Apparently a few of you need a refresher course. The majority of you I'm sure will already know what I'm about to say.

There are two types of "scripts" that coaches use in a game.

Type 1: The first 10 or 15 or 20 plays are scripted. There are 2 reasons for this. First, the plays and the order they are run in are worked on in practice. The players are familiar with them. They know what is coming next. The familiarity breeds confidence. Secondly, the plays are often base plays in the offense, with standard formations and personnel groups. This lets the coaches see how the opponent is lining up against the base offenses and what defenses are called. This gives the coaches an idea how the defense will react to other formations and play calls.

The script is followed as long as it makes sense to do so, but if due to penalties or lack of execution you get yourself in a down and distance that goes counter to your script, then the coaches will go off-script for a play or two until "normalcy" is restored.

Type 2: The second type of script is the list of plays in the game plan for that week. Each week, the coaches study the opponent and pull plays from the playbook they feel will work well against the opponent. A large portion of those plays are the base offense that are in the gameplan every week. The smaller portion are plays put in specifically for that opponent. The plays are then organized into categories. Plays to use on 1st and 10. Plays to use in the blue zone. Plays to use on 3rd and 4-6 yards. Plays to use on 3rd and 1-3 yards, etc. In this way, all the plays are "scripted" to be used in certain game situations. The plays have been practiced all week in those situations. When Anae says "everything is scripted", that is what he's talking about. Obviously, some plays are used in multiple situations, but others are very specific to down and distance and/or part of the field.

The 2nd script (i.e., the gameplan for that week's game) is largely in place before practice on Tuesday. Some things may be added or removed based on how the team executes the plays in practice, but for the most part that script is set. Practices for the week are organized based on the script. All the bluezone plays are practiced in bluezone situations. Short yardage plays are practiced in short yardage situations. Etc. The players know what to expect on game day in certain situations, because they've been practicing those plays all week in those situations. You wouldn't expect a player to remember every possible play in the playbook, which is why they limit the playbook week by week to those plays the coaches think will work better against that opponent.

The key is to self scout so that future opponents aren't locked in to what you do in each situation based on previous weeks' gameplans. Defensive coaches hope you do get locked in. That is a large part of defensive gameplanning - studying the plays used in every game situation and finding the patterns, then reverse-engineering the offensive script.

Obviously, there's more to it than this, but that will do as a basic primer.

When fans talk about "making adjustments", what they usually are talking about is calling different plays. The problem with that is, you don't want to start doing things you haven't practiced all week. If the play hasn't been put in the playbook for that week and practiced, you shouldn't call it during a game. Doing that leads to confusion, which leads to penalties and turnovers. The types of adjustments the coaches actually make are things that a typical fan won't see... such as instructing the center to make different line calls against certain defensive fronts, etc.