
Rules of the Game: Rushing
A lot of new players to flag football find the rules for rushing the quarterback to be particularly esoteric as they are very different to tackle football rules or the pick up football you’d play in the park where players might be used to “steam boats” (or “Mississippis” for our American players).
Many feel that the rusher is the most important position on defense in flag football, as they have an influence on every single play. Quarterbacks that worry about getting sacked have to go through their reads faster and will often force bad throws when under pressure. If the passer feels no pressure or feels that they can easily evade the rush, it gives them too much time to make plays or break out a big run. Ask any safety who’s had to cover a receiver for 10 seconds about the importance of a good rush!
Here’s the basic breakdown of the rusher rules:
- To be eligible for straight line immunity the rusher must line up 7 yards directly back from the offensive center and one to two yards to the left or right. This 7 yard spot directly from the center is marked with a bean bag, and so the rusher must be 1 yard to the side of it and no more than 2 yards away from it. This is the legal rusher zone.
- Also, to be eligible for their rusher immunity, the rusher must also be in this legal rusher zone at the time of the snap. They lose immunity if they start too far back, too far away from or too close to the rusher bag. If a rusher jumps forward before the snap they can get back behind 7 yards from the line of scrimmage and still legally rush, but they only have immunity if they are in the legal rush zone at the time of the snap!
- Rusher immunity means that no offensive player can impede the progress of the rusher towards the ball while a forward pass is still eligible. This means that on a hand off the rusher still has a straight line immunity to the ball, so quarterbacks need to be careful of handing the ball off behind them as they may be directly in the way of the rusher to the ball! Impeding the rusher is a 5 yard penalty.
- Only one player on the defense can be the designated rusher and eligible for straight line immunity. They must declare themselves if the offense asks them to. If there is more than one defensive player in the legal rush zone at the time of the snap and the rusher did not declare themselves, then NO player has straight line immunity.
- A player (not necessarily the rusher) is offside if they are the first player on their team to cross the line of scrimmage and they were not at least 7 yards deep at some point after the snap.
- Any player who is at least 7 yards away from the line of scrimmage at any point after the snap can be the first person to cross the line of scrimmage; it doesn’t have to be the designated rusher!
- Once any defensive player has legally crossed the LOS then any defensive player may cross it.
- If the offense hands the ball off, fakes a hand off, or even has another player come within arms reach of the ball carrier, then any player may cross the LOS! This is a rule a lot of players don’t seem to know!
- It’s also important to note (as this is also something a lot of players may not realize!) that once the center has placed the ball on the ground and the offense is in position to run a play, the rusher loses all straight line immunity if they change sides of the rusher bag. This is so the center can tell which way the rusher is coming from so they can effectively get out of their way.
Wow, that’s a lot of rules for something that seems pretty simple!
I hope that clears up some of the confusion some players have with the rushing rules and helps everyone setup their defences and offences a little better.