Most of us have a general idea of what our offense should look like when we're playing well.  We have a playbook that suits our play style and our team, and we have an idea about what to look for at the line, who to read after the snap, etc.  However, in any football game it is easy to get sidetracked and cease concentrating on the game plan that you have established.  The end result is that one tends to stop making the careful, measured reads and decisions that are so important to success.  Then turnovers and negative plays start to happen.

Most people have their own way of reading a defense and making a decision.  But how effective are those tactics when the player gets lazy and stops thinking while selecting his plays, and starts to cut corners while making reads?  

What if the player isn't planning ahead, and takes 15 seconds to select a play?  Obviously, the player will then have less time to make pre-snap reads and utilize motion.  In short, being at your most alert and thinking the game through on every play will help you to play your best, most efficient game, the highest percentage of the time.

Good play selection doesn't just encompass selecting an effective play for a particular situation.  It involves knowing your entire playbook front and back.  Getting to the line quickly is typically beneficial for an offense, so keep a list of a few plays ready in your head.  The key is to avoid getting to the line late. Getting to the line in a timely fashion will allow you to set up your hot routes and blocking schemes.  If you're playing another person, this will also put pressure on him as he'll have a minimum amount of time to select a play.

VG Sports and other strategy guides include play calling sheets.  The process of going through your playbook and writing down plays that would be useful in third and long situtations, or outlining your favorite running plays, can be very beneficial just in terms of helping your team to establish an identity and plan of attack.  Let's say you're primarily an I formation team.  Well, that still leaves you with 50-60 different running plays out of those formations.  Is your team best suited for power running, zone blocking schemes, counter schemes, etc?  Essentially, figure out what your team does well and then develop a game plan that you can execute well.

Plan your plays in advance and think of ways to attack different parts of the field from the formations you're using.  Calling the right play at the right time can be left up to chance, or it can be planned via the order and content of your play selection.  Of course, we all know that,  but are we truly making the most intelligent decisions possible at all times?  Usually not.  

One of the traps I tend to fall into is that I will do a great job of selecting plays, reading the defense and taking what the defense gives me early in the game.  The result is that my team is very efficient and it almost seems "easy."  It might take me 10 plays or it might take three, but I'll score and it seems like the defense simply has no chance that day.  

Then, once it seems easy, I stop concentrating so much on what plays I'm calling and what the defense is doing, because I think that I'm just going to pass for 350 yards and there's nothing the defense can do about it.  The first two drives, the defense might be running man schemes 80% of the time, and my receivers are getting huge separation.  I'm usually up by a couple of touchdowns in the second quarter in this situation, and the trap is effectively set.

Immediately thereafter, I seem to start making assumptions rather than reads.  I start selecting plays off the cuff rather than choosing plays as carefully as I had been early on.

So then I'll drop back and assume it's man because the defense has been playing man and the alignment looks like man, but suddenly the corner is coming on the blitz and the linebackers are jumping the quick routes.  Whatever I had going for me is now resulting in a sack or interception because I've started to make assumptions.  Even after a turnover or other drive-ending play, I often assume the offensive domination is going to continue once I get the ball back, and I still don't carefully and tactfully make my decisions.  Suddenly the other team is back in the game before I know it.   

The moral here is that no matter how good or bad it's going early on, you need to remember to continue thinking, adjusting, and most importantly, taking what the defense gives you.  No matter how far in front or behind you are, each play should be given your full attention and execution every single time.  This way, you can truly give yourself the best chance at coming out on top, and avoiding the kind of costly mistakes that can turn the game in your opponent's favor.

With that in mind, here are a few ideas

• Get in the habit of calling your plays very quickly and "queueing" them in your mind.
• Accomplishing the above, get to the line quickly.
• Go through the same routine before every single snap.  Reading the defense is just as important if you're running the ball as it is if you were passing.  
• Have audibles for two different major personnel packages that you like to use, which would allow you to change any play to a pass or run.
• Once the play starts, keep in mind the idea of taking what the defense gives you on every play, and remember that throwing the ball away can be very helpful to keep the big mistakes to a minimum.