Have you ever watched a football game and thought about just how much math is going on during each play? At its core, the game of football game is really just a 60-minute math tournament. Consider how many mathematical functions are occuring during every play.
ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
Adding and subtraction, filling in the missing addend or finding the missing subtrahend, are a part of every single snap:
Announcer: The Titans picked up three yards on first down, that makes it second and seven coming up.
How does he know? Subtraction.
Given that it takes 10 yards to make a first down, what’s the equation?
10 – 3 = 7
Announcer: Thomas Bailey just ran over the right side for 24 yards, that brings his total to 101 for the game!
If you wanted to know how many yards Bailey had before his last run, what’s the equation?
? + 24 = 101
-- or --
101 – 24 = _77_
Bailey had 77 yards prior to the 24 yard run.
MULTIPLICATION, DIVISION, FRACTIONS AND PERCENTAGES
Converting fractions and determining percentages also play a huge role in the game, especially when it comes to evaluating the performance of offensive players.
Announcer: Johnny Zane has only completed 3 out of 16 passes, but they’ve gone for a total 96 yards today. His completion percentage is down, but his yards per completion is really good.
If you wanted to know Zane’s completion percentage, what’s the equation?
3/16 = ?
Zane has completed 18.7% of his passes.
If you wanted to know Zane’s yards per completion, what’s the equation?
3(?) = 96,
?= 32
Zane averages 32 yards per completion.
Announcer: Thomas Bailey’s got a strong yards per carry rate today, picking up his 101 yards on just nine carries!
Color analyst: That stat’s a little misleading. Bailey had two long runs, one for 24 yards and another for 38. If you take those two away, the defense is really keeping him bottled up.
If you wanted to know Bailey’s yards per carry, what’s the equation?
101 divided by 9 = ?
Bailey averages 11.2 yards per carry.
If you wanted to know what the color analyst meant, what equation would you use?
101 – (24+38) = 39
39 divided by 9 (the remaining number of carries) = ?
Bailey averages 4.3 yards per carry excluding the two longest runs.
GEOMETRY
What might surprise you is the part geometry plays in offensive and defensive execution.
When an offensive play is designed, each receiver in the formation is assigned a route to run. Those routes are all based on the basic route tree (as illustrated in the photo). There are variations, but those are the basics.
Take a look at the routes. Each route is an angle. The receiver starts at the X and then runs one of the patterns based on how the play is designed.
In/Dig, Out and Flat routes are 90 degrees.
Corner, Post, Comeback, Curl and Slant routes are 45 degrees based on where you start the angle.
When you hear an announcer or a coach talking about a receiver running “precise” or “crisp” routes, what that announcer actually means is the receiver is sticking to the exact angle of the route as drawn.
The same geometric concept applies to defensive pursuit. When a ball carrier breaks into the open, defenders are trained to take the proper pursuit angle.
Take a look at the diagram of an angle pursuit practice drill to the right. The back is running straight down the sideline next to the cones. The linebacker (blue triangle) pursues with the intent to tackle him before he reaches the endzone.
To intercept the back, the linebacker cannot run directly at him. He must quickly mentally calculate the proper angle to make that connection. In an angle pursuit drill, defenders are trained to perform that mental geometric calculation.
To do so, the defender has to consider the speed of the running back and the distance he must cover.
When you think about what it takes to make that almost instantaneous calculation it makes you realize what a marvelous tool the human mind really is.
When you hear the announcer say that a linebacker, safety or cornerback “took a poor angle” and missed a tackle, he actually means that the defender did not make the correct mental geometric calculation.
So the next time you watch a football game, spend a few minutes thinking about all the mathematical calculations going on with every tick of the scoreboard clock. Which,now that you think about it, the clock itself is a function of math!
