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Know the main point of the game. The goal of American football is to score points by carrying the ball from a
starting point on a 100-yard long by 52-yard wide field into a specially marked ten-yard-deep area at either
end of the field called an end zone. Each team uses the end zone in front of them to score while trying to
prevent the opposing team from reaching the end zone behind them. Each end zone has a Y-shaped structure called
the field goal which is positioned on the end line. The field goals are used to score points with special
kicks. The end zone that a team is defending is usually referred to as “their” end zone. Thus, a team with 70
yards
(64.0 m) to go before it can score a touchdown is 30 yards (27.4 m) from its end zone.
Teams trade possession of the ball according to strict rules. Whichever team is in possession of the ball is
known as the “offense;” the other team is called the “defense.”
Learn the time divisions. Football is divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each, with a break between the
second and third periods called “halftime” that is normally 12 minutes long. While the clock is active, the
game is divided into even shorter segments called “plays" or "downs."
A play begins when the ball is moved from the ground into the hands of the players, and ends when either the
ball hits the ground, or the person holding the ball is tackled and his knee or elbow touches the ground. When
a play is over, an official called a referee, places the ball on the yard marker which corresponds to his or
her judgment of the place where the forward progress of the player with the ball was stopped. Each team has 4
downs and within those downs, they have to make ten yards from the line of scrimmage (the starting point). If
the team fails to do so within the 4 downs, the offensive team has to hand over the ball to the opposing team.
If the offense succeeds in taking the ball 10 yards in the 4 downs they get another 4 downs to move the ball 10
yards. The teams have 30 seconds to get into formation and begin the next play.
Play time can stop for a few different reasons: If a player runs out of bounds, a penalty is called, a flag is
thrown, or a pass is thrown but not caught by anybody (an incomplete pass), the clock will stop while referees
sort everything out.
Penalties are indicated by referees, who throw yellow flags onto the field when they see a violation. This lets
everyone on the field know that a penalty has been called. Penalties normally result in the offending team
losing between 5 - 15 yards of field position. There are many penalties, but some of the most common are
“offside” (someone was on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped), “holding” (a
player grabbed another player with his hands, and either player doesn't have the ball, instead of blocking him
properly), "false start" (When a player moves before the ball is snapped), "Unsportsmanlike conduct" (When a
player does something that doesn't show good sportsmanship, and “clipping” (someone contacted an opposing
player other than the ball carrier from behind and below the waist).
Learn the flow of the game. American football is made up of two basic structural elements that guide play.
These are the kickoff and the downs system.
The opening kickoff - At the very beginning of the game, the head referee flips a coin and the home team
captain calls out which side of the coin will be face up. If correct, that captain may choose to kick off or to
receive the opening kickoff or allow the visiting team captain to make that choice. Once the kicking and
receiving teams are decided, the team captain who lost the coin toss gets to decide which goal his or her team
will defend during the first half. This initial play is called the kickoff, and typically involves a long kick
down field from one team to the other, with the team that kicked the ball rushing towards the team receiving
the ball in order to prevent them from running the ball a long ways back towards the kicking team's end zone.
After halftime, there is a second kickoff by whichever team did not perform the opening kickoff. Throughout the
second half, the end zones each team defends is the one opposite the end zone that team defended in the first
half.
Downs - The word “down” is synonymous with the word “chance” or "plays" in American football. The offense is
allowed four downs to move the ball at least 10 yards (9.1 m) towards the end zone. Each play ends in a new
down. If the goal of 10 yards (9.1 m) from the first down is achieved before the fourth down is over, the count
resets to the first down, commonly noted as “1st and 10” to indicate that the standard 10 yards (9.1 m) are
once again required to reset to the first down. Otherwise, the downs count from one to four. If four downs pass
without resetting to the first down, control of the ball passes to the other team.
This means that a team that moves the ball 10 or more yards on each play will never be on the second down.
Every time the ball is moved 10 yards (9.1 m) or more in the proper direction, the next play is a first down
with 10 yards (9.1 m) to go.
The distance required to reset to the first down is cumulative, so running 4 yards (3.7 m) on the first down, 3
yards (2.7 m) on the second, and 3 yards (2.7 m) on the third is enough for the next play to be a first down
again.
If a play ends with the ball behind the line of scrimmage, the difference in yards is added to the total number
of yards required for a first down. For example, if the quarterback is tackled 7 yards (6.4 m) behind the line
with the ball in his hands, the next play will be noted as “2nd and 17,” meaning that 17 yards (15.5 m) must be
covered in the next three plays to reset to a first down.
Instead of playing the fourth down, the offense can choose to punt the ball, which is a long kick that
transfers control of the ball to the other team, but is likely to force them to start farther up the field than
they would otherwise have been.