What is the Counter concept in 11v11 tackle football?
In 11v11 tackle football a counter is a gap scheme with two pullers: the back takes a false step away, and a backside guard and tackle pull across to kick the edge out and wrap up into the hole. In flag football the same concept has no linemen to pull, so the misdirection has to be carried by a route instead.
Why Counter works in 11v11
Two linemen do the lying, and the arriving
The pullers serve both purposes at once. Their movement sells the direction to the linebackers reading them, and then they arrive at the point of attack as two extra blockers the defense has not counted. At five players that job is done by a slot receiver running away from the play, which sells the direction and blocks nobody.
The back's false step is small here and large there
With two linemen carrying the deception, the back only needs a jab step to complete the picture. In flag, where nothing else is selling it, he has to take a genuine hard step in the wrong direction and it costs him real ground. The tackle version is faster to the hole for that reason.
It is a base run rather than a change-up
Because the scheme itself produces the numbers advantage, counter can be called on any down at eleven players and will get the line of scrimmage even when the defense is expecting it. In flag it needs genuine over-pursuit to have been established first, which makes it a call you earn rather than one you own.
Misdirection is free
It costs no extra player, no blocking scheme and no rule. The only thing it spends is a defense that has been coached to flow to the football, which is every defense that has been coached at all. That makes counter one of the highest-return calls available to a team with no other advantages.
It is paid for by the runs you already called
A counter against a defense that has never seen your sweep gains nothing, because nobody is flowing anywhere yet. Against one that has been chasing it all afternoon it gains the whole backside. The play is a withdrawal from an account the rest of the run game has been paying into.
It punishes the defense's best players first
The defenders who react hardest to the first step are the aggressive ones, which are usually the fastest and the most disciplined about pursuit. A counter turns their strongest instinct against them, and it removes them from the play more completely than any block could.
How to read it
- 1
Sell the first step
One hard step in the wrong direction, with the eyes and shoulders going too. A counter run at three quarter speed in the first direction fools nobody and has simply taken the runner further from where he is going.
- 2
Plant and go, do not drift
The change of direction has to be a plant rather than a curve. A rounded counter gives the defense the time it needs to stop and redirect, which is exactly what the concept is trying to deny them.
- 3
Read the backside defender
The man who did not chase is the whole play. If he stayed home the runner cuts up inside him; if he flowed with everyone else there is nothing between the runner and the sideline.
- 4
Get north once the edge is turned
The counter has already spent its deception. Continuing to run sideways after the redirect just lets the pursuit it beat catch back up.
What changes in 11v11
Two linemen do the lying, and the arriving
The pullers serve both purposes at once. Their movement sells the direction to the linebackers reading them, and then they arrive at the point of attack as two extra blockers the defense has not counted. At five players that job is done by a slot receiver running away from the play, which sells the direction and blocks nobody.
The back's false step is small here and large there
With two linemen carrying the deception, the back only needs a jab step to complete the picture. In flag, where nothing else is selling it, he has to take a genuine hard step in the wrong direction and it costs him real ground. The tackle version is faster to the hole for that reason.
It is a base run rather than a change-up
Because the scheme itself produces the numbers advantage, counter can be called on any down at eleven players and will get the line of scrimmage even when the defense is expecting it. In flag it needs genuine over-pursuit to have been established first, which makes it a call you earn rather than one you own.
When not to call Counter
It does not work as an opener
Called first, before anything has established flow, a counter is a slower version of the run it is countering. It needs the defense to have a habit before it can punish one.
It is slow, and slow is expensive when nobody blocks
Two changes of direction take time, and against a disciplined defense that stays home the play arrives late with the runner still behind the line. It gains a lot or loses several, rarely two.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the flag football play creator, collect them in the flag football playbook builder, and print football play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Open Counter in the designer
Opens this exact 11v11 diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
What is the difference between counter and power?
Which linemen pull on counter?
Why does my counter keep losing yards?
Related guides
Coach Ray Carroll
Coaches 5v5 flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade in San Mateo and San Carlos, California, and built RC Football to design, teach and print the plays his own teams run.