Line of scrimmage
What it is
The imaginary line through the front tip of the ball, and the boundary that defines nearly every rule in football.
Why it matters
There are actually two lines — one for each team, a ball's length apart — and the space between them is the neutral zone. Almost every alignment rule is stated relative to this line: seven offensive players must be on it, the men on the end of it are the only linemen eligible to catch a pass, a defender may not be in the neutral zone at the snap, and a forward pass must be thrown from behind it. Coaches abbreviate it LOS and every diagram in this index measures depth from it.
Also called
Programs call this LOS, the line, the ball or scrimmage line. The Coach answers to any of them.
Related
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.