Rules

This is the American Football Field.                                      Image via Wikipedia

There are A LOT of rules in the game of football, but for the purpose of this blog, I will teach you the most relevant and important ones.

The Basics:

Each team has 11 players on the field.

There are four quarters in a game, each 15 minutes long. After the second quarter there is a halftime.

A team scores by catching or running the ball in the end zone for a touchdown, or by kicking a field goal (you know, the yellow Y-shaped thingys in the back of the end zone).

Touchdowns are 6 points and field goals are 3. There is also a Point After Touchdown (or PAT) in which a team can get 1 point by kicking it or 2 points by re-advancing the ball into the end zone (two-point conversion).

A team can also score by a safety. A safety is a two-point score by the defense that occurs when one of its players tackles an opponent in possession of the ball in his own end zone. This is a very rare occasion during the game.

Football is a game of downs. On offense, the team has four downs (or plays) to go ten yards. If they do not make it ten yards down the field in those four plays, then the ball is turned over to the defense (this is called a turnover on downs). Usually, if a team does not make it ten yards after 3 attempts (or downs), they will punt the ball to the other team. The reason for doing this is simply game strategy. When a team turns the ball over on downs, the defensive team will get to start with the ball where ever the last play finished. Because of this, teams usually will want to punt the ball so that the other team has to start farther away from the end zone.

Let’s do an example! We will use the 49ers and Raiders. The Niners have the ball on offense on the 50 yard line with 4th down and 9 yards to go, they can either try to make it 9 yards on their last down, or punt the ball. They will punt because they do not want to give the Raiders the ball that close to the end zone. On the other side of it, if the Niners had the ball on the Raiders 15 yard line, they would either want to attempt to gain a first down or kick a field goal.

Besides turning the ball over on downs or punting it, the defensive team can get the ball by an interception, which is when the defensive player catches the ball in the air, or by a recovered fumble, when the offensive player loses the ball during a play.

PENALTIES:

Encroachment: A defender makes contact with a member of the offense before the snap.

Face Mask: Grabbing a players facemask will result in a 15 yard penalty.

False Start: If any player on the line of scrimmage moves after they are set and before the ball is snapped.

Holding: When one player grabs or holds another player (without the ball) illegally.

Illegal Formation: An offensive formation in which not enough players are on the line of scrimmage. Must have seven men lined up on the line of scrimmage.

Illegal Shift: The offensive player fails to reset for at least one second after two players shift position at the same time.

Intentional Grounding: The quarterback, while he is still in the area between the tackles, purposely throws the ball out of bounds or onto the ground to avoid taking a sack.

Offsides: A player is on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped.

Pass Interference: Making physical contact with the receiver before the ball is caught.

Personal Foul: A flagrant illegal act that is generally deemed to unnecessarily risk the health of other players. Can be roughing the passer or kicker, or blows to the head as well as other things.

Roughing the Passer: A defender tackles or hits the QB after the ball had been thrown.

Roughing the Kicker: A defender tackles or hits the kicker after the ball has been kicked.