It’s been a while since we’ve talked about how quarterbacks and receivers process the passing game, so that’s what we’re looking at here. The cleanest breakdown of a QB’s mental responsibilities that I’ve come across is “PPC.” That stands for Protection, Pattern, and Coverage. If the quarterback knows how he’s being blocked for, understands the route concepts on a play call, and can figure out what defense he’s seeing and how to attack it, he should make a good decision on where to throw. Receivers follow the same responsibilities, though compared to the QB, they place more emphasis on the pattern they’re running and less on the blocking call and the coverage specifics.