Reverse
The ball starts wide one way, then a receiver coming back the other way takes it from the runner. The ball changes direction — and so, a second too late, does the defense.
- The offense1 / 3
The look
For two seconds it is a sweep left: back going wide, receivers selling the direction. The receiver from that side is coming back underneath, and the ball changes hands behind the line as they pass.
- vs Flow2 / 3
The conflict
Everybody runs to the sweep, including the defender on the far side, because that is where the ball is. When it comes back the other way there is nobody on that side of the field who was not running away from it.
- vs Flow3 / 3
The far side
A reverse is a big play or a big loss, and the difference is one defender. If the far side has emptied, the ball is outside with nobody left to turn it; if not, it is eight yards behind the line and going sideways.
Why it works
It is built out of the sweep
It only works because the sweep works. A defense that has been beaten to the corner starts flowing early, and the reverse is the price of that habit.
Fewer defenders to leave home
A flag defense has four or five players, not eleven. One that sends everybody to the sweep has nobody left on the far side — and it usually does send everybody.
It changes the rest of the game
One reverse makes the far-side defender hesitate on every sweep afterwards. That hesitation is worth more than the reverse itself.
How it gets run badly
Running it without a sweep first
The reverse is a counterpunch. Called cold, against a defense with no reason to flow, it is a long, slow run into people who were never fooled.
A sloppy exchange
Two players running at each other at speed, behind the line, handing a ball between them. Rehearse it until it is boring, or it will be a fumble on the one snap you needed it.
Coming back too deep
The receiver taking the reverse comes back just behind the back, not ten yards behind the quarterback. Every yard of depth is a yard he has to win back.
Who can run it, and how
All six formats, and arguably best in the small ones. Two exchanges and no blocking — the only thing team size changes is how many defenders the defense can afford to leave home, and in 5v5 that number is often zero.
- In flag5v5 · NFL Flag · 6v6 · 7v7
Nobody blocks. The back sells the sweep, the receivers sell the direction, and the reverse depends entirely on the far-side defender having chased — which, at four or five players, he usually has.
- In tackle9v9 · 11v11
The line blocks as though it is the sweep, and that is what sells it. The ball comes back behind the whole thing, toward a side of the field the defense has been pulled away from.
- 5v5Its offense
- NFL FlagIts offense
- 6v6Its offense
- 7v7Its offense
- 9v9Its offense
- 11v11Its offense
Put Reverse in your playbook
Draw it in the designer, change the assignments, and save it to your playbook.
Open the designer