With how the rules of Indoor Football are set up, you will see a lot of creativity when it comes to play design and the good teams will be creative with their offense and how they attack and score points, and the bad teams will.. well.. you know, not do that.
In Week 1, the Arizona Rattlers ran a specific running play multiple times throughout the game that worked INCREDIBLY well each time -- easily picking up 4-5 yards per carry and scoring multiple touchdowns with it.
If this play followed the Jon Gruden naming conventions it'd be something '24 South Igloo Dynamite Z-Hippo I Hate Goodell' or something, but let's just call it Trips Right Motion Stretch Pistol.
Trips Right Motion Stretch Pistol
Why do you love this play?
Because it is such a simple concept that schemes multiple defensive players completely out of the play -- turning an 8 on 8 play effectively into an 8 on 6 play in favor of the offense.
The Blocking
All of the yellow lines below represent blockers, it's important to note that the Left Guard on the offensive line blocks the nose guard in the middle of the defensive line and not the man in front of him -- which is the key to this entire concept working.
This also frees up the Center to get to the second level of the defense and block somebody that he probably has a couple inches and 40-50 lbs on.
The Motion
The blue lines represent the motion before the play. The wide receiver on the top right is going to run towards the line of scrimmage, then block the defensive back standing at the goal line.
The running back is going to go in motion towards the quarterback and eventually get the hand off on the right hand side.
The Handoff
The red lines represent the football. The quarterback is going to get the snap, and then hand it off to the running back in motion in one swift motion.
Why It Works
The reason this play works so well is because the design of the play by the offense schemes the two players in the pink circles completely out of the play -- effectively turning an 8-man defense into a 6-man defense simply by play design.
The offense has 6 blockers and the defense has 6 defenders who can make a play because the other 2 are schemed out.
6 blockers on 6 defenders means that there is nobody to specifically account for the running back.
Put It All Together
Mix the blocking with the motion, then sprinkle in the handoff and it all works so well.
As you can see, the two defenders we had circled above are away from the play and are just out there doing cardio. Arizona ran this play multiple times throughout the game and was one of the primary reasons why the Rattlers were able to control the pace of the game so well and walk away with a Week 1 win.
I made a video breaking down the above and you can watch it below if you'd like. (Please be nice and do not make fun of the thumbnail pic, thank u)
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