One of Christopher's strong points is his exciting and suspenseful play-byplay sports writing. Each sport has its own vocabulary that Christopher knows and uses. In Tackle Without a Team the author uses terms such as "liz" meaning the left side of the line and "Red Dogged" meaning a sevenman charge through the offensive line.

He also uses phrases with which his readers are familiar. "Heart beating like crazy," "like the Jolly Green Giant," "back in the saddle again," and "cooked his own goose" are examples of cliches that work because they are used in dialogue that further develops the characters.