The defense has a single job: to guard the player they’re matched with and prevent them from receiving a pass. To best accomplish this, four of the defensemen line up at the line of scrimmage across from their designated player, allowing them to quickly adapt to their targeted player’s movement at the beginning of the play.

Offense: The team who has possession of the ball and is trying to advance to the opponent’s end zone for a touchdown. Defense: The team who doesn’t have possession of the ball and is trying to prevent the other team from scoring by pulling the ball-carrier’s flags down.