What it is

The air raid is a pass-first offense that uses shotgun formations, many receivers and a small set of routes that the team repeats until they are perfect.

In a game

The offense throws on most downs, often with the receivers spread across the field. The quarterback makes fast reads and the run game is used mainly to keep the defense honest.

More detail

The system favors repetition over a large playbook. Its roots go back to the 1980s and 1990s in college football, and many successful coaches have taken its principles to other systems. It rewards quarterbacks who can read the field and throw accurately on time.