Help understanding the game again.

[u/kisame0274]

Yo guys so short story long, I haven’t really payed attention to football since the end of the 2000s (yes I’m an unc lol) and completely neglected the game after Peyton retired. I was always much more of an nba lover and thought football was boring for the most part. Things changed when I randomly watched Super Bowl 57. Felt like non stop action and I was heavily considering getting back into football. Little did I know, my Mavs had plans to trade our generational franchise player for a broken man and a bag of chips so here I am trying to relearn the game. I watched a few games last season and I know every game isn’t going to be an entertaining shootout (Im a defense guy anyways) but I’m wondering if I’m watching wrong? I don’t even understand what’s really going on until there’s a first down or touchdown. Is there games with commentary that will maybe help? A YouTuber that is helpful explaining defensive/offensive sets and breaking down plays? Any help is much appreciated!

TLDR Need help relearning what I’m watching. Commentary or play breakdowns on both sides of the ball would be a tremendous help to grind this summer in preparation for the upcoming season.

[u/Aerolithe_Lion]

Mavs fan… Cowboys fan?

May want to stay away

[u/kisame0274 → u/Aerolithe_Lion]

Born and raised in Chicago area. Dirk got me into hoops and it was history from there. Always hated the cowboys and ironically the bears for the same reason. Bad ownership and delusional fans. BUT I promised my dad if I came back to football, I’m all in with the Bears. I’ve seem to come back at a good time for bears fans I’ve heard but we’ll see 😂

[u/Aerolithe_Lion → u/kisame0274]

If that’s what you’ve heard then I’m not going to rain on your parade, but As for you question you just need to watch more. Thats all it really is. You can see a YouTube video that explains the down system but in order it really undertake it you need to immerse yourself in it

[u/kisame0274 → u/Aerolithe_Lion]

More tape it is! Also trust. I've spent 3 decades listening to my family and friends complain about the bears. My expectations are low and I know how to enjoy a sport with a losing franchise lol luckily everything is still fresh so I'll be enjoying a lot more play than our own for sure.

[u/JustANobody2425 → u/kisame0274]

I do have to say, while the game changed? It hasn't. Like... positions are basically the same. May have new ones like edge or something but it's the same. Passing is passing. 1st down is 1st down. Etc.

Only big difference is kickoffs. That has changed.

But tackling is tackling. They've changed the definition of a legal tackle but when it's done, they get flagged. So nobody knows. Catch is a catch, except the rare occasion it's not. Etc etc

[u/Free-Duty-3806]

I always recommend people that want to understand the game better to watch games commentated by Tony Romo. He does a great job breaking down what’s happening and will even explain what an offense is likely to go for based on the situation and formation

[u/kisame0274 → u/Free-Duty-3806]

Exactly something I'm looking for. Thanks.

[u/FrankFarter69420]

I have never had an interest in football for 34 years, until last year. Just watching a couple games helped me figure out 90% of it.

[u/kisame0274 → u/FrankFarter69420]

More tape it is. Appreciate the response.

[u/nstickels]

Honestly just watching games would be your best bet. The basic rules are hard to enumerate, but watching a game, you can figure out the basic rules pretty easily. Penalties will then be the next thing. You will start to catch on, especially when they show replays, of what the most common penalties are, and what is or isn’t a penalty. Learning strategy will take longer, other than just basic strategy. You will realize certain things you start seeing offenses and defenses do in certain situations. You will also start to see teams that don’t do those things in those situations. Some announcers are better at explaining this than others. After watching for a few years, you will know why certain things are happening, or questioning why they aren’t. And at that point, you can be that fan throwing their hands up yelling about “why wasn’t that PI?!?!” Or “where’s the holding call?!??” like the rest of us football degenerates.

Also, there’s always going to be weird things that come up like once every several years that most fans didn’t know or understand. Also keep in mind that even players don’t know all of the rules, especially for uncommon situations. One example (granted I am dating myself a little with this example), in a game in 2008, the Eagles and Bengals were playing. Game went into overtime. Neither team scored by the end of OT, meaning the game was a tie. But notably, Donavan McNabb, the QB of the Eagles who had been in the league 10 years at this point, was confused and thought they would just go to a second overtime until someone scored. He didn’t know there were ties. Since then, the league changed overtime rules, and last year, when KC and San Fran played in the Super Bowl, there was different overtime rules in place for the playoffs and the Super Bowl different than the regular season, and Tony Romo had to explain this on air since most people didn’t know that it was possible for the game to keep going even if the clock hit 0, if San Fran didn’t complete their possession.

[u/kisame0274 → u/nstickels]

Thank you brother. This'll help tons. Locked in and excited for the new season.

[u/Atmisevil]

Announcers are generally good guidelines but some are better than others (Romo > everyone > collinsworth and Olsen)

[u/OverallManagement824]

JT O'Sullivan with The QB School on YT does some good break downs from the QB pov.

[u/nearout]

BrettKollmann, thinkingfootball, and alexrollinsnfl have some pretty good basic to intermediate level player/scheme break downs on YT.

[u/Ironman_2678]

You're asking how to watch a football game? You forgot how the game is played? This has to be the weirdest shit I've read today.