How do you mess up a snap count in football?

Answer 1

I assume you are asking how the offense can mess up the snap, most often resulting in a false start. There are several methods teams use for snapping the ball, a few examples are: the quarterback calling a cadence to the center when he is ready for the ball, a silent count which where either the center will turn his head to the side indicating he is about to snap the ball or if the quarterback is in the shotgun the QB may begin by lifting his leg (if there is a player to be set into motion) then putting his hands up. Many teams use different styles of snap counts but most all false starts are caused by a single error. Nervous lineman. The defenders are allowed to rush the line of scrimmage as long as they are doing what is considered a "football move". Often the linemen will get jumpy and this can cause a false start. A loud stadium can also add up to a quick 5 yards for the defense. If the front line cannot hear the cadence from the quarterback they may end up jumping to soon. One final instance that I can think of is when the team is employing a "hard count". The hard count is sometimes used on 4th down with less than five yards to the 1st down. The quarterback will use a series of irregular, off tempo cadences in an attempt to draw the defense offsides and achieve a first down. However, if the offense is not careful, they may fall for their own trickery.