Fluent in Football
A second screen for following a football game and learning what to watch. Open Fluent in Football.
I love football and wanted to understand it more deeply. This app uses live play reports and historical stats to help you see where to look, who is involved, and what each play changed. It supports college football and the NFL.
Try the app · Report an issue · MIT license for the app code
No account or API key is needed to run the web app. Start with the searchable game list, or choose a finished game and step through its play reports. The app reads reported data; it does not watch the broadcast or identify formations from video.
What it does
Use Games → Finished games to choose a date and search for a team in College or NFL. Completed games with ESPN play reports can be replayed with Previous/Next and quarter jump points. Game-specific analysis uses only reports through the chosen point; final reports can differ from live versions. Historical comparisons use the current tables, not a table frozen on the replay date. Replay leaves live journals, predictions and saved TV delay untouched. There is no featured one-game replay on the homepage. See the September 13 game audit and replay update.
Player workload cues now give way to a relevant down/drive observation after two released offensive actions without new involvement. The workload remains in a smaller note; a new carry or target can restore the main cue. No additional quiet states appeared across 12 checked games. See the cue-selection and jersey audit.
The two-F logo follows connected player routes: a rounded first F flows into a taller second F, with one starting dot and one forward arrow. Light and dark assets are web/brand-mark.svg and web/brand-mark-dark.svg. The header colors and matching favicon follow the selected appearance.
The app helps you understand what is unfolding: who matters, what changed, and what to notice next. The main card can spotlight a player, a drive pattern or a consequential decision. Reported targets and carries support named-player suggestions, with the count behind each choice. Current-drive and third-down evidence take precedence over game totals; major penalty/sack patterns and fourth-down or clock decisions can take the lead over a player's workload. A carry leader alone cannot take over a long third down.
Last play makes the useful detail visible: reconciled yards before/after the catch, a named quarterback hurry, or a verified penalty ruling. It shows the latest play and two earlier plays; expand to see up to 25. More about this play holds additional detail and related lessons, with the original ESPN report available separately. Corrections replace existing plays in order; unreliable clocks are flagged.
Game context combines the drive story, player involvement and historical comparisons in one collapsed section. These views use the full released history, including reports older than the visible feed. The game journal and historical lessons are footer links. There is no fixed bottom bar.
Read the game is the default teaching level. It retains a player focus while the evidence remains relevant and updates its counts. Beginner is an explicit, remembered choice in Settings for learning rules and basic terminology. Both levels use plain language and definitions on tap. When no meaningful focus is supported, a small message leaves the situation and last play usable.
See the idea opens an illustrative diagram and an optional observation question. Answers are self-reported, never checked against the feed or treated as mastery. Explore past plays, near the footer, offers twelve source-checked examples from nflverse, FTN Data, and CollegeFootballData, with source and license links. Six practice pairs ask about a play from a different game. The separate, downloadable practice history preserves first answers and prior exposure; it does not measure mastery or video recognition.
Choose a game, measure or set a TV delay, and use light, dark, or system appearance. Occasional predictions are optional. Their scores are separate from the history of terms seen; full definitions stay on unless the reader chooses shorter hints. There is no fixed bottom bar.
Use Match TV below the field to choose whether the current offense is attacking left or right. The ball, first-down line and defended ends follow that view. The app remembers it for the game, reverses the ends for the second and fourth quarters, and asks for a new match after halftime or at the start of each overtime period. Flip field reopens the direction choices.
Game journal saves source revisions, released play explanations, exact watching prompts and optional observations in this browser. Journals survive reloads and can be downloaded or removed. Storage is bounded and reports failures; it never silently removes old games. The old Vercel address and the new domain have separate browser storage.
Open post-game review only when finished watching. Any saved game can request ESPN's final report; published college reviews also join available CFBD passing and rushing detail by exact game/play/offense IDs. The first enriched review is Boise State at Oregon. Reviews highlight different lessons, compare recorded explanations with later facts, and retain unmatched/missing data. Added detail is separated from corrections. Historical sessions from before journaling cannot be reconstructed.
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
