What is the Counter concept in NFL Flag?
In NFL Flag a counter has to give the ball to somebody, because the rulebook defines the quarterback as whoever receives the snap and forbids him from running across the line. Your misdirection cannot end in a keep, and snapping it to a different player does not help since he becomes the quarterback for that down. So the fake goes one way and a real handoff goes the other.
Why Counter works in NFL Flag
The quarterback is a role, not a position
The rulebook says the quarterback cannot run across the line of scrimmage and then defines the quarterback as the offensive player who receives the snap, in shotgun or under centre. Every other format lets you build misdirection that ends with the snap taker keeping it. Here that player is barred from crossing no matter what you call him, which removes the keep, the quarterback draw and the wildcat in one sentence.
Run it off the jet, or it is not a counter
Misdirection only pays once the defense has committed to something, and the thing they commit to in this format is motion. The counter uses the identical jet motion and gives the ball back the other way, which means it is worthless on the first drive and dangerous on the third. Call the jet sweep until they start flying to it, then call this.
The no-run zones punish this call specifically
Running plays are illegal five yards from midfield and five yards from the goal line, and each drive approaches both. A counter is a play you want in exactly those spots, because it is the one that gets you three yards when they are expecting three yards. Knowing where the ball is before you call it matters more on this play than on any other run 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 NFL Flag
The quarterback is a role, not a position
The rulebook says the quarterback cannot run across the line of scrimmage and then defines the quarterback as the offensive player who receives the snap, in shotgun or under centre. Every other format lets you build misdirection that ends with the snap taker keeping it. Here that player is barred from crossing no matter what you call him, which removes the keep, the quarterback draw and the wildcat in one sentence.
Run it off the jet, or it is not a counter
Misdirection only pays once the defense has committed to something, and the thing they commit to in this format is motion. The counter uses the identical jet motion and gives the ball back the other way, which means it is worthless on the first drive and dangerous on the third. Call the jet sweep until they start flying to it, then call this.
The no-run zones punish this call specifically
Running plays are illegal five yards from midfield and five yards from the goal line, and each drive approaches both. A counter is a play you want in exactly those spots, because it is the one that gets you three yards when they are expecting three yards. Knowing where the ball is before you call it matters more on this play than on any other run 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 free playbook maker, and print wristband play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Open Counter in the designer
Opens this exact NFL Flag diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
Can the quarterback keep it on a counter in NFL Flag?
Can we snap it directly to the running back instead?
How many players can move before the snap on a counter?
When should I install the counter?
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.