Alright, buckle up folks, gonna walk you through my latest rabbit hole obsession – trying to wrangle the entire NFL game into one dumb checklist. Sounded simple enough in my head. Spoiler: it wasn’t.
The “Bright Idea” Phase
So there I was, coffee buzzing, thinking, “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a single master checklist?” Like, something that covers everything – positions, roles, plays, the whole nine yards. Something you could glance at and get the gist, even if you’re just getting into football. Dreamt big, you know?
Started simple. Opened up a new doc. Typed “Absolute NFL Checklist” at the top. Felt like a genius for a whole ten seconds. Then… reality hit.
Running Headfirst Into Chaos
First stop: positions. Easy, right? Quarterback, Running Back, Tight End… boom. But then I tripped over the details.
- Offensive line? Okay, Center, Guard, Tackle. Cool.
- But what about Slot Receiver vs. outside? That’s kind of a hybrid thing. Needed a spot.
- Then Defensive Tackle vs. Nose Tackle? Is there really a difference? Cue frantic googling.
- Edge Rusher? Is that just a fancy name for a Defensive End/LB mix-up? My brain started melting.
Suddenly my “simple” list looked like alphabet soup. Had to force myself to group things just to breathe.
The Strategy Swamp
Positions felt like a walk in the park compared to tackling “full strategy”. Where do you even start?
- Started jotting down broad offensive strategies: Run-First, Pass-Heavy, West Coast stuff.
- Then defensive alignments: 4-3, 3-4, Nickel, Dime… man, they love their numbers.
- Plays? Oh boy. Play action draws, zone blitzes, slant routes, screen passes… it just exploded.
I realized quickly I couldn’t list every single play. That way madness lies. Had to scale back big time – focus on common play types for offense, defense, and special teams.
The Formatting Nightmare
I wanted it super usable, not just paragraphs. Tried doing it in my doc first. Big mistake. Turned into a giant, scrolling monstrosity. Zero chance anyone would actually use that.
Switched gears. Thought about a spreadsheet. Rows for “Offense,” “Defense,” “Special Teams.” Columns for positions, key roles, common plays/strategies. Felt a bit more manageable visually.
Spent way too long fiddling with category colors. Is a Run Play blue or green? Who cares? My brain cared way too much at 2 AM.
The “Finished?” Product
Finally hit a point where I had to call it. The checklist looks kinda like this now:
- Section: Offense
- Positions: QB, RB (Tailback/Fullback), WR (X/Y/Slot), TE, OT, OG, C
- Key Roles: Pocket Passer, Dual-Threat QB, Blocking TE, Receiving RB…
- Common Plays/Strategies: Play Action, Zone Run, Screen Pass, Deep Pass, West Coast Offense…
- Section: Defense
- Positions: DT/NT, DE/Edge, MLB, OLB, CB (Outside/Slot), SS, FS
- Key Roles: Pass Rusher, Coverage LB, Man-to-Man Corner, Box Safety…
- Common Alignments/Strategies: 4-3 Front, 3-4 Front, Nickel Package, Blitz (Zone/Man), Cover 2, Cover 3…
- Section: Special Teams
- Positions: K, P, LS, KR, PR…
- Key Roles: Holder, Gunner, Upback…
- Common Plays: Kickoff, Kick Return, Punt, Punt Return, Field Goal, Extra Point…
Is it truly “Absolute”? Absolutely not. Does it cover every nuance? Nope. But hey, it’s a heck of a lot better than the blank page I started with. It gives you places to start looking, things to notice when you watch a game. That was the goal anyway.
My main lesson? Trying to force the complexity of the NFL into a checklist is like trying to herd cats. You can kinda get it sorted, but there’s always one scrambling under the couch. Would I do it again? Yeah, probably. That coffee buzz hits hard.
