Scoring System

Similar to most major sports, the objective of American Football is for one team to score more points than the other team. There are several ways to accumulate the points that make up the final score. The descriptions are:-

TOUCHDOWN = 6 POINTS

A touchdown is the biggest single score in a football game. It is also the biggest goal for an offense. Touchdown is worth six points, and it allows the scoring team an opportunity to attempt to get an extra point. To score a touchdown, a player must carry the ball across the opposition's goal line, or catch a pass in the end zone.

EXTRA POINT and the TWO-POINT CONVERSION = 1 or 2 POINTS

Immediately following a touchdown, the ball is placed at the opponent's two-yard line, where the offense has two options which whether to add one or two more points. The first option is attempting to kick the ball between the opponent's goal posts which the team will get an extra point to their score. It is also called the point after touchdown, conversion or PAT.

If a team elects to go for two extra points, they will line up at the two-yard line and make one attempt at either running or passing the ball into the end zone as the same manner of scoring a touchdown. If they make it, they are awarded two points. If they don't, they get no extra points. Since going for two points is more difficult than kicking an extra point, the offense generally chooses to kick the extra point.

FIELD GOAL = 3 POINTS

If the offense is unable to get into the end zone, it may try to kick a field goal. Field goals are worth three points and often are the deciding plays in the last seconds of close games. They can be attempted from anywhere on the field on any down. Usually a placekicker will attempt to kick the field goals if only he feels that they are close enough to the opposition goalpost. Successful field goals are when the football goes between the upright bars of the goal post.

SAFETY = 2 POINTS

A team can also pick up two points by tackling an opponent ball carrier in his own goal line. The defensive team will then be given possession of the ball. The two points is called a safety.

In Summary:
Touchdown = 6 points
Extra Point Conversion = 1 point
Two-Point Conversion = 2 points
Field Goal = 3 points
Safety= 2 points

American Football Field

Learning the exact dimensions of the field is not necessarily that important, but it is good to have a basic knowledge of the field itself.  National Football League (NFL) or Professional has its own measurement and dimensions of the field. An official sized field is 120 yards for the length and 53 and 1/3 yards or 160' for the width.  In contrast to baseball, these dimensions can't be modified to fit the available playing area.

It has stripes running across the field at five-yard intervals. There are shorter lines, called hash marks, marking each one-yard interval. The hash marks of NFL are the thinnest among all of the levels of football game. It measure about 70' and 9" from the side lines and are about 18' and 6" in width. On each end of the playing field is an end zone (red section with diagonal lines) which extends ten yards.

End zones are ten yards deep. The end line border is 6'and it marks the end zone's back. Team benches are set next to the restraining line which is between the 30 yard markers. NFL field numbers are about 6' in length and 4' in width. All NFL fields have a 6' restraining line next to the side lines. These lines mark the closest area non-players can be to the football field.

Located on the very back line of each end zone is a goal post. The goal post of NFL is about 10' in length and 18' and 6" in width. The spot where the end zone meets the playing field is called the goal line. The yardage from the goal line is marked at ten-yard intervals, up to the 50-yard line, which is in the center of the field. After reaching the 50-yard line, the yardage markers start to descend (40, 30, 20, 10) every ten yards until they reach the opposite goal line.

Basic Rules of American Football

The objective of the game is to outscore your opponent by scoring as many points as possible while holding them to as few points as possible.  There are many ways of scoring with touchdown is usually the main objective. Touchdown can be done by advancing the football into the opponents endzone.

Each game features two teams playing against each other., with each team protecting one end of the field from their opponents. The area is called the "endzone" and is where a team will attempts to get the ball when it is in their possession. There are 11 players from each team on the field at one time and each team is comprised of an offense, defense, and special teams. Unlimited substitution is permitted, but players may only enter the field when the ball is dead.

The game time is 60 minutes and is separated into 2 halves of 30 minutes each. Each half is broken into 2 quarters of 15 minutes each. The intermission between the periods is two minutes. Halftime is 12 minutes, unless otherwise specified. Each team is allowed 3 timeouts per half which allows them to stop the clock from moving and to give their player's a rest.

Before each game, coin toss will be done to determine which team kicks off first. A special kicker (a "placekicker") will kicks the ball to the offense. On the other hand the receiving team must catch the ball and try to advance it by running. The play stop when the player with the ball is tackled (knocked to the ground), or makes it all the way to the kicking team's endzone (touchdown). The spot where the kick returner was tackled becomes the line of scrimmage. The line of scrimmage is the point from which the offense will begin its drive, or series of offensive plays. Once this starting point is established, the offensive squad of the receiving team will come in and try to move the ball toward the opposition's end zone.

All progress in a football game is measured in yards. The offensive team tries to get as much "yardage" as it can to try and move closer to the opponent's end zone. They are given 4 attempts (commonly called "downs") to attempt to move the ball 10 yards at a time. If the offensive team successfully moves the ball 10 or more yards, it earns a first down, and another set of four downs. If the defense is able to stop them from moving 10 yards after 4 attempts, then their team will now get a chance on offense.