Lateral pass
A lateral pass is a way in American football to move the ball laterally or backwards. It is also known as the backward pass or, for short, the lateral pass .
Rules and implementation of a lateral pass
With a lateral pass, the ball is thrown by a team member, parallel to the goal line or backwards to another member of the own team. It is crucial that the ball does not move forward. This can happen any number of times during a turn. A lateral pass may be thrown by any player in possession of the ball at any time during a play.
Differences between forward pass and lateral pass
A lateral pass can be performed as often as required per turn. A forward pass, on the other hand, may only be thrown once per play. A forward pass may only be played behind the line of scrimmage , this does not apply to a lateral pass, this may also be played beyond the line of scrimmage. Forward passes may only be thrown by the attacking team, a lateral pass may also be thrown by the defending team if they gain possession of the ball. Each player is considered an eligible receiver (dt. Valid pass recipient) for a lateral pass. In contrast, only special players are allowed to catch a forward pass. A play with a failed forward pass that is not caught by anyone is over as soon as the ball hits the ground. A failed lateral pass that falls to the ground and does not go out is considered a fumble , the ball is free and any player from both teams can pick it up. This is the reason why you rarely see laterals, as there is a risk of losing the ball through a fumble.
Use of the lateral pass
Lateral passes are only used in exceptional game situations or to surprise an opposing team. In modern football there are three situations in which a team will resort to this remedy.
Probably most often laterals can be seen in the defending team, who have captured the ball from an attacking team and want to carry it towards the attacking team's end zone . As soon as the attacking team has lost the ball, order is lost, which the defending team tries to take advantage of. For this reason one takes the risk of a lateral. There are real specialists in this category, like Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens .
A second situation in which a lateral pass is used are trick plays like the flea flicker or the hook n 'lateral . In a situation in which a coach wants to surprise the opposing team, he can use one of these unconventional moves. The Flea Flicker can be compared to a one-two in football. The quarterback passes the ball near a sideline to a wide receiver behind him . In most cases, the defending team expects the receiver to simply run with the ball and not pass back. This now happens, however, and the pass recipient passes the ball back to the quarterback, who in turn ran behind him. In the vast majority of cases, this maneuver opens up space for other pass recipients, and the quarterback often has many free pass stations. The risk here is that three fairly long passes have to be played precisely and the receiver who is the first to receive the ball from the quarterback and has to throw it back does not normally have to throw the passes. With the hook n 'lateral there is a normal forward pass from the quarterback to a receiver. That receiver then passes the ball to another player nearby. The defending team initially concentrates on the "first recipient" and is usually taken by surprise by the second pass. Football coach Don Shula is considered to be the inventor of this trick .
The third situation in which lateral passes are used are desperate situations. When a team has very little time left, needs to score a touchdown and is very far from the opposing end zone, it is sometimes resorted to. The team tries to play as wide a pass as possible. Then the players adjust the ball to each other in the hope of confusing the opponent or discovering a weak point. This creates a situation that is not unlike that of a rugby game . The attacking team tries everything to keep the ball safely in its own ranks, while the defending team tries to avoid gaps in its own defensive line. Since a football game is not over until the last play is over, this usually means that the time runs out during that play, but the game continues until either a touchdown is scored or the attacking team loses the ball.
Examples of significant lateral moves
Even if lateral plays are rarely used, some have gone down in football history.
In the National Football League (NFL), a lateral pass decided a first-round playoff game of the 1999 season, later known as the Music City Miracle . The game took place on January 8, 2000 between the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans . The Bills were able to take the lead with a field goal a few seconds before the end of the game and believed themselves to be the winners in a hard-fought encounter. The Titans only had a kickoff return and a maximum of two moves. The Titans coach Jeff Fisher had been working on a move all year and decided to use it now. The Bills carried out a short kickoff to give the Titans no chance of a structured return. Fullback Lorenzo Neal caught the ball in the middle of the field at the 25-yard line and passed it to tight end Frank Wycheck. This carries out the decisive lateral pass. He threw the ball almost parallel to the 25-yard line on the touchline to Kevin Dyson, who was able to carry the ball 75 yards into the end zone. This move creates a lot of excitement because it was not clear whether the ball was actually flying parallel or forward. The head judge consulted the video evidence and it was only after a long period of reflection that he decided that it was a correct lateral and that the Titans had won the game.
Another lateral play came to fame for becoming the longest recorded play in football history. It was a game of the lowest college football division of the USA between the Trinity Tigers and the Millsaps Majors from 2007. A few seconds before the end Millsaps was just ahead and tried to downplay the clock, which failed and so Trinity had a last chance gave to win the game. Trinity had two seconds left and was on her own 40-yard line, 60 yards from the Millsaps Majors' end zone. There was only one move left. Quarterback, Barmore, initially passed a normal forward pass to receiver Thompson. Then a spectacle developed which was later named "Mississippi Miracle". The Trinity players repeatedly played lateral passes without initially gaining any significant space. However, Millsaps was not able to put an end to this process, but the defenders only blocked the way into the end zone. Wide receiver Curry found a loophole in defense, so he ran 34 yards into Millsaps' end zone and scored the decisive touchdown. During that turn, seven Trinity players had the ball in their hands and made the 15 lateral passes. More than a minute passed on that turn.
swell
- ↑ http://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/2015-nfl-rulebook/#section-7-backward-pass-and-fumble
- ↑ http://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/2015-nfl-rulebook/#section-1-forward-pass
- ↑ http://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/2015-nfl-rulebook/#section-7-backward-pass-and-fumble >
- ↑ AFC Wild Card Playoff Game ( Memento from January 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21520271/
- ↑ 071027 Trinity University 28 - Millsaps 24 End Zone Angle - video of the move
- ↑ scottbaer58: Miracle in Mississippi - Trinity 28, Millsaps 24 10-27-2007. (flv) In: youtube.com. YouTube, October 27, 2007, accessed on February 2, 2015 (English, Cameraman: Bill Swint, Engineer: Bob Edwards, Play-by-play commentary: Jonny Wiener, Color commentary: Justin Thompson): “Play began with 0:02 remaining in the game ... Trinity players used a total of 15 laterals to take the ball 61 yards for the game-winning TD. "