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The Football Game

Basic football strategy

To many fans, the chief draw of football is the chess game that goes on between the two coaching staffs. Each team has a playbook of dozens to hundreds of plays. Plays are the directions for what the players should do on a down. Some plays are very safe; they are very likely to get a few yards, but not much more than that. Other plays have the potential for long gains but a greater risk of a loss of yardage or a turnover.

Generally speaking, rushing plays are less risky than passing plays. However, there are relatively safe passing plays and risky running plays. To fool the other team, there are passing plays designed to look like running plays and vice versa. There are many trick or gadget plays, such as when a team lines up like it is going to kick and then tries to run or pass for a first down. Such high-risk plays are a great thrill to the fans when they work. However, they can spell disaster if the opposing team realizes the deception and acts accordingly.

It has been said that football is the closest sport that strategically resembles real war, which may explain why it is by far the most popular sport in the American military. In fact, the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Air Force Academy each field football teams that participate in Division I-A of the NCAA. Army and Navy have a particularly historic rivalry.

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to outscore your opponent by advancing the football into their endzone for as many touchdowns as possible while holding them to as few as possible. There are other ways of scoring, but a touchdown is usually the prime objective.

This can be by:

  • Touchdown (6 points).
  • Point after try (1 point) - an attempt to kick the ball over the horizontal goal bar, only allowed after a touchdown.
  • Field goal (3 points).
  • Safety (2 points).

So, the team with the ball has 4 attempts (or downs) to advance the ball 10 yards or more. If they succeed in moving the ball at least 10 yards either by running with it, or passing it, they get another 4 downs in which to get another 10 yards or more.

For example:On their first attempt (down), The Ravens successfully run the ball 6 yards from the point the ball was set (line of scrimmage). Now it is second down with four yards to go, which is shown as "2nd and 4".

Next, the Ravens succeed in passing the ball 14 yards. So, as they moved it past the 10 yard marker, they get 'first down' and another 4 attempts to get 10 yards, shown as "1st and 10". If the team with the ball fails to gain at least 10 yards in 4 downs, the ball is turned over to the opposing team at that point on the field. Generally, teams rarely use all four downs to get 10 yards, they try with the first three, then punt (kick) the ball away on the fourth down, so the opposition are way back in their own half, close to their own goal line. This means they have to go much further up the field to score.

Beginning the Game

Football 101 - The Basics of Beginning a Football Game.

  • Before each game, the captains from each team and the referee meet at the center of the field for the coin toss.
  • The winner of the coin toss has the option of starting the game by kicking the ball to the other team or receiving the kickoff from the other team.
  • The game begins when one of the teams kicks off to the other.
  • The receiving team must catch the ball and try to advance it as far back toward the kicking team as possible.
  • The play ends when the player with the ball is knocked to the ground (tackled), 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 a term for the place the ball is spotted before a play is run.
  • 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.