Passing pocket

The offensive line will drop back slightly, creating a U-shaped protected area for the quarterback to find an open receiver and pass the ball.

[3] When that fails, quarterbacks may scramble (run around behind the line of scrimmage), either to gain more time for the wide receivers, to avoid a sack, or to rush the ball.

The guards are next in depth and will drop back to around three to four yards and will defend the middle of the pocket along with the center.

The different drop-back depths of the linemen helps to create enough space for the quarterback to go through his throwing motion.

When two running backs are used, they do constitute the tackle box but they are typically used to clear any stray rushers that may get past the inner linemen.

There are many different types of blitzes but their only purpose is to confuse the blockers and ruin the tackle box that is being formed.

When the defense succeeds in their goal of confusing the offensive linemen, major problems form for the quarterback.