- 1). Send your quarterback on the run. If he is right-handed, have him roll to his right. If he's left-handed, have him roll to his left. He can buy time with his feet while rolling out. He should have two primary receivers. Send the outside receiver deep and the slot receiver to the sideline. These will be two of your bread-and-butter patterns in nine-man football.
- 2). Send your tight end up the field and look for the soft spot in your opponent's zone defense. If the defense is playing back and looking for the long pass, your tight end should be able to settle at the 10-yard mark and hook back to the quarterback where he is open. This is another staple of the offense. If the defense is challenging the catch and playing tight coverage, your tight end can run a hook-and-go and run up the field looking for the long play.
- 3). Hand the ball to your running back where he can run off guard or to the outside. The narrow 40-yard width of the field makes it somewhat difficult to run with the ball but you still have to try to run to keep the defense honest. Running plays are much more effective after hitting a big pass and the defense is playing back, but you must try to run the ball occasionally to probe the defense and take advantage of poor tackling if your opponent is not a physical team
- 4). Run the ball from the quarterback position with misdirection. One of the best things to do is have the quarterback bootleg to his opposite side when you sense the opponent looking for a big pass. If he has been successful throwing to his right, he should be able to bootleg to the left and find an open field. His initial move to the right may draw the entire defense and that will leave a wide open field to run to the left.
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