> "I’ve always wondered why rugby strategy isn’t incorporated into NFL: long lines of backwards passing is legal and would completely mess up your average NFL d

> "I’ve always wondered why rugby strategy isn’t incorporated into NFL: long lines of backwards passing is legal and would completely mess up your average NFL defence lineup. But it seems it’s considered a 'weird trick play'" From sideline-to-sideline, a football field is 53 feet across. To pull this off the way it's done in rugby, you'd have to do the following: 1.) Start the play 2.) Sprint to one side of the field 3.) Stop your momentum and then turn to the other side of the field. 4.) Set your feet and then throw a 35-60 yard pass (depending on how far the other player is, and how far behind they are from you) Meanwhile, the receiver has to: 1.) Act like they're blocking or running a pass route for a moment (otherwise the defensive player responsible for the receiver will just follow the receiver to their spot for the backward reception) 2.) Sprint to the reception point 3.) Wait for a the pass to travel the 35-60 yards 4.) Catch the ball 5.) Hope all this waiting hasn't given the defense an opportunity to get in position to smack them in the mouth once they catch the ball. It takes typically 10-15 seconds to set up this kind of play (which is an eternity in American football). And it has little chance to succeed. The rules disadvantage a backward pass. A backward pass is a 'live' ball. So if the receiver doesn't catch the ball and the ball hits the dirt, the team that jumps on the ball gets the ball. This is opposed to a forward pass, where the play ends if the receiver drops the ball. Also the quarterback typically isn't athletic enough to get to one side of the field quick enough to pull this off. So you usually have a wide receiver or running back -- who are quicker of foot -- do this. But then you're asking them to accurately throw the ball a long way. Which is something they're not used to. And once the quarterback gives the ball to the wide receiver or running back, the pass must be backward or it's an illegal forward pass. So you really, really have to make sure that the receiver is behind the passer. Which is easier said than done in the chaotic environment of a football play when players are 40-50 feet apart from one another. --- That being said, there is a play in American football that's similar to the rugby strategy -- it's called a screen pass. It's not quite as dramatic as throwing the ball across the entire field, but it has the same idea. You're getting the defense to run one way and then throwing the ball across the field to the place the defense just vacated.