole against a certain play, but you've already scripted a play and your offense is about to run it.
For instance, in the first play of the game, Purdue threw a pick-six interception. The announcers mentioned the OC had scripted the first handful of plays. In the picture below, you can see what the QB was looking at before the snap. He needs to identity what the defensive coverage is. Remember, he only has a few seconds to do this.
At first, it appears that due to the corners and one outside linebacker being pressed, they may be playing man free. But, since the slot receiver on the top isn't covered and the other linebacker isn't walked out over him, it probably isn't that. So, perhaps it is a cover 2 variation. 2-man is a coverage where the defenders play man-to-man, but the two safeties play a cover 2 over the top of it. But, again, it doesn't look like that because nobody is covering the top slot receiver. Is it 2-mini or just a regular cover 2? Probably not, because in a cover 2, the safeties would be outside the hashes. You can see that the safety on the bottom of the screen is well inside the hash (or at least his shadow is). It could be cover 4, but that isn't likely since the corners are pressed and not bailing before the snap. So, based on the reaction after the snap, it was clearly man-free; everyone plays man-to-man on their assignment with one safety on top of it. But, what about the slot receiver who is uncovered? Well, that is just a disguise. On the snap, the safety at the top sprinted over to cover him originally. That's his guy, man-to-man. The hint that gives away the coverage is that the other safety is cheated over towards the middle of the field. In a cover 2 scheme, both safeties would be outside of their respective hash marks. One safety wouldn't be floating near the middle of the field like one was.
Why does this matter? Well, if Purdue didn't script their plays, an OC would see the uncovered receiver. He would simply put him on a bubble route. The outside receiver would simply need to block the corner, which would be an easy blocking angle since he is pressed on him, and the slot receiver who caught the ball would be on a race down the sidelines with the safety who is supposed to be man-to-man on him. Based on that safety's positioning so far away, that slot receiver could have been left running a long ways before encountering a defender.
What turned into a 7-0 Marshall lead, could have easily been the other way, especially with how aggressive the safety was in reacting to the QBs initial shoulder angle.
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