Flag football games are not won by strong running skills alone. Flag football victories depend on the successful running of offensive plays which capitalize on the strengths of each player on the team. Some players are better throwers, whereas some are better at running with the ball and their placement within the plays should depend on those skills. The following are a few free flag football plays for your offensive team that will keep the other team’s defense guessing on where the ball will end up. Remember to use each of these free flag football plays as a template only, and to adapt them to suit the number of players on your team and their individual abilities

For the first play called “Running Behind”, have your team line-up with your running back behind the quarterback. As the play begins, the quarterback darts behind the offensive player to his left as the running back shoots out in front of the offensive line. Make sure all your offensive players are distracting a member of the opposing team’s defense such that the running back is clear and able to receive the throw from the quarterback. For a variation on this play, have a wide receiver meet the running back at the spot where he is to catch the ball, where he will hand the ball off to the wide receiver, who can run the ball further up the field for even more yardage.

The next of the free flag football plays is called the “Sweep and Toss”. This play is set up the same way as the previous play, with the running back standing behind the quarterback. However, for the “Sweep and Toss” play, the running back runs in a large sweeping circular line up through the right side of the field. His movements are mimicked by the full back whose job is it during this particular play to divert the attention of the other team’s defense and keep the running back open to catch the throw from the quarterback. Once again, all members of the team’s offense are to occupy the attention of a member of the other team’s defense to keep the running back from being caught. This play can also be performed with the running back running on the left side of the field as opposed to the right to keep the other team’s defense on their toes.

The next play, called the “Hand-Off Sneak” is a little more advanced than the previous two plays and requires a certain degree of confidence from your running back. The players begin in a similar formation to the previous two players, and when the play begins the running back darts in front of the quarterback up his right side and directly through the offensive line. As he passes the quarterback, the ball is handed off to him and his job now is to run like the wind as the other players on his team protect him from being caught by diverting the attention of the other team’s defense. The main trick to pulling off this play is in making the hand-off lightning quick so that the opposing team hasn’t had the chance to register what is taking place.