What is a 'reverse' in football?

Answer 1

A reverse is a misdirection play used against a defense that aggressively overpursues the ballcarrier, abandoning gap and lane responsibilities. I'll describe a reverse to the left: The quarterback takes the snap and hands the ball to the running back, who starts running to his right as if he is going to go around the tight end. At this point the tight end (or wide receiver) on the side the ball carrier is running toward drops back and runs toward the running back, as if he is going to block any back side pursuit, but instead takes the hand off from the running back and continues to run around the left tackle, which is the reversedirection the running back was going. Since the defense thought the play was a run to the right, it flowed to the right, leaving the left side free for the tight end (or receiver) to run for a good gain. If the defensive linemen on the left side maintain their gap responsibilities, the tight end won't have a hole, and will be dropped in the backfield for a loss. PaymonM