Football Rules Player Positions Football Strategy Football Glossary. Back to Sports Back to Football. The rules of football can be complex and vary depending on the level of play. We will cover some of the basics here including the field, players, offense, defense, and penalties. Oct 31, 2018 In full-contact football, the zone lines are kept in 10-yard increments. The offense has four attempts to pass the 'first-down' line, which is 10 yards, or it must turn over the ball to the other team on downs or by punting.
The down system in American football keeps the game interesting. After all, if the offense kept running plays but never got anywhere, the sport would be really boring. Using the down system, the offense has four downs (essentially four plays) to go 10 yards. If the offensive team advances the ball at least 10 yards in four tries or fewer, the team receives another set of four downs.
If the offense has failed to advance 10 yards after three tries, the team usually punts the ball on the fourth down (a punt is a kick to the opponent without the use of a tee). The other team then begins with its own set of four downs, traveling in the opposite direction.
You may hear TV commentators use the phrase “three and out.” What they mean is that a team has failed to advance the ball 10 yards on its first set of downs and has to punt the ball. You don’t want your team to go three and out very often. But you do want to earn lots of first downs, which you get after your team advances the ball 10 yards or more in the allotted four downs. Getting lots of first downs usually translates to more scoring opportunities, which are definitely good things.
Football has its own lingo to explain the offense’s progress toward a first down. A first down situation is also known as a “first and 10” because the offense has 10 yards to go to gain a first down. If your offense ran a play on first down and you advanced the ball 3 yards, your status would be “second and 7”; you’re ready to play the second down, and you now have 7 yards to go to gain a first down.
As a viewer, you aren’t expected to just remember what down it is and how many yards to go for a first down. Football makes it easy by providing people and signs to help you keep track:
- Two rodmen hold metal rods, with Xes at the top, connected by a chain that stretches exactly 10 yards. One rod marks where the possession begins, and the other extends to where the offensive team must go in order to make another first down.
- The third person, the boxman, holds a marker that signifies where the ball is and what down it is. Atop this rod is the number 1, 2, 3, or 4, designating which down it is.
- In all NFL stadiums, a person also marks where the drive began (that is, where the offensive team assumed possession of the ball). Many high school and college fields don’t have these markers.
Whenever there’s a critical measurement for a first down, the chain crew is brought to the hash marks nearest where the ball is positioned, and the officials use the rods to measure whether the offense has obtained a first down.
Thanks to the miracle of technology, determining where a team has to advance the ball to get a first down is easier than ever if you’re watching television. On the TV screen during a game, you’ll see an electronic line down the middle of the field that marks where a team must go to get a first down.
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The 2020 XFL season will begin this weekend, and if you’re planning on tuning in to get your football fix during the NFL offseason, you may be a little confused by the league’s new rules. The XFL has made several major rule changes in an attempt to reduce overall game times and produce more highlight-reel plays.
Here’s a primer on all the major rule changes and differences from standard NFL rules.
SCORING RULES:
Point-after touchdown plays
In the XFL, there are no kicked extra points after touchdowns. Instead, teams will have an option to run a play to score either 1, 2 or 3 extra points, creating the possibility for a 9-point touchdown.A 1-point try will be run from the 2-yard line. A 2-point try will start at the 5-yard line, and a 3-point try will start at the 10-yard line.GAME RULES:
Double-forward passes
Unlike in the NFL, the XFL will allow two forward passes on a play, provided that the first forward pass is caught behind the line of scrimmage.
What is a catch?
In the XFL, receivers only need to have one foot – or any other part of their body – contact the ground in bounds, instead of two feet in the NFL. Here is how the league defines what a catch is:
Secures control of a live ball in flight before the ball touches the ground.Touches the ground in bounds with any part of his body, and thenMaintains control of the ball long enough to enable him to perform an act common to the game, i.e., long enough to pitch or hand the ball, advance it, avoid or ward off an opponent, etc.Kickoffs
The XFL designed its kicking rules in a way to increase the amount of returns we see compared to the NFL, and to make returns safer. Kickoffs are going to look very different.
Soccer Rules
On a kickoff, the kicker will kick the ball from their own 30-yard line, but every blocker will be lined up on the opposing team’s 35-yard line. The return team blockers will be lined up at their own 30, just five yards away.
Only the kicker and receiver can move before the ball is caught. All other blockers are permitted to move when the ball is caught, or three seconds after it hits the ground, if the ball isn’t caught.
Kicks that fly out of bounds, or kicks that fall short of the opposing 20-yard line, will result in the receiving team taking the ball at the kicking team’s 45-yard line.
Touchbacks will result in the receiving team starting at their own 35-yard line.
Teams will be required to inform an official if they plan to use an onside kick, meaning they cannot surprise the opposing team with an onside kick.
Punts
Punting rules have also been changed to entice coaches to go for it on fourth down.
All punts that result in touchbacks will be placed on the receiving team’s 35-yard line. Punts that go out of bounds will also be placed on the receiving team’s 35-yard line, or wherever the ball went out if that occurred before reaching the 35.
The punting team may not cross the line of scrimmage before the ball is punted, which should reduce the amount of fair catches significantly.
Challenges
There are no coaches challenges in the XFL. All reviews will be initiated by a replay official. Via the XFL, here is a list of reviewable plays:
(a) Plays involving possession. (b) Plays involving touching of either the ball or the ground. (c) Plays governed by the goal line. (d) Plays governed by the boundary lines. (e) Plays governed by the line of scrimmage. (f) Plays governed by the line to gain. (g) Number of players on the field at the snap. (h) Game administration. (1) Penalty enforcement. (2) Proper down. (3) Spot of a foul. (4) Status of the game clock. (i) Disqualification of a player. This list of reviewable plays is identical to those in the NFL prior to 2019.
OVERTIME FORMAT:
The XFL has devised a completely new format for overtime, which is comparable to a shootout in soccer.
In overtime, each team’s offense will have five attempts to complete a two-point conversion from the five-yard line, with each successful conversion being worth two points. The team with the most points at the end of the shootout is the winner. If one team clinches a win early, the unnecessary remaining rounds of the shootout will not be played.
There will be no coin toss to determine the order of overtime. The visiting team will always make the first two-point attempt.
Defenses cannot score in overtime possessions in the event of a turnover.
Penalties in overtime:
Penalties will be crucial in overtime plays. If the offensive team commits a pre-snap penalty, the ball will moved back and the play will be re-attempted. If the offense commits a post-snap penalty, the play is considered dead, and any score will not count.
If the defense commits a penalty pre-snap, the ball will be moved to the one-yard line. For a post-snap penalty, the offensive team will have the option to re-try the play from the one-yard line if they do not score. Any future penalties committed by the defense in any future round will result in an automatic score for the offense.
TIMING RULES:
Game clock:
The XFL will use a running clock outside of the final two minutes of the second quarter, and the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.
The final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters is what the XFL refers to as the “comeback period.” During these periods, plays that end out of bounds or with an incompletion will stop the clock until the next snap. The clock will be stopped after all other plays that end in bounds until the ball is spotted and five seconds have run off the play clock. In theory, this should give an offensive team leeway to run plays in the center of the field, as they will be able to rush back to the line of scrimmage without time coming off the clock.
The play clock is 25 seconds, and will begin when the ball is spotted following the previous play.
Yard Football Rules Printable
There will be one official on the field dedicated to spotting the ball, in an effort to speed up the process compared to the NFL.
Timeouts:
Each XFL team will receive two timeouts per half, compared to three per half for NFL teams.
The halftime break will be 10 minutes.
Penalties:
The XFL’s “illegal man downfield” rule has been rewritten to make it easier for officials to enforce.
Football Rules For Dummies
No ineligible player shall be or have been more than three yards beyond the line of scrimmage until a passer throws a legal forward pass that crosses the line of scrimmage. A player is in violation of this rule if any part of his body is beyond the three-yard limit.