American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

, a "power run" is a running play used out of a variety of offensive formations using two backs ( fullback, tailback). A power run uses two lead blockers: the fullback and the backside

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. A typical blocking scheme for a power run is for the

linemen Lineman or linesman may refer to: In personal roles: *Lineworker, one who installs and maintains electrical power, telephone, or telegraph lines *Lineman (gridiron football), a position in American football *Head linesman, the American football of ...

to down block the man in their inside gap. The fullback will kick out (block) the last man on the line of scrimmage (an

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

or wide

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

) and the backside guard will

pull Pull may refer to: Sports *In baseball, a pull hitter is a batter who usually hits the ball to the side of the field from which he bats * Pull shot, a batting stroke in cricket * A phase of a swim stroke * A throw-off in the sport of ultimate ( ...

and lead up either the guard/tackle hole or the tackle/tight end hole and block the remaining

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

or defensive back. The principle of this play is to out-number the defense at the point of attack. The tailback must read the guard's block and run off that. Teams at all levels will use this as a base running play in their offense. This play is typically run out of I-formations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power Run American football plays