What are hard and silent counts and how do they affect the defense in football? A hard count and a silent count are ways for a quarterback to snap a football. The objective of an offensive unit on a football...
The objective of an offensive unit on a football team is to score as many points as possible. Obviously, the defense's job is to try to keep the offense from scoring. And no matter how athletically skilled the players are, every single advantage that the other can gain is well appreciated.
Silent counts can catch the defense off guard allowing the offense to gain a much needed half-second advantage.
Will McClay enters his second season as head coach and defensive coordinator for the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League. Also serving as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, McClay said that hard and silent counts can wreak havoc on defenses.
"A hard count is when a quarterback expects a blitz and changes the tone of his voice," he said. "Basically the inflection of the quarterback's voice changes, and what it does, since most defensive guys are attack guys and are used to rushing hard, once you hear the hard count it simulates the idea that the quarterback is about to take the snap, and that causes the defensive player to jump offsides."
And as for the silent count?
"The silent count catches them off guard because they don't hear the cadence of the quarterback's voice," he said. "So the offense just walks up to the ball and snaps it so the defense won't pick up on the timing of the quarterback."
In addition to using a hard count to play on a defenses possible blitz, the hard count can also be used as a method of slowing down a very aggressive pass rushing team. For example, if a quarterback is having trouble getting passes off because the defensive line is so quick that they are getting around his blockers with very little trouble, the quarterback can slow down their rush by using the hard count.
As McClay said earlier, the hard count simulates the quarterback's intentions of snapping and receiving the football. If the defense jumps when the quarterback gives the hard cadence, the offense can then snap the football to get an offside penalty called on the defense. Once the defense has gotten one offside penalty called, natural football instincts tell the player to anticipate the snap of the football less, therefore giving the offensive linemen a little more time to block.
One thing that the quarterback must relay to his team is that he will be giving a hard count. If not expecting it, a hard count could make an offensive player jump across the line of scrimmage as well. As for the silent count, experts will tell you that every advantage you get when fighting at the line of scrimmage is an advantage well needed. By going to the silent count, the offense is taking away any possibility that the defense can anticipate the snap giving them the advantage off the football.
