Formation strength
What it is
Which side of the formation carries more eligible receivers, and therefore which way the defense declares its front and coverage.
Why it matters
Strength is the hinge the entire defensive call turns on: the Mike is declared to it, the front is set to it, and the coverage rotates from it. Programs define it differently — by the tight end, by receiver count, by the field — and the definition matters more than which one you pick, because two defenders using different rules produce an unblocked gap or an uncovered receiver. Motion exists in large part to change the answer after the defense has already committed to it.
Also called
Programs call this strength, strong side, weak side, declare the Mike or passing strength. The Coach answers to any of them.
See it on the field
Whether the defense brings a fourth defender over, and what it leaves alone if it does. The alignment comes from the engine’s own front resolver against real offensive splits, so it is a picture the simulator genuinely produces — not a diagram drawn to make a point.
Trips — three to a side, and the question it asksRelated
This entry is authored, not generated. It is one of 205 in the index that the AI-ssistant Coach retrieves from, and that Film Study tags clips against.