The Basics of Football

The team with the most points wins. There, it’s simple, isn’t it? Well, it’s a little more complicated than that, but the basic principles of the game are pretty simple.

The game consists of four fifteen-minute quarters of playing time, which equals out to be about three hours. I know, 4 X15 doesn’t exactly add up to three hours. But between scoring, time outs, and the clock stopping, you’ll be surprised how quickly one hour becomes three.

After the first and third quarter there is a two minute break, two sides switch sides, and play continues exactly where it left off. After the second quarter there is a fifteen minute intermission known as half time. No matter who has the ball, and where they have it, that’s it. The half is over and when the second half starts, they start fresh. (Although I don’t know how fresh they are, I don’t think they had time to shower.)

The object of the game is to move the ball down the field in order to score points. But just how that is accomplished is not so easy. The offense is given four tries to advance the ball (at least) ten yards, from the original line of scrimmage. Remember - each attempt, or play is called a down, starting the moment the ball is put into play, and ending when the ball is called dead. They can either: pass the ball - where the defense will attempt to either intercept (catch) or knock the ball away from the receiver or run the ball - where the defense will attempt to stop the ball carrier by either tackling or running him out of bounds. If a player steps on the sideline, he is out of bounds and the play is dead at that spot.

Now they don’t have to get those ten yards all at once. Like I said they have four tries to get them, but the ten yards are from the line of scrimmage. So, let’s say on the first down the quarterback throws a pass eight yards, but he drops back (takes a few steps back to give himself some room to throw) three yards while looking for an eligible receiver. He has only advanced five yards, known as a gain of five, because the ball only advanced five yards from the line of scrimmage. It is now second and five, meaning second down and five yards to go. (That’s a good phrase to know.) Now, if the quarterback had dropped back three yards and been sacked (tackled behind the line of scrimmage when in possession of the ball), it would have been second and thirteen - the original ten plus the three yards he lost when he was sacked. Remember if the quarterback throws an incomplete pass, there is no loss of yards, only a loss of a down. But if he is sacked, there is a loss of yards and a loss of a down.

Now the third down is very important. If the third down is successful - the offense gets the necessary yardage to complete the full ten yards - they start over. Four more tries to get ten more yards. But, if after the third down the offense has not been able to advance ten yards, it is the fourth down and they have three options:

1. They can go for the fourth down.
2. If they are in field goal range,they can go for the three points.
3. They can punt.

If they go for it it’s usually because they only need a yard or even less, and they’re probably going to try and push their way through. They may pass the ball, but that’s not done often. Now if they get it, it’s another first down. If they don’t get it (the defense holds them back), not only do they lose possession of the ball, but the other team gains possession with good field position. But if they punt, at least they can get the ball deep into the opposing team’s territory.

If they go for it and make it, it’s first and ten. That’s known as a fourth down conversion. They’ve just “converted” that fourth down into another first down. Just as if they complete the ten yards on the third down, that would be a third down conversion. (Next time you’re watching the game with your guy, when your team is on it’s third down, ask him if thinks they’ll be able to convert. What? You’ve never seen him speechless before?)

Written for women who want to share (or survive) the tradition of watching the game, Men Are From Locker Rooms, Women Are From Luxury Boxes: A woman’s Survival Guide To Understanding Spectator Sports explains the basics of baseball, basketball, football and hockey in an entertaining and easy to read format. With examples and glossaries for each sport, Selwitz’ book will have you yelling at the ref in no time.

Used with permission.

Tags: football, hobbies, Laurie Selwitz, sports, TV, Women

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