Object of the Game
Like most sports, indeed like life, the idea behind the game of football is rather simple: Win. Accomplishing this goal in football is done by scoring more points than your opponent. Again, pretty simple. Unfortunately, that isn’t quite all there is to the game, though. Otherwise, how could something with a clock running time of 48 minutes sometimes last for three, four or more hours? In truth, though, the game is easy to figure out, once you get a handle on its various components.
The objective of the game is as follows: for one team to outscore the other team in a timed game. That game is divided into 4 quarters of equal length, each lasting 12 minutes. Each team has three phases: Offense, Defense and Special Teams.
The offensive team which tries to score.
The defensive team which tries to prevent the offensive team from scoring.
Special teams handle the punting, kicking and everything weird in between.
So, to recap:
Offensive team: Team that possesses the ball.
Defensive team: Team that does not have possession of the ball and is trying to stop the offensive team from scoring.
Special teams: Any play that involves the kicking of the ball.
Let's get back to the idea of scoring points. This happens in a number of ways. Any team, whether the division be offense, defense or special teams returns the ball over the goal line, with the ball in their possession, scores a touchdown, which is worth 6 points. Yes this is when the players often dance in the NFL.
After a touchdown is scored, the offensive team will usually go for the extra, seventh point (also known as the point after touchdown or "PAT"). In essence this is a field goal worth only 1 point. Or, the offensive team may elect to to go for 2 additional points after their touchdown score - something called a two point conversion. In this instance, the scoring team will send its offense back out on the field, where they will run a play from the 3 yard line, and attempt to cross the goal line agian. In essence, this is a touchdown (from close up) that is only worth 2 points. This play is rarely used by the offense unless there is a close score late in the game or their kicker is not very accurate.
Sometimes, however, there is a two point score by the defense. In this instance, the score is called a safety. This happens when the defensive team tackles an offensive player, who possesses the ball in their own end zone.
On fourth down, the offensive team may elect to kick a field goal in the field of play. The kicker on the special teams (called the field goal team in this instance) must kick the ball through the goal posts, located in the end zone. This type of score is worth 3 points.
Still with us? Good!
Now that you hopefully understand the different point values, let’s tackle the rest of the game.
Let’s talk about the field for a minute. The football field is 120 yards long by 53 1/3 yards wide. The field is divided into 5 yard increments with horizontal lines (yard lines), and has 2 vertical lines, called hashes, that divide the field into 3rds. These hashes are short horizontal lines aligned vertically and also are marked in one yard increments. The last 10 yards at each end are called end zones, which begin with the goal line or "zero yard line". At the end zones are goal posts, which are used for the kicking game, either for field goals or points after touchdown. The goal posts are 23 feet wide in high school and 10 feet high. College is 18 feet wide and still 10 feet high.
Once on the field, each team will have 11 players. Each of these 11 players has a specific role, known as their position. For example, the offensive team has a quarterback and a running back, amongst others. We will define these positions in greater detail later.
The game begins with a toss of a coin at midfield (the coin toss) to decide which team will kick off (and thereby play defense first). In most cases, captains from each team will gather at mid-field with the official, who will then ask the visiting team to call "heads" or "tails". The coin toss is tossed. The team that wins the coin toss decides if they will kick off or receive the kick.
For a little fun, we will now play a game between moms and dads as an example.
Moms are favored by a touchdown.
Score Big!
Coach Hrovat