Analyzing football game film as a coach or scout is quite different from watching a football game as a fan. The fan's eyes will be following the ball. When analyzing game film, your eyes should be following the players--every one of them. That's because nothing on a football field happens in isolation. A wide receiver doesn't just catch the ball out of thin air. The quarterback has to throw the ball, the offensive line has to give the QB time to throw, other receivers have to run convincing routes, and running backs have to pick up the blitz or sell the play fake. When you know analyze football game film, you're able to see the order in the seeming chaos on the field.
Instructions
1. Choose a camera angle that allows you to see as much of the field as possible. This may be entirely out of your control, of course. But if you do have a choice of angles, film shot from a position above the end zone is by far the best. This angle--known as "coaches' film"--shows all 22 players at all times. The sideline shot, so familiar from televised football, may actually be the worst angle for analysis. The secondary is usually out of the frame until a pass goes downfield, by which time it's too late to assess what has happened.
2. Watch the film one play at a time. Start by watching each play through to the end. Think of game film analysis as a forensic exercise: You must first know what happened--the outcome of the play--before you can determine how it happened.
3. Rewind to the beginning of the play and freeze the frame just before the snap. Note the formations of both the offense and the defense. More than anything else, the formation a team lines up in will tell you what's coming. As you track the formations and the plays run out of them, patterns will quickly emerge.
4. Watch each play 22 times. That's once for each player on the field. Successful execution of a play depends on each player fulfilling his assignment--and reacting as other players fulfill theirs.
5. Break down the offense. Follow each lineman as he executes his blocks. Track each receiver through his route or blocking assignment. Follow the backs as they carry the ball, swing out for a pass or stay in to block. Finally, watch the quarterback. Though the QB is the most important player on the field, much of what he does is--or should be--reactive.
6. Break down the defense. Start with the front seven--the line and linebackers. Note who rushes and who drops into coverage, and look for correlations with down and distance. When tracking the secondary, identify whether the defensive backs are in man coverage or a zone defense, and determine each player's responsibility within those schemes. When a corner or safety is sent on a blitz, note when that player begins his rush, and try to figure out how the coverage responsibilities behind him are redistributed.
Tags: game film, each player, football game, Break down, each play