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A trick play, also known as a gadget play or a gimmick play, is a play in American football that uses deception and unorthodox tactics to fool the opposing team. A trick play is often risky, offering the potential for a large gain or a touchdown if it is successful, but with the chance of a significant loss of yards or a turnover if not. Trick plays are rarely used not only because of the riskiness, but to also maintain the element of surprise for when they are used. Trick plays take advantage of the fact that nearly all American football plays are either a pass from the quarterback or a run by the halfback. As a result, defenses will think ''pass'' when the quarterback has the ball and ''run'' when the running back has it. They respond by quickly changing position in an attempt to block further motion of the offense's players. Trick plays depart from these expectations, attempting to have the defense move into position to block the wrong play. They tend only to work if they are unanticipated. ==Background== In most conventional forms of American football, the quarterback receives the ball during the snap and then either throwing it or handing it off to another player. That player, the "receiver", attempts to move the ball forward past the line of scrimmage. If they are successful, the line moves forward to that point and the process continues through a series of "plays", eventually (ideally) to a touchdown. Due to a variety of interacting rules, offensive plays generally fall into two distinct groups. Plays where the (planned) source of gains are through the quarterback throwing the ball forward are known as "passing plays", while those where the gains are due to the player running with the ball are "rushing plays". Rules governing which players are eligible to receive a pass results in the offensive team being split into groups; the guards protect the quarterback, wide receivers and tight-ends are positioned at the line to run forward to receive passes, and the backs are positioned behind the line to receive the ball in a hand-off and then continue running forward for a rush. The defensive team is not privy to which type of play will develop. To protect against common plays, their line ends up divided up much the same way as the offense, with the defensive tackle at the front both holding the line as well as attempting to threaten the quarterback, the defensive backs positioned behind the line to protect against pass plays, and the linebackers positioned to counter a rush. Once the play starts, the defensive players tend to collapse towards the action, preventing forward motion of the rush, or blocking a pass. This commitment to a course of action is typically safe; there is only one forward pass allowed per play, so once the ball is passed the rushers are out of the action and all the defenders can attempt to block the receiver, and while anyone can throw the ball forward, doing so is so specialized that once the quarterback hands off the ball or tosses to a runner, the possibility of a forward pass is generally eliminated. Trick plays attempt to cause the defense to commit to a play in order to leave them badly out of position for the play that actually develops. A simple example is the end-around play, where one of the eligible receivers runs parallel to the line of scrimmage (see man-in-motion), takes the ball from the quarterback in a handoff or lateral toss, and then starts a rush. As the receiver would normally be expected to run down the field in order to catch a forward pass, the defensive back assigned to cover that motion starts opposite him some distance behind the line. If the back does not move laterally to match the motion of the receiver, the receiver may find themselves unopposed on the opposite side of the line once the play develops. More dangerous trick plays normally combine multiple passes or hand-offs a single play. In the Flea Flicker, the ball is handed-off or laterally passed to a player in what appears to be a rush play. The player then passes the ball back to the quarterback, who throws it to the receivers. Properly timed, the defensive team will have started responding to the rush by moving forward, leaving the receivers wide open. However, timing the play is difficult, and with two lateral passes and a forward throw, the chances for error are great. A failure leaves the ball behind the line of scrimmage in what will almost certainly be a loss of yards. The play also requires all passes prior to the final one thrown by the quarterback to be either parallel to the line of scrimmage or backwards, since only one forward pass is allowed per play. Multiple forward passes will result in a penalty. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Trick play」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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