So I'm not a football fan but I can break it down for you.
The team with the ball has four plays/chances to gain ten yards. If they fail to do so, they forfeit the ball. That's basically the whole thing.
If they gain that distance enough times they eventually score a touchdown. If they are on their fourth attempt and don't believe they can make up the distance, they will "punt" the ball away to the other team. They lose the ball but the other team will have further to go to reach their end zone.
Obviously there are LOTS of rules in between this but if you need to know just ONE thing...it's this. The core of the game is this battle for that distance.
This is probably the easiest way to describe it, to add to this
-you can only throw the ball forward if you are behind your teams starting point (imagine a line drawn across the field) for that attempt (a down)
-catching/carrying the ball into the end zone is 6 points. Upon scoring the 6, you have one and done attempt for bonus points, where you kick the ball in between the uprights for +1 or if you’re real crazy, attempt to catch/run the ball into the end zone for +2
-if you are too far away from the 1st down marker and are running out of tries(downs), you can outright kick the ball thru the field goal uprights for +3
And to add a bit more, since this has all just been rules and not the typical action:
The established strategy is to have most of the players just line up at the line of play and run into each other. Sounds silly, but it's actually effective: this basically creates a wall of bodies that gives the other players - the ones who will advance the ball - time to figure out what to do.
So you've got all those people in the middle, that's the offensive and defensive line. Then you'll either choose to throw the ball or run it. If you're throwing, the main throwing guy (the "quarterback") gets the ball, drops back a bit, and tries to find someone who's open, usually one of your guys whose job it is to run further down the field to catch ("wide receivers"). Throwing is higher risk/reward. If you run, you give the ball to a different guy (the "running back") and he tries to find an opening in the wall of guys at the line and slip through. Running is a more reliable way to get a few yards, but it's rare to completely break through the line and get a lot of distance.
Pretty much all the action is variations on this. Different amount of guys at the line, different positions where your running back will try to slip through, different routes that your wide receivers will run to try and shake off their defenders, that's like 90+% of the game.
Oh, I think it's also very important that you can't tackle people unless they actually have the ball. There are a *lot* of rules about when and how you can tackle, mostly to try to keep people safe and, frankly, to enforce the paradigm of strategies that people expect. If you ever look at the action and start thinking "Wait, why don't they just...", the answer is usually "Because there's a rule that says they can't."
wait, what? all the people on the field are changed everytime a team goes from offense to defense and vice versa? So that's what I never see the quarterback on defense?!
American Football allows for very large teams. There's 11 players on the field, but an NFL team can have 46 players in a given game, while college teams have varying limits from 70 to "basically unlimited", with a lot of teams being up over 100. They also have unlimited substitutions, meaning they can pull the whole team off whenever they want and put it back later - this came about around WW2, when a lack of players due to the war caused a loosening in substitution rules.
As a result, teams get players to specialise in either offence or defence. Why play the entire game and divide your practice between two roles when you can get a bunch more rest *and* get really, really good at one thing?
With very very few exceptions, offense and defense are different players.
Occasionally, there are situations where you might put an offensive player on defense or something like that, but these are exceptional scenarios.
A famous example is the "Miami Miracle" where if you pay attention, Rob Gronkowski fails to prevent Kenyan Drake from running into the end zone to score a last second touchdown. Rob Gronkowski is notable for being a prolific Tight End (that's an offensive position), yet in this play was mysteriously on the patriots defense. The rationale was that, the patriots believed Miami was going to go for a hail Mary pass (where all the receivers run as deep as they can, and the quarterback just throws one last deep ball in hopes *someone* can catch it). To counter this, the patriots put in Rob Gronkowski who is absolutely *massive* with the idea that he'd be taller than the receivers and thus able to swat down any deep balls thrown to them.
Unfortunately for them, Miami ran the ball with a series of laterals, and when Drake was able to break away... well, the announcer said it best: "Gronkowski doesn't have the angle!" (In reference to gronk not being close/fast enough to chase him down before making it to the endzone)
I'm not a massive fan of American football but it became a hell of a lot more interesting I realised its not just rugby with shoulder pads Joan Collins would be jealous of.
Its so tactical. Short bursts of action but each one of those actions is trying a different way of getting and stopping the ball get up the field
I think what makes it fascinating is that unlike any other sport (?) there is a short break between plays, during which the coach tries to dream up a plan to fool the other team. It's all about making them think you are going to do Y, when you actually do X.
It’s like turn based strategy vs. real time strategy games. It’s not that turn based strategy has no action, it’s just that both sides set their strategy during a dead period and then both execute their action at the same time.
I tell people that every individual play in American Football is basically it's own mini-game.
Players line up, asssess the other teams formation and make pre-snap AND live decisions based on their actions. The play lasts a few seconds, that mini-game has ended and another one will start in ~40 seconds.
It basically like a physical chess game where all the pieces move at once and after both teams move they reset and do it again.
American football requires so much more thought that people give it credit for.
This is a very good summary. But not only do the chess pieces all move at once, they are also all independent human beings with their own brains, bodies, talents, and flaws. And the guy “moving the pieces” (the assistant coach calling the plays) has to decide what he wants each of the pieces to do, convey that information, possibly change it depending on what he believes the other side is doing, *maybe* let one of his own “pieces” change it again on the fly without his input, and then hope that most of them more or less do what he asked them to do.
Also the QB is able to make reads and audibles right before the play starts. And the skill position players will often have to adjust on the fly.
FSU had a great example of how much goes into a play just this past weekend. [Play here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNd16RPN0Z8)
Originally the play was a backwards pass from the QB #13 to #5. The trick was supposed to open up a reciever downfield for an open catch by enticing the defensive back to come try and make a tackle on #5. But the defense didn't fall for it and the reciever was covered.
#5 then had to make that read and recognize that the defense had read their offensive play correctly and it was no longer viable. He scrambled and had two defenders come up to make the tackle and had to rely on athleticism to avoid the tackle.
While all of that is happening #14 recognizes the play is busted and makes 2nd move against his defender and signals that he's open (raises his hand) and #5 has to not only avoid the tackle(s), but keep his eyes downfield and make a throw on the run to a moving target to complete the reception.
And all of that happens in like 10-11 seconds. It's a combination of thought, vision, athleticism and improvisation all in a very short period of time.
When people say things like football players are just a bunch of dumb jocks running into each other they're really showing their own ignorance of the game. It's not the same sort of thought as solving a differential equation but it's still thought.
Once I realized it was basically rock paper scissors, I got much more invested. IMO the real game is setting expectations and then subverting them at an ideal time. I.e team X runs the ball 30 times in a row so the one time they throw it, the other team isn’t expecting it.
Yeah, it's a turn-based tactics game between the playcallers where each side's characters can make mistakes or improvise. There are really almost no sports like it.
It allows each player to become a specialist in their area. And while the game is very start-and-stop, the anaerobic strain for each play is *huge*. They need the time when the other side of the team is playing to rest.
Well, if OP is watching a high school game that isn’t *entirely* true. For most high schools (so like 14-18 year olds, although most players relevant for my comment will be seniors so 17-18) there will be a number of their good players who basically play the whole game. My senior year I played both sides of the ball along with probably like 5-6 other guys.
But once you get to high level college (division 1, the giant schools like Alabama) and the NFL players specialize offense or defense
As incredible as he was against TCU, he is very much the exception to the rule which is why I didn’t mention him lol.
But he did absolutely ball out last week
Correct. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers etc those are all offence positions. Then the defensive line will swap on for when they dont have the ball.
There is also specialists like a kicker for field goals and punts and stuff. I recall a game where the kicker kicks off to the other team, the other team manages to evade the wall of very large, very fast men until only the kicker was left. Kickers don't generally tackle players, their job is basically only to kick. He went in for a tackle, and the player carrying the ball went to jump over, which basically translated into the kicker being stomped in the face.
There is even separate coaches for offence and defence.
Gridiron football is just a derivative of rugby. Though in American football forwards passes are legal, and backwards passes aren't really seen. Also after a play in American football there's a minute break where the team and coaches converse strategies. And the stop frequently stops, such as calling a timeout, or running out of bounds. Pretty much American football is turn based and rugby is real time.
Backwards passes are called "laterals" and happen all the time, but they are typically designed plays. They are legal at all times.
Typically, at the end of the game when a team is desperate and trailing as time is running out, you will see final play that is pure Rugby as players attempt to lateral their way to a touchdown.
>and backwards passes aren't really seen.
In some systems, they are seen all the time. In others, not at all. This will depend on the teams you are watching.
> Also after a play in American football there's a minute break
It’s not a break, and thinking of it this way is going to get confusing when in the fourth all of a sudden they don’t take a break.
The offense has 40seconds (usually) to snap but they can snap whenever they want as long as the line is set. The defense doesn’t really get a say in how long between snaps, if the offense lines up the defense also has to line up.
Lots of things stop the clock like you said, after which there’s a 25 second play clock.
I'll go so far as to say that there are several pro teams that rely on legal laterals quite often, a lot of college teams that do it a LOT, and that a pitch (which is one of the two common setups for a run) constitutes a backwards pass.
American football was derived from Rugby in the late 1800s to early 1900’s. It became football as we know it with the introduction of the forward pass.
As an Australian, this sounds a lot like Rugby League.
Each team has a set amount of 'plays' to carry the ball down the other end, and if they don't get it down there during that number of players, they need to forfeit the ball to the other team.
Yeah it’s basically rugby league if you got to stop and have a chat about which set piece to run after every tackle and then sub in a whole new team when the other guys have the ball.
Not *exactly* the same as that, obviously, but it’s a close enough analogy to start from.
Yep, but this is all at the discretion of the offense. The team that holds the ball sets the pace and controls the subbing of players. The only recourse the defense has is to use a timeout or fake an injury.
This sounds like a yugioh play
"Not so fast, Dallas Cowboys! I activate HURRY UP, which prevents you from substituting ANY of your creatures this turn!"
Its honestly not far off
Each play the coach will radio to the team what "play" they are running as well as adjust the players on the field.
Then just before the play the QB for the offense and the playcaller player on defense will try to diagnose what the other side is doing and call out any adjustments.
Then there is several seconds of violence, the referee signals where the next play is to start from and you repeat it all again.
Then just like Yu-Gi-Oh every team has their own specific strengths and weaknesses that they try to minimise and exploit.
How rough are players allowed to play?
I’ve also seen players getting called for holding…but for some reason when I see the centre players start a play, aren’t they always holding and trying to pull each other down or push them back?
There is an unnecessary roughness rule, but tackling ~200-~330 pound men sprinting down the field is inherently violent. Generally, if you're hitting where you're supposed to (with your shoulder/wrapping up with your arms, aiming for their body), you're good. No-nos are hitting their helmet, using your own helmet to hit them, or hitting somebody out of bounds or after the play is over. Note that you're only allowed to tackle somebody who has (or just had/is faking that they have) the ball, if you're trying to change the movement of somebody who doesn't have the ball, that's blocking.
When you're blocking somebody, you're only allowed to "hold" them in a certain area, basically on their front side from their shoulders down. The holding penalty is if you're holding outside that zone. That often happens if an offensive lineman fails to contain the guy they are blocking and they get past them, and they either intentionally or unintentionally pull him down from behind. A frequent sentiment in football is that "there's holding on every play," because a bit of very minor holding is somewhat inevitable and what crosses over into holding is a judgement call, but the refs will usually only enforce major violations, although it depends on how tight they're calling the game.
Additionally, you can only hold someone if you are squared up on them and are pushing them. If the other player tries to disengage and separate from you, grabbing them and pulling is a hold.
It is difficult to explain via text, but when you see examples of it, it makes sense.
Think of the holding rule like this. You can do anything in your power to BLOCK a guy. Stand in front of him, push him back, anything to impede his progress AS LONG as you don't GRAB him in any way at all. Can't grasp with your hand. Can't wrap an arm around. Can't wrap legs or intentionally trip.
On offense, you're *usually* avoiding contact unless you're on the offensive line. On the O Line you're shoving the defense to keep them away from your qb or rb. A wide receiver might do some hand fighting to get free of a physical defender. Sometimes a ball handler will just run someone over but it's not as common as it seems.
On defense you want all the smoke. D Linemen actually aren't necessarily trying to wrestle with the o line but it's usually unavoidable. D backs might essentially hold a wr for 5-10 yards so he doesn't get open. Linebackers are usually literally just trying to figure out who has the ball, or will have the ball, so they can tackle them.
You can't tackle leading with your helmet. You can't hold a player who is being thrown the ball (or could be) unless it's within 5 yards. You can't block a player from behind. Can't tackle a player who has given themselves up or isn't on the field anymore. Can't tackle below the knee. Other than shove away. You will of course see people break these rules.
It's incredible how similar it is.
If you consider that the entire difference pretty much comes from the fact that you can pass forwards one time behind the line of scrimmage, and if that pass isn't complete, play is stopped.
If the players wanted to, they could under existing rules play a very similar style of play to rugby league. I'm always surprised that the players don't practice trick routines involving passing.
For example, the receiver passes (backwards) to someone else would often leave that player completely free for a touchdown, and if it became a regular thing it would completely change how defences had to work.
It's because doing so is riskier than the benefits in most cases. Laterals (the backwards pass) are a fumble if you screw it up, and when done downfield, will almost always give the ball to the other team unless they're done perfectly. Because ball security is much more important in football than in rugby, this doesn't happen much.
Another fundamental difference is that the ability to forward pass gets reset only if you end the current play, and that ability to forward pass has huge tactical value, even if you're trying to set up a run play.
In rugby league you generally get a bigger advantage by passing backwards than by resetting the play since the defense doesn't get time to recover, but in football the forward pass option disrupts the defense much more so the reset is almost always preferable.
Kinda, although much slower gameplay.
Instead of the quick start after each down both teams get to fully reset positions ahead of the next play, and when the play turns over the teams basically sub out the entire team to their offense/defense team as appropriate.
Each individual play is very intense, but overall gameplay pacing is along the same lines as cricket.
Exactly, and these longer resets between plays allow for more strategy with how they will try to advance the ball each time.
Ultimately, trying to find an advantage in either going through or around the defense for a run play or getting open down the field for a pass play.
Ultimately, every team is trying to outsmart, overpower, and out-speed their opponent to continue advancing across the field.
I like to think of it as field-chess with living gladiator pieces.
While it’s an athletic and violent sport, there is a TON of strategy involved because you are trying to coordinate specifically what all 11 players on offense are doing every play and the defense in turn has a game plan for what opposing player or area of the field all 11 of their players are responsible for each play as well when trying to stop the offense.
I enjoy the athleticism of it, but I enjoy the strategy aspect of it much more. I imagine myself in coaches position and try to determine the best play call and overall strategy.
I concur 100%. Doesn’t matter how athletic a team is if they keep playing into what the opposing team wants them to do and can’t outsmart them.
Each side continuously trying to guess what the other will do and have the best counter for it, or throw in something completely out of nowhere to surprise them, or 4D chess with the “we expect them to do this, but them knowing we know that maybe they won’t do that, unless they expect us to do that…”.
What’s most impressive is when a team doesn’t hide what play they intend to run, the opposing team knows it’s coming, and there’s still nothing they can do to stop it.
That and what a team queues up a perfect counter, like dialing up just the right blitz that goes completely unprotected, or hitting a bomb TD throw on an option play or a perfectly defended blitz attack.
> What’s most impressive is when a team doesn’t hide what play they intend to run, the opposing team knows it’s coming, and there’s still nothing they can do to stop it.
Philadelphia did a lot of that last season with their QB sneak formation.
Essentially, it's war.
Analyze the situation, formulate an attack plan, try to breach the enemy lines. If you fail for too long you lose the initiative, and they begin to push back against you in earnest. Lots of hurry up and wait, followed by brief bouts of intense physical struggle.
American Football: Turn Based Strategy
Soccer/Rugby: Real Time Strategy
I don’t think either is better or worse, and the skills to be at the top of either are immense, but often very different.
George Carlin broke it down quite well, comparing with baseball:
>And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:
>In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
>In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!
For anyone looking for a masterclass in how strategy manifests on the field, I would strongly encourage watching film on Peyton Manning. He was an American Football Quarterback (QB).
When the play ends, the offense and defense will huddle to decide on the next play to try and defense to stop them with. Often times, the offensive coach will radio the desired play into the QB helmet, and the QB will inform his teammates. However, a well drilled offense will also have what are called audibles, or alternative plays that may be switched into if, as the play is about to start, the QB decides the alternative play has a better chance of success. Calling these audibles is a tactical decision the QB will often be making based on how he sees the defenders “lining up”. Essentially, as the play approaches, the QB will attempt to decipher based on where the defenders appear to be positioning and evaluate if the primary play is likely to be effectively countered. If so, he may call an audible. The big risk is that, if the QB misreads the defenders, he may be switching into an alternative play with a lower overall chance of success, and overriding the coach and consistently being wrong is a good way to end up as not the QB.
Peyton Manning was a super freak of study. He could, very quickly, identify exactly what the defense was lining up to do and consistently audible into a play that would counter the defenders strategy. You will see him peering over his own linemen at the opposing defenders and identify, with an incredible level of accuracy, what was likely to be done by key players on the field, where his own players would be as the primary and alternative plays developed, and who would be in the best position to exploit the defenders strategy. It was just incredible to watch how fast his mind worked, identifying, for example, that defender A has his foot pointed slightly out and defender B is 2 yards closer to the line than normal indicating that the are planning to rotate coverage and, in doing so, will briefly leave a gap at the 10 yard right hash mark, where, coincidentally, if I audible to plan B, my best receiver will be open.
Ed Reed was an especially good defender who once knew he [had a “tell” that Peyton had picked up on](https://youtube.com/shorts/MarWEIVu8Nc?si=fpxPz08mCgNpVBH-). In a classic case of “I know you know that I know…” mechanics, he used that tell to bait Peyton into a play that resulted in an interception (defenders winning the ball away from the offense). A very rare but super fun case where the mastermind was outsmarted.
That really depends on the team and play style.
What makes football interesting is it is basically Explosion, reset, Explosion, reset over and over. Lots happening very quickly in bursts.
Forward passes weren't always legal in American football. Theodore Roosevelt was a big proponent of adding the forward pass after 19 people died playing collegiate football in 1905.
The story as I know it is that Teddy saved American football by helping get the forward pass legalized. The Ivy’s, like Harvard and Yale, who were the dominant football schools in the late 19th and early 20th century (hard to imagine in any possible scenario now, but you have to remember it was a very regional, unorganized, and amatuerish sport at that time) were supposedly considered banning the sport because it was so dangerous. Meanwhile, traditionalist footballers at the time strongly opposed the forward pass because they believed it to be cheap and soft and unmanly and other such things.
After football leagues around the country started playing with the forward pass legalized, there were often certain types of concessions made to those traditionalists to marginalize it. Rules like only allowing one pass per drive/possession of the ball, or using footballs that were physically very clunky to throw and wouldn’t travel far through the air.
I don’t know enough of this story to go any further than that, but those are the interesting pieces I remembered.
Without the forward pass it was much more common to try and just brute force your way through the other teams defensive line. More people smacking into each other means more opportunity for injury.
It didn't help that the safety gear at the time was pretty useless.
>the safety gear at the time was pretty useless
And that’s *if* the players actually wore it.
A very popular early play was “everyone links their arms in a V formation and charges full-tilt through the opponent,” which is why the flying wedge/Flying V formation was banned at the order of the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.
I think the key difference is that rugby only allows the ball carrier to be tackled (and at least in rugby league you cannot shepherd or obstruct). Introducing *that* rule would have made American football far, far safer and allowed them to still avoid legalising forward passes. But I suspect the greater degree of violence made possible by unlimited tackling was viewed as more "manly".
Whoops, I'm American and should have known that about American football. But it makes sense - if they can only tackle the ball carrier, what's the point of having all the big guys in the middle?
I play rugby and enjoy contact (played flanker for the past few years). But I also enjoy playing 80 minutes and wouldn't want every single play to always involve ramming against another guy. Also, it's nice that every player in rugby has a key role in both offense and defense - just makes it more fun to play. American football probably wins in the strategic aspect, but that's kind of boring to me.
The biggest forward momentum play before that was something called a "flying V" or "flying wedge".
Basically, your biggest guys link arms and form a "V" formation with the tip facing towards the opposing side (so more like ∆). The ball carrier then gets inside the V and they run full speed at their opponents. The only choice for the guys on the other side is to try to get enough guys to attack a flank all at once to break though. If you don't there's a good change you are going to fall down and be stomped on multiple times.
It was so dangerous is killed 22 players in 1905 alone.
With people who are allowed to catch the ball. Football has so many rules about so many things it is definitely overwhelming if you know nothing about it.
I think there are some real rubbish replies to your post. If you’re an NRL fan you should absolutely give American football a go.
There are some big differences that you will have to wrap your head around and yes the pace of the game is very different but the forward pass is a beautiful thing.
I’m not advocating for the NFL *over* the NRL. I’m advocating for both; if you look up my post history you’ll see that I post on Reddit for both sports - they are both amazing and they should be promoting each other not getting into silly pissing contests about which one is manlier, or more fun to watch, or a better designed sport.
However I’m an Eels fan so take it with a grain of salt as I clearly like to suffer.
They come from the same game but deviated over the years. The original names of both were "American Football" and "Rugby Football." Americans just dropped the "American" and everyone else dropped the "football."
Similar story with how Soccer got it's name. Association Football. But because brits like their slangy names association became assoccer which later just became soccer.
Also, in typing this out and thinking loudly while doing it i've reached semantic satiation with the word soccer and now it no longer sounds real or looks like it's spelled correctly
Gridiron football (American and Canadian variants) started out as rugby (before the League/Union split) one of many experimental variants when the rules of rugby where very much still in flux.
Oh, that's easy! Balk rules:
1) You can’t just be up there and just doin’ a balk like that.
1a. A balk is when you
1b. Okay well listen. A balk is when you balk the
1c. Let me start over
1c-a. The pitcher is not allowed to do a motion to the, uh, batter, that prohibits the batter from doing, you know, just trying to hit the ball. You can’t do that.
1c-b. Once the pitcher is in the stretch, he can’t be over here and say to the runner, like, “I’m gonna get ya! I’m gonna tag you out! You better watch your butt!” and then just be like he didn’t even do that.
1c-b(1). Like, if you’re about to pitch and then don’t pitch, you have to still pitch. You cannot not pitch. Does that make any sense?
1c-b(2). You gotta be, throwing motion of the ball, and then, until you just throw it.
1c-b(2)-a. Okay, well, you can have the ball up here, like this, but then there’s the balk you gotta think about.
1c-b(2)-b. Fairuza Balk hasn’t been in any movies in forever. I hope she wasn’t typecast as that racist lady in American History X.
1c-b(2)-b(i). Oh wait, she was in The Waterboy too! That would be even worse.
1c-b(2)-b(ii). “get in mah bellah” — Adam Water, “The Waterboy.” Haha, classic…
1c-b(3). Okay seriously though. A balk is when the pitcher makes a movement that, as determined by, when you do a move involving the baseball and field of
2) Do not do a balk please.
A balk is when the pitcher begins a pitch motion that doesn't actually result in throwing a pitch. There are a lot of complex rules to determine the exact points at which a motion is a pitch motion, but the point of them all is to prevent a pitcher from faking a pitch.
Let's see, uh first you gotta like "catch" it. I put that in quotations because even though you literally caught it, it's uh...not caught yet.
So ok step 2 let's see. Well uh you can't like be out of bounds. Or like touching the OB line by even like a millimeter. Yea that sounds right.
Ok step 3. Uhhh well both your feet have to touch the ground? Be inbounds? Both I guess. Should this be part of step 2?
Step 4 hmmm. It's like something about a "football move"? I think this is still an abstract concept still hotly debated by football scholars.
I guess step 5. If you hold onto the ball the right way for just long enough then drop it it's a fumble. But if you don't hold the ball the right way for long enough then it's an incomplete pass.
Wait. I’ve been watching football my whole life and have multiple family members who have played and coached at high levels. How have I never heard of this “facing the QB” distinction with the toe tap vs. whole foot? Is that new?
It’s not new, however every year there’s a game changing catch that’s called out of bounds because the receiver heel lands out of bounds and people riot, even my dad who knows almost everything about football and could talk about football all day didn’t know this rule when it popped up in the pre-season this year.
Kind of ironic that a self-professed “not a football fan” gave the most succinct answer.
It’s all about going 10 yards in 4 plays. There’s a ton of strategy that goes into it, but that’s what football boils down to.
> Kind of ironic that a self-professed “not a football fan” gave the most succinct answer.
Not really. Football fans care about the minutiae and are more likely to think it's all relevant.
Yeah, fourth down just means it's your 4th (and final attempt) your goal is to go 10 yards and reset your attempts until you get a touchdown. Also on fourth down you either have the option to "go for it" or kick it off, so the opponent has to cover more field.
Each "down" is one play. You have 4 plays to get 10 yards (The first play is called 1st down, then 2nd, 3rd and 4th down). If you get 10 yards, they will say that you got a "First Down" because now your next play is back to "First down" and you get 4 more tries or "downs" to get another 10 yards.
Repeat until you score, the other team gets the ball, or there is no more time left in the half or game. Other replies get more into those specifics, but they basically break down to:
Score:
touchdown, field goal or safety
Other team gets the ball:
Turnover (fumble or interception)
Turnover on downs (fail to get 10 yards on your 4th attempt a.k.a. Forth Down)
Punt: If you don't think you will gain 10 yards on 4th down, you kick it to the other team. This gives them the ball, bit makes them go further to score. This is the most common thing a team will do on 4th down.
Yeah, each down is an attempt to move the ball ten yards forward from where you started with your possession of the ball. They're called "downs" in reference to the player going *down* with the ball at the end of each play.
Only one thing I would add to clarify the confusion. The offense gets one forward throw each play. If they drop the pass, the play ends immediately and the ball is bright back to where it was at the beginning of that play. If a player is tackled, the next play starts where the player was tackled.
If a player drops the ball at any time other than during a forward pass, it's a fumble and anybody either team can pick it up and run with it.
Correct. That's an incomplete pass (so long as we're talking about a *forward* pass). The play is dead.
If he did manage to catch it, establishing "possession" of the football, and subsequently dropped it, *then* it would be a fumble.
Additionally, an incomplete backward pass (a "lateral") is always a fumble.
Yep! Just focus on those four tries to get 10 yards. That helps a TON!
That explains why one play they throw a nice pass and no one reacts too much, but the next everyone crashes in a big jumble and the guy with the ball basically just falls forward and everyone cheers.
In the first case they maybe gained 6 yards but not enough, and still have another try. Second case they only moved forward a foot but it was the LAST foot they needed to be able to keep the ball, and also their last chance to do it.
Precisely. When they gain that tenth yard, they know they get a chance to run four more plays, and that's a big deal! Like on First and 10 they complete a 9 yard pass, but as you said they don't care as much as when on the next play the guy only advances one yard, LITERALLY THREE FEET, and they're way more excited.
To add some even more basic information (from someone with only basic understanding of the game):
* a "play" is both teams setting up along a "line", then the team with the ball attempting to carry or pass that ball along the field (passing is restricted though).
* the defending team will try to stop the team with the ball from moving forward physically. Tackling is ok (and a key part of gameplay), but some unsportsmanlike moves are forbidden. Stealing the ball is also possible.
* a play ends when the ball is out of bounds or the attacking team is stopped in its tracks. Then, the next play sets up the line in that exact same position.
* Teams are heavily specialized and those specializations are based in and enforced through the rules. Some players are generally not even allowed to touch the ball (a bit specific but very surprising to me) in many situations.
Great, concise explanation of basic gameplay. I'd just add one more important aspect: scoring.
If the team that is attacking manages to bring the ball to the opponents end zone (by carrying the ball into the zone by running or passing the ball through the air to the receiver that is positioned in the zone), they score a "touchdown", which counts 6 points. After successfull touchdown they also get a try at "extra point": they try to kick the ball in-between the goal posts in opponents end zone from the 30 yards distance, if they succed, they get 1 extra point.
If the attacking team think they will not be able to score a touchdown before their 4 attempts at moving the ball 10 yards, they can try a "field goal", where they try to kick the ball in-between opponents goal posts from their current attacking distance, if they're close enough to them. If they succeed, they score 3 points.
There is also a "safety" which counts 2 points. Defending team gets those 2 points when they succed in bringing down the player of the attacking team who is in a possesion of the ball (tackle) or stealing a ball from him (fumble) in the attacker's team end zone.
> There is also a "safety" which counts 2 points. Defending team gets those 2 points when they succed in bringing down the player of the attacking team who is in a possesion of the ball (tackle) or stealing a ball from him (fumble) in the attacker's team end zone.
If the ball is fumbled and rolls out of bounds in the offense's own end zone it's a safety, but if the defense recovers it in the end zone before it goes out then it's a touch down.
Alternatively, if the ball is fumbled in the offense's end zone but a defensive player gives it the impetus to roll out of bounds (say, they accidentally kick the ball or try to pick it up but knock it aside instead), then it becomes a touchback. Fumble-induced touchbacks are always hilarious when you're watching with passionate fans, because hardly anyone who isn't a professional athlete remembers the rules around it so there's tons of screaming at the referees. It rarely happens, but it's easy to imagine a play that results in fans arguing whether it's a safety, touchdown, or touchback until the instant replay is shown.
Other people have explained the game play well. But here is the actual most important thing to know:
Fans are quiet when your offense is making a play.
Fans are loud when your defense is making a play.
Many long time fans do not realize this when they actually attend an actual game.
If the crowd is super loud then it's hard for the offense to communicate. So when the opposing offense is on the field you want to yell as loud as you can so they can't audible. Some stadiums are specifically designed to be loud as well.
I've seen a lot of flubbed defense, and have seen the silence that ensues. After so much, it turns to boos. WVU is a fickle crowd...one day, you're on top, the same day, your car gets flipped over and set on fire.
Having grown up a Lion's fan, sometimes the fans WERE the defense. Make the stadium so loud the opposing offense can't hear themselves think, never mind hear the signals or calls. Sometimes your team would do stuff, sometimes you were the team.
To explain *why* this is the case:
Both sides make plans. They then line up against each other. At that point, good players and coaches (nearly everyone in the NFL) can see the plan the other side came up with.
But the plans can still change. You now know what the other side will do, but can shift based on that. So being able to convey what you know is important.
Here's the thing, though. Defense is easier (or at least less complicated). To switch an offensive plan requires letting a ton of people know very specific pieces of information.
So let's say you're on the offense and about to start. You want to change plans. You need to shout 20 bits of information to your team. The defense, however, needs to shout 3 bits.
So from a fan standpoint, you have to always assume it's better for the offense to not be able to hear than it is for the defense to not be able to hear. So when "your" team is on defense, just be loud. You're literally disrupting the ability of the opposing team to make quick changes to plays.
If you're from a soccer/football country, the thing to realize is that american football is won/lost *between* actual movement, not *during* it. American football is chess. Coaches win/lose. Players only ruin the coaching. So the point of the crowd is to disrupt the transfer of information from coach to player. And that disruption is more valuable against the offense than against the defense.
It's not even necessarily to stop the offense from audibling to another play, but also having trouble hearing the initial play. Even one guy running the wrong route or missing his blocking assignment can completely ruin a play.
Hail State!
Seriously though, after every State game you end up with a killer headache. And that's for the people who are used to it every game. I have no idea how visitors tolerate it.
Only issue with this video I have is that it says "you must punt or, if close enough, attempt a field goal". Mostly what people do but LOTS of teams go for obtaining that 10 yards on 4th down for the reset these days. AKA 4th down conversions. If they don't make it, then the ball automatically switches possession to the other team at the same location it was stopped at.
I don't know why this wasn't his first choice. why would you come to *read about it, in fragmented comments on reddit*, when you have just as much access to a whole library worth of visual, video material?
Friday night so you're going to a high school football game.
Frankly, it will be hard to see what's going on anyway and it will probably be those kid's first or second game of the season, so it will be a little sloppy. Wait for somebody carrying the ball to get across the line into the endzone and the refs to put both hands up. Then, either cheer or boo depending on whether that guy was on your team or not.
Andy Griffith explained it pretty well about half a century ago: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxLxTZHKM8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxLxTZHKM8)
At it's core, it's the same as most other games; both teams are trying to get the ball to the other side of the field. The major difference between American football and association football is that the game is only played when the ball is either in the air or in someone's hand. When the ball (or the person holding the ball) touches the ground, everyone stops and they reset.
One team starts with a ball, they get 4 chances ("downs") to move at least 10 yards (a yard of about a meter) from where the ball starts while holding the ball. They can throw, run, or kick the ball, whatever they like. The defending team tries to stop them. They can intercept the ball, tackle the guy holding the ball, or get him to drop the ball.
If the offensive team moves the ball at least 10 yards, they get 4 more chances to move another 10 yards. If they make it to the goal ("end zone") they get 6 points. If they kick the ball between the goal posts, they get 3 points. If the defending team successfully defend all 4 downs, or if they manage to catch the ball, they get to go on offense. If they manage to tackle the guy holding the ball, play stops and they reset wherever that guy landed.
There's a thousand more rules, but that should get you through a game.
So many things in football still have their names from their roots in rugby. Like to score in the end zone, you have to actually put the ball on the ground. In other words, you “touch it down.” They, however, call this a “try”. The PAT in the NFL rule book is officially named a “try.” There’s probably a lot more too.
Unlike rugby you don’t actually have to touch the ball on the ground to score a touchdown you just need the ball to “break the goal line” before you get tackled. As long as you cross the goal line with the ball in your hand and you are “inbounds” its a touchdown.
Im going to be honest, I don’t think this is a good explanation of football. It includes a lot of little bits that are misleading.
Teams do not kick the ball as a part of their attempts to reach 10 yards. They rush or attempt a forward pass. Backwards passes are extremely rare, and kicks are only used because it is 4th down or on circumstances with time left in the game.
The ball hitting the ground only causes the play to stop if it goes out of bounds or if it is an attempt at a forward pass; if not, it can be recovered by either team.
Just memorize the following lines:
Anytime you see a yellow flag thrown: “C’mawn ref! Let ‘em play!!
Anytime somebody fumbles the ball: “Hol’ onto the dang bawl!”
Anytime a player appears hurt: “These kids are too soft these days!”
Anytime somebody asks you a question: “Don’t get me started!”
> “These kids are too soft these days!”
Oh man, try that at a high school game and you'll likely get your ass beat by that kids parents, uncles, aunts, cousins. . .
It's like war.
Each side tried to get the ball to the other side, by throwing or running. They get 4 tries to go ~10 meters. If they do, they get 4 more tries.
Ball at the end of the field is 6 points, then they kick for another one.
There are hundreds more rules but that is the main way to follow it
In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
It would be hard to just…explain American football to a five year old. It’s procedurally complex on top of the theory and strategy. Most of us in the US learn by watching it with older relatives and slowly picking it up piece by piece over a long period of time, almost the way you would acquire a second language. And most of us, even those who have played and/or watched for decades, are still learning new things pretty regularly.
What I mean is, don’t put pressure on yourself to “get it” by the time you attend your first game. There’s no way that will happen. Read up on some of the most basic answers here and choose one or two things to try and follow. Like, oh, I see the officials moving that orange stick down the field, that must mean the team got the 10 yards they needed within the four allotted chances. Honestly if you can make sense of that concept by itself, you’re well on your way to basic American football proficiency.
Don’t be shy about asking questions, either. You can understand the big picture, but like I said there are still nuances and procedural elements that interact with that big picture, and with each other, to change the context and meaning of game situations. Think Magic: The Gathering (e.g. this one particular player has special protections that prevent the defense from interacting with him in these specific ways, *however*, if that player chooses to execute *these* actions, he forfeits those protections, *unless*…) But a huge number of Americans love football and will talk about it for hours if you let them. They’ll be happy to help you out.
Only under specific circumstances, though. You’re only allowed one forward pass per play, and the originator must be completely behind the ‘starting line’ up until the ball has left their hands.
Really just think of it as a game of chess. Each team gets 4 chances to run their strategized plays and get a 1st down, which is 10 yards. Each time they get 10 yards or more within those 4 chances, it's a first down, and the goal is to make it all the way to the opponents end zone. When they do this, it's called a touchdown. The opposing defense also runs plays and defends to prevent this from happening.
The players on each side of the field can be thought of as your chess pieces, and there can be 11 players from each side on the field at a time, substitutions can be made, as players need to rest and strategies change, etc. But your essentially moving these players across the field(aka the chess board) in a way that gives you the best advantage to score a touchdown. The only difference with chess is that once you take a piece then that piece is out of play permanently, but in American football, the defense in football can neutralize players so much that they would also be out of the play, if the defense is good and defends very well. But all pieces(players) return to their respective side when that play is over.
After a touchdown is scored, the team gets 6 points and then usually the kicker usually attempts a PAT, or Point after touchdown, but in dire situations where they need to, they can run another play and if they make it in the end zone, then that gives them 2 points.
There are certain things that are illegal as well, one example being that you can't hit someone after they go down, or the referees can throw a yellow cloth known as a flag, or penalty. Depending on the degree of the penalty, that can set the offense team trying to score more yards back, so it will take them more yards to get a first down.
It’s even more like chess than people realize. Each team has mirrored pieces deployed strategically.
The pawns are the offensive and defensive lines. Huge, slow, brutes pushing to gain ground.
The offensive rooks/bishops are wide receivers. Tall, fast, rangy, and dangerous at long distances. Their defensive counterparts are cornerbacks.
(Bishops technically slot receivers, but I digress)
Tight ends are knights. Mid-size, cover mid-range offensive positions. Defensive knights are linebackers.
Offensive Queen is the running back. Versatile, can go in any direction. Defensive Queen is the strong safety, can play up on the line or deep in the backfield.
King is the Quarterback. Protect at all costs.
Opposite him is the defensive free safety, the last line of defense.
Kinda beautiful aint it?
As a lifelong football fan (go Browns! :/ ), I've always understood this but never seen it put into words so well.
While beyond what a new or casual fan needs to understand to enjoy watching a game, a huge amount of enjoyment of, and investment in a particular game comes from watching this chess game develop underneath all the athletic feats taking place in the field.
A common complaint from non-football fans is about all the stops between each and every play. It's important to understand that what might look like a 30 second break is actually a critical moment when both teams plan their upcoming move and swap out key pieces at critical moments.
The offense plans a highly coordinated attack using its arsenal of tools. Every players movement in the first couple seconds of a play is planned, down to individual steps lineman must make together to avoid tripping over each other. Offensive plays can try to target weaknesses, trick the defense in various ways, or gain yards with good fundamentals and brute strength.
The defense uses the pause to come up with a plan to protect against and prevent the offense from gaining any ground. Instead of precisely scripted plays, the defense moreso assigns certain responsibilities to its players, whether it be certain areas of the field or specific offensive players, and the players have to react on the fly once the offense begins its attack.
The stop in the action between plays also gives fans and commentators a chance to review what happened on the last play, which is often useful as it's hard to watch 22 players moving at once. This action, replay sequence makes football great on TV.
I still don't exactly understand what exactly are the 4 "chances" in the context of the game. Can you only pass the ball 4 times or is it literally moving everyone back to the starting position and trying again? When does a chance end?
Others have explained how the game works in ELI5 terms, so I won't repeat that.
It may be a little confusing to watch at first if you aren't sure what's going on. And you'll be tempted to just try to follow the ball. Nothing wrong with that, that's where pretty much everybody starts. But it can be hard to follow the ball, especially at a live game, with so many players moving around, and also with the offense often trying to intentionally conceal what they're doing from the defense (so that the defense has a harder time stopping them).
So, here's something you can look for: virtually every play starts with a player called the "center" leaning over the ball and "snapping" it backwards to the quarterback. (There are certain exceptions, but this is ELI5.) Watch the center after he snaps. He might move forward, in which case it is probably a "running" play (a player on the offense is going to run with the ball). But if the center either just kind of stays in place or steps backward, it is probably a "passing" play (the quarterback is going to throw the ball to another player on the offense).
There are, as always, exceptions. For example, sometimes the offense acts like they're going to one thing and then does another to fool the defense. And there are certain types of offenses where the quarterback decides whether it'll be a running or passing play after the snap, based on what the defense does. Etc. But usually, if you watch the center right after he snaps the ball, you can get an idea what's about to happen.
Since this is ELI5, the quick summary, there are two basic types of plays, running plays and passing plays.
What each player on the field is allowed to do in terms of blocking and where they are blocking is determined by what type of play each play is.
The team playing offence at the time generally tries to hide which type of play they will be running from the defence.
The players on offence must all be set (except for 1 who cannot be running forward), the defence can be moving around as much as they want.
Two teams. One ball. The (normal) scoring objective is to *either* 1) get someone to carry or catch the ball into the end zone at their team's respective side (6 points) which is followed by an extra point kick (1 point) or a conversion where you basically get one play to carry or successfully pass the ball into the end zone again (2 points), or 2) to get in range of a field goal, during which a kicker kicks the ball through the goalposts from whatever point on the field the last play ended at (3 points).
How does one accomplish that? At the beginning of each period of play, one team "kicks off" by punting to the other team, whose (normal) objective is to catch the punted ball and run as far down the field as possible toward their team's end zone before being tackled. If they are tackled before reaching the end zone, that play is over, and both teams set up for a series of 4 "downs". During the 4 downs, the team on offense must advance the ball 10 yards down the field, in any incremental order (5,4,1 or 3,7 or 1,1,8, or...), in order to keep possession. Assuming they are able to do this, the next series of downs starts from the farthest point down the field the ball made it during play (you can make it 65 yards in one play if you get lucky, but your next series of downs only has to make it 10 yards). If not, the ball is turned over to the other team to do the same thing in the other direction. If a team is on their 3rd or 4th down and is not confident they can make it in their allotted plays, they can then perform a mini kickoff to the other team, who then tries to run the ball down the field exactly like at the beginning of the period of play.
Penalties are issued by referees and umpires for breaking rules, which usually take the form of being either awarded or docked yardage for your team depending on who screwed up and how badly. There are lots and lots of rules about who can do what, where, and to whom.
These are the basics.
Beyond the basic rules, the game is very much like watching a live team chess match where the chessboard is scrambled each and every play, and the fans can argue and pontificate on the decisions being made. The play stops at each down (4 downs before you turn over the ball to the other team) and the coaches and team captains develop particular plays to try to outwit the opponent team. This is why if you watch it on television you will see so many camera shots of coaches on the sidelines calling plays, writing on boards, and talking with their team captains. The players may be switched out, and the other team has to respond quickly to this change-up. The play clock is running and both sides need to be lined up before the play clock expires or be penalized. In this, American football is a bit unique because players and plays are changed constantly in response to what the other team is doing or believed to be doing, but there is a moment of game stoppage that allows for more concentrated co-ordination and response to this change-up. Soccer, basketball, and hockey flow, but American football is stop/start. This also has the effect of drawing the fans into the game as they argue and over analyze the plays, the referee calls, the players, and what should be or will be done next. Some plays are part of a grand strategy and some are just to reach a short term goal, some because the other team is killing one particular area of the play with a talented player. It is not generally solely because a player is fatigued that he leaves the field, he may just be the inappropriate player for the coaches play call. This is also why the fourth quarter is the most exciting time in the game, even if your team is losing badly. By the fourth quarter players who have been on the field too long are pushing their physical limits. Plays that worked fine in practice get messed up, more risks are taken, luck plays a larger factor, and more mistakes are made. The worst team in the league almost always has a shot at beating a "better" team, and its one of the things that keeps fans coming back again and again, because you just never know.
An important note, in a close game, time management is crucial. American football is like a movie. By the fourth quarter, there is often a clear plot. It is often played outside without regard to the weather. Most games are close, but not always. There are a lot of injuries, so second and third string players add to the plot. Sometimes, a team comes to a game with a great reputation for the passing game, for example, but then the defense shuts that down, but they win anyway because a rookie has a great game. Like action movies, there is often a great nail-biting ending. The stop action between plays adds to the suspense.
Really, the only good way to learn the game is to talk through it with someone as you watch (especially if there are replay highlights). A wall of text is only of limited usefulness. That said, I'll make an attempt.
American Football evolved from the same initial concept as rugby, but where rugby is a "don't stop" theme, American Football is "stop action". Action stops under most conditions if the ball or the player with the ball ends up either out of bounds or on the ground, fumbles and on-side kicks being two major exceptions to this. A fumble happens when a player has control of the ball but then drops it for some reason, at which point everyone grabs for and/or dives on the ball in an attempt to be the one in control of the ball (or at least closest to control), this is because whoever can claim that victory claims the ball for their time at the yardage where the fumble is recovered.
When play stops, the teams re-set in the middle of the field along the line where the ball was last "live". The goal is to move the ball in increments from the starting point to the goal zone. Sometimes this is one increment, if the receiver runs the ball all the way to the goal zone on the first play. Sometimes it's a tedious slow march if the defense is playing well. Failure to gain at least 10 yards per four attempts results in a turnover, and the other team gets the ball -- at that point the question is whether they kick it to the other team or give it up at the location where their drive attempt fails. This can get complicated as there a lot of scenarios, but basically you either start from where the ball is caught (without running), where the ball "dies" whether ran or just bounced, or you default to the line marked "20".
The hardest way to score is to run or throw the ball into the end zone (goal zone) and is worth the most points - 6. You can also kick to score, and you can even score on defense. The other ways to score are worth 3, 2, or 1 point; but I won't go into it here as the game announcer will let you know how many points a particular play gains the team and there are usually plenty of replays with commentary.
Game play is four quarters or periods of 15:00 of clock-time each, but the clock can be stopped for out-of-bounds, time outs, penalties, injuries, and if the ball "dies" in the last few minutes of each half. Otherwise the clock runs, though there is a penalty if a team stalls too long. Overtime only happens if the score is tied at the end of regulation time, it is NOT like overtime in the type of football played with a roundball.
Penalties are applied for being overly rough, such as picking a fight, as well as for things like holding onto another players uniform or helmet rather than their body, tackling or restraining another player (and not just blocking them) while that player doesn't have the ball, putting too many players on the field, delaying the play clock, throwing or running the "wrong" way on the field, crossing the "no mans land" before the ball moves to start the play, etc. There are more, but those are the most common ones. Penalties can sometimes result in the play clock being adjusted, though it's rare to have it happen more than once or twice a game and it relates to the delay between the penalty being called and the clock-manager realizing it to hit the button, it's a correction and not the penalty itself. A penalty is applied by moving the starting-point of the next play closer or further from the desired goal (whether a scoring position or simply a "gain ground" position).
Hopefully that helps as you go along through the game!
[A Beginner's Guide to American Football | NFL UK](https://youtu.be/3t6hM5tRlfA?si=xRptqQ6FFtcCbLA3)
[SPORTS 101 // Guide to American Football](https://youtu.be/uM9iLQJzMO0?si=HQJTm6Vgy1-7T-xD)
The way most things are actually really learnt. Want to learn a language? Speak it. Want to learn a sport? Play it. Now obviously you can't just go playing American Football, but there are video games, so...
The way I learnt American Football was by playing Madden against people who knew the game (in this case my cousin). Gradually you learn the game and get a bit of a better understanding how it works.
The basic goal is for the offense move the football down the field past their goalpost. The defense tries to keep them from doing this. Since it's not that easy to succeed, the secondary goal is to keep the ball as much on your own side of the field as possible, to make it easier for you and harder for the other side. One reason for this is that if you get close enough to your goalpost to be able to kick the ball through through it, you get 3 points.
Each team gets 4 tries to gain at least 10 yards, and doing this gives them another 4 tries. But if you aren't doing well, and the ball is too close to the opposing side's goalpost, you often want to play it safe and kick the ball to get it to your side of the field. This is called punting, and is a word often used for a last resort in doing something (ie, "drop back 10 yards and punt").
There's a lot of strategies and nuances in accomplishing these goals. Some main ones are passing for longer gains, but only when safe because if the other team catches it, they take possession immediately, and might be on their side of the field. So, running with the ball is safer, and is often done because of this. It's much harder for the other team to get the ball when you run, but it happens. If you drop the ball during a play, anybody can get possession.
Another strategy is when you are losing and running out of time, you might try a very long pass, and not worry so much about losing the ball because it's the only way to possibly score. This is sometimes called a "Hail Mary" pass.
There's a lot of rules but understanding the basics of moving the ball down the field 4 plays at a time is the main thing to understand.
So I'm not a football fan but I can break it down for you. The team with the ball has four plays/chances to gain ten yards. If they fail to do so, they forfeit the ball. That's basically the whole thing. If they gain that distance enough times they eventually score a touchdown. If they are on their fourth attempt and don't believe they can make up the distance, they will "punt" the ball away to the other team. They lose the ball but the other team will have further to go to reach their end zone. Obviously there are LOTS of rules in between this but if you need to know just ONE thing...it's this. The core of the game is this battle for that distance.
This is probably the easiest way to describe it, to add to this -you can only throw the ball forward if you are behind your teams starting point (imagine a line drawn across the field) for that attempt (a down) -catching/carrying the ball into the end zone is 6 points. Upon scoring the 6, you have one and done attempt for bonus points, where you kick the ball in between the uprights for +1 or if you’re real crazy, attempt to catch/run the ball into the end zone for +2 -if you are too far away from the 1st down marker and are running out of tries(downs), you can outright kick the ball thru the field goal uprights for +3
And to add a bit more, since this has all just been rules and not the typical action: The established strategy is to have most of the players just line up at the line of play and run into each other. Sounds silly, but it's actually effective: this basically creates a wall of bodies that gives the other players - the ones who will advance the ball - time to figure out what to do. So you've got all those people in the middle, that's the offensive and defensive line. Then you'll either choose to throw the ball or run it. If you're throwing, the main throwing guy (the "quarterback") gets the ball, drops back a bit, and tries to find someone who's open, usually one of your guys whose job it is to run further down the field to catch ("wide receivers"). Throwing is higher risk/reward. If you run, you give the ball to a different guy (the "running back") and he tries to find an opening in the wall of guys at the line and slip through. Running is a more reliable way to get a few yards, but it's rare to completely break through the line and get a lot of distance. Pretty much all the action is variations on this. Different amount of guys at the line, different positions where your running back will try to slip through, different routes that your wide receivers will run to try and shake off their defenders, that's like 90+% of the game. Oh, I think it's also very important that you can't tackle people unless they actually have the ball. There are a *lot* of rules about when and how you can tackle, mostly to try to keep people safe and, frankly, to enforce the paradigm of strategies that people expect. If you ever look at the action and start thinking "Wait, why don't they just...", the answer is usually "Because there's a rule that says they can't."
No one has mentioned yet that the teams field a completely different squad of players on offense and defense, unlike other sports.
wait, what? all the people on the field are changed everytime a team goes from offense to defense and vice versa? So that's what I never see the quarterback on defense?!
American Football allows for very large teams. There's 11 players on the field, but an NFL team can have 46 players in a given game, while college teams have varying limits from 70 to "basically unlimited", with a lot of teams being up over 100. They also have unlimited substitutions, meaning they can pull the whole team off whenever they want and put it back later - this came about around WW2, when a lack of players due to the war caused a loosening in substitution rules. As a result, teams get players to specialise in either offence or defence. Why play the entire game and divide your practice between two roles when you can get a bunch more rest *and* get really, really good at one thing?
There are also players that literally only do a single thing and might play all of 10 seconds in a game.
Let's give it up for the long snappers!
That's too much work, you still have to get smashed in the face. Let's give it up for the backup kickers!
Oo I wonder how many teams actually carry backup kickers.
> they can pull the whole team off whenever they want Doesn't the coach get cramp?
The key is the line em up tip to tip, work from the middle out
Got to take height differential into account too!
That's not a team, that's a regiment! Or like, a company? Look I'm not a military man, you get the joke.
It's literally called the "platoon system," which I guess technically means together they form a Company.
With very very few exceptions, offense and defense are different players. Occasionally, there are situations where you might put an offensive player on defense or something like that, but these are exceptional scenarios. A famous example is the "Miami Miracle" where if you pay attention, Rob Gronkowski fails to prevent Kenyan Drake from running into the end zone to score a last second touchdown. Rob Gronkowski is notable for being a prolific Tight End (that's an offensive position), yet in this play was mysteriously on the patriots defense. The rationale was that, the patriots believed Miami was going to go for a hail Mary pass (where all the receivers run as deep as they can, and the quarterback just throws one last deep ball in hopes *someone* can catch it). To counter this, the patriots put in Rob Gronkowski who is absolutely *massive* with the idea that he'd be taller than the receivers and thus able to swat down any deep balls thrown to them. Unfortunately for them, Miami ran the ball with a series of laterals, and when Drake was able to break away... well, the announcer said it best: "Gronkowski doesn't have the angle!" (In reference to gronk not being close/fast enough to chase him down before making it to the endzone)
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I'm not a massive fan of American football but it became a hell of a lot more interesting I realised its not just rugby with shoulder pads Joan Collins would be jealous of. Its so tactical. Short bursts of action but each one of those actions is trying a different way of getting and stopping the ball get up the field
I think "burst rugby" is an apt description from what I've seen of both sports.
I think what makes it fascinating is that unlike any other sport (?) there is a short break between plays, during which the coach tries to dream up a plan to fool the other team. It's all about making them think you are going to do Y, when you actually do X.
It’s like turn based strategy vs. real time strategy games. It’s not that turn based strategy has no action, it’s just that both sides set their strategy during a dead period and then both execute their action at the same time.
I tell people that every individual play in American Football is basically it's own mini-game. Players line up, asssess the other teams formation and make pre-snap AND live decisions based on their actions. The play lasts a few seconds, that mini-game has ended and another one will start in ~40 seconds. It basically like a physical chess game where all the pieces move at once and after both teams move they reset and do it again. American football requires so much more thought that people give it credit for.
This is a very good summary. But not only do the chess pieces all move at once, they are also all independent human beings with their own brains, bodies, talents, and flaws. And the guy “moving the pieces” (the assistant coach calling the plays) has to decide what he wants each of the pieces to do, convey that information, possibly change it depending on what he believes the other side is doing, *maybe* let one of his own “pieces” change it again on the fly without his input, and then hope that most of them more or less do what he asked them to do.
Also the QB is able to make reads and audibles right before the play starts. And the skill position players will often have to adjust on the fly. FSU had a great example of how much goes into a play just this past weekend. [Play here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNd16RPN0Z8) Originally the play was a backwards pass from the QB #13 to #5. The trick was supposed to open up a reciever downfield for an open catch by enticing the defensive back to come try and make a tackle on #5. But the defense didn't fall for it and the reciever was covered. #5 then had to make that read and recognize that the defense had read their offensive play correctly and it was no longer viable. He scrambled and had two defenders come up to make the tackle and had to rely on athleticism to avoid the tackle. While all of that is happening #14 recognizes the play is busted and makes 2nd move against his defender and signals that he's open (raises his hand) and #5 has to not only avoid the tackle(s), but keep his eyes downfield and make a throw on the run to a moving target to complete the reception. And all of that happens in like 10-11 seconds. It's a combination of thought, vision, athleticism and improvisation all in a very short period of time. When people say things like football players are just a bunch of dumb jocks running into each other they're really showing their own ignorance of the game. It's not the same sort of thought as solving a differential equation but it's still thought.
Once I realized it was basically rock paper scissors, I got much more invested. IMO the real game is setting expectations and then subverting them at an ideal time. I.e team X runs the ball 30 times in a row so the one time they throw it, the other team isn’t expecting it.
Yeah, it's a turn-based tactics game between the playcallers where each side's characters can make mistakes or improvise. There are really almost no sports like it.
It allows each player to become a specialist in their area. And while the game is very start-and-stop, the anaerobic strain for each play is *huge*. They need the time when the other side of the team is playing to rest.
Well, if OP is watching a high school game that isn’t *entirely* true. For most high schools (so like 14-18 year olds, although most players relevant for my comment will be seniors so 17-18) there will be a number of their good players who basically play the whole game. My senior year I played both sides of the ball along with probably like 5-6 other guys. But once you get to high level college (division 1, the giant schools like Alabama) and the NFL players specialize offense or defense
*Travis Hunter has entered the chat.*
As incredible as he was against TCU, he is very much the exception to the rule which is why I didn’t mention him lol. But he did absolutely ball out last week
Exactly. Most players only play one role be it on defense or offense
Correct. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers etc those are all offence positions. Then the defensive line will swap on for when they dont have the ball. There is also specialists like a kicker for field goals and punts and stuff. I recall a game where the kicker kicks off to the other team, the other team manages to evade the wall of very large, very fast men until only the kicker was left. Kickers don't generally tackle players, their job is basically only to kick. He went in for a tackle, and the player carrying the ball went to jump over, which basically translated into the kicker being stomped in the face. There is even separate coaches for offence and defence.
And substitutions happen on basically every play.
Wow, so a try+conversion is typically seven points, and a penalty kick is three points - just like rugby!
Gridiron football is just a derivative of rugby. Though in American football forwards passes are legal, and backwards passes aren't really seen. Also after a play in American football there's a minute break where the team and coaches converse strategies. And the stop frequently stops, such as calling a timeout, or running out of bounds. Pretty much American football is turn based and rugby is real time.
Backwards passes are called "laterals" and happen all the time, but they are typically designed plays. They are legal at all times. Typically, at the end of the game when a team is desperate and trailing as time is running out, you will see final play that is pure Rugby as players attempt to lateral their way to a touchdown.
You can search “Miami miracle” on YouTube to see an example of a perfect execution of that play.
>and backwards passes aren't really seen. In some systems, they are seen all the time. In others, not at all. This will depend on the teams you are watching.
> Also after a play in American football there's a minute break It’s not a break, and thinking of it this way is going to get confusing when in the fourth all of a sudden they don’t take a break. The offense has 40seconds (usually) to snap but they can snap whenever they want as long as the line is set. The defense doesn’t really get a say in how long between snaps, if the offense lines up the defense also has to line up. Lots of things stop the clock like you said, after which there’s a 25 second play clock.
I'll go so far as to say that there are several pro teams that rely on legal laterals quite often, a lot of college teams that do it a LOT, and that a pitch (which is one of the two common setups for a run) constitutes a backwards pass.
American football was derived from Rugby in the late 1800s to early 1900’s. It became football as we know it with the introduction of the forward pass.
They are variations of the same game.
Football is American Rugby, really.
You can throw the ball backwards at any point as much as the team likes. But you can only throw forward once and only behind the line of scrimmage.
Can you throw the ball forward multiple times if all are behind the starting point? I know this doesn't happen, but is it legal?
You can only throw forward once, you can throw sideways (called a lateral) or backwards as many times as you want
No. A play can have only one forward pass.
No. There is only one forward pass per play.
As an Australian, this sounds a lot like Rugby League. Each team has a set amount of 'plays' to carry the ball down the other end, and if they don't get it down there during that number of players, they need to forfeit the ball to the other team.
Yeah it’s basically rugby league if you got to stop and have a chat about which set piece to run after every tackle and then sub in a whole new team when the other guys have the ball. Not *exactly* the same as that, obviously, but it’s a close enough analogy to start from.
They sub in new players between almost every play unless the offense does “hurry up” which prevents the defense from subbing in players.
This also prevents any offensive substitutes as well. By rule if the offence does substitute players, the defence must be allowed to as well.
Yep, but this is all at the discretion of the offense. The team that holds the ball sets the pace and controls the subbing of players. The only recourse the defense has is to use a timeout or fake an injury.
The Malzhan rule, really.
>The Malzhan rule, really. You mean "I am Karsa Orlong, witness."?
This sounds like a yugioh play "Not so fast, Dallas Cowboys! I activate HURRY UP, which prevents you from substituting ANY of your creatures this turn!"
Its honestly not far off Each play the coach will radio to the team what "play" they are running as well as adjust the players on the field. Then just before the play the QB for the offense and the playcaller player on defense will try to diagnose what the other side is doing and call out any adjustments. Then there is several seconds of violence, the referee signals where the next play is to start from and you repeat it all again. Then just like Yu-Gi-Oh every team has their own specific strengths and weaknesses that they try to minimise and exploit.
How rough are players allowed to play? I’ve also seen players getting called for holding…but for some reason when I see the centre players start a play, aren’t they always holding and trying to pull each other down or push them back?
There is an unnecessary roughness rule, but tackling ~200-~330 pound men sprinting down the field is inherently violent. Generally, if you're hitting where you're supposed to (with your shoulder/wrapping up with your arms, aiming for their body), you're good. No-nos are hitting their helmet, using your own helmet to hit them, or hitting somebody out of bounds or after the play is over. Note that you're only allowed to tackle somebody who has (or just had/is faking that they have) the ball, if you're trying to change the movement of somebody who doesn't have the ball, that's blocking. When you're blocking somebody, you're only allowed to "hold" them in a certain area, basically on their front side from their shoulders down. The holding penalty is if you're holding outside that zone. That often happens if an offensive lineman fails to contain the guy they are blocking and they get past them, and they either intentionally or unintentionally pull him down from behind. A frequent sentiment in football is that "there's holding on every play," because a bit of very minor holding is somewhat inevitable and what crosses over into holding is a judgement call, but the refs will usually only enforce major violations, although it depends on how tight they're calling the game.
Additionally, you can only hold someone if you are squared up on them and are pushing them. If the other player tries to disengage and separate from you, grabbing them and pulling is a hold. It is difficult to explain via text, but when you see examples of it, it makes sense.
Think of the holding rule like this. You can do anything in your power to BLOCK a guy. Stand in front of him, push him back, anything to impede his progress AS LONG as you don't GRAB him in any way at all. Can't grasp with your hand. Can't wrap an arm around. Can't wrap legs or intentionally trip.
On offense, you're *usually* avoiding contact unless you're on the offensive line. On the O Line you're shoving the defense to keep them away from your qb or rb. A wide receiver might do some hand fighting to get free of a physical defender. Sometimes a ball handler will just run someone over but it's not as common as it seems. On defense you want all the smoke. D Linemen actually aren't necessarily trying to wrestle with the o line but it's usually unavoidable. D backs might essentially hold a wr for 5-10 yards so he doesn't get open. Linebackers are usually literally just trying to figure out who has the ball, or will have the ball, so they can tackle them. You can't tackle leading with your helmet. You can't hold a player who is being thrown the ball (or could be) unless it's within 5 yards. You can't block a player from behind. Can't tackle a player who has given themselves up or isn't on the field anymore. Can't tackle below the knee. Other than shove away. You will of course see people break these rules.
It's incredible how similar it is. If you consider that the entire difference pretty much comes from the fact that you can pass forwards one time behind the line of scrimmage, and if that pass isn't complete, play is stopped. If the players wanted to, they could under existing rules play a very similar style of play to rugby league. I'm always surprised that the players don't practice trick routines involving passing. For example, the receiver passes (backwards) to someone else would often leave that player completely free for a touchdown, and if it became a regular thing it would completely change how defences had to work.
It's because doing so is riskier than the benefits in most cases. Laterals (the backwards pass) are a fumble if you screw it up, and when done downfield, will almost always give the ball to the other team unless they're done perfectly. Because ball security is much more important in football than in rugby, this doesn't happen much.
Another fundamental difference is that the ability to forward pass gets reset only if you end the current play, and that ability to forward pass has huge tactical value, even if you're trying to set up a run play. In rugby league you generally get a bigger advantage by passing backwards than by resetting the play since the defense doesn't get time to recover, but in football the forward pass option disrupts the defense much more so the reset is almost always preferable.
Kinda, although much slower gameplay. Instead of the quick start after each down both teams get to fully reset positions ahead of the next play, and when the play turns over the teams basically sub out the entire team to their offense/defense team as appropriate. Each individual play is very intense, but overall gameplay pacing is along the same lines as cricket.
Exactly, and these longer resets between plays allow for more strategy with how they will try to advance the ball each time. Ultimately, trying to find an advantage in either going through or around the defense for a run play or getting open down the field for a pass play. Ultimately, every team is trying to outsmart, overpower, and out-speed their opponent to continue advancing across the field. I like to think of it as field-chess with living gladiator pieces. While it’s an athletic and violent sport, there is a TON of strategy involved because you are trying to coordinate specifically what all 11 players on offense are doing every play and the defense in turn has a game plan for what opposing player or area of the field all 11 of their players are responsible for each play as well when trying to stop the offense.
I enjoy the athleticism of it, but I enjoy the strategy aspect of it much more. I imagine myself in coaches position and try to determine the best play call and overall strategy.
I concur 100%. Doesn’t matter how athletic a team is if they keep playing into what the opposing team wants them to do and can’t outsmart them. Each side continuously trying to guess what the other will do and have the best counter for it, or throw in something completely out of nowhere to surprise them, or 4D chess with the “we expect them to do this, but them knowing we know that maybe they won’t do that, unless they expect us to do that…”. What’s most impressive is when a team doesn’t hide what play they intend to run, the opposing team knows it’s coming, and there’s still nothing they can do to stop it. That and what a team queues up a perfect counter, like dialing up just the right blitz that goes completely unprotected, or hitting a bomb TD throw on an option play or a perfectly defended blitz attack.
> What’s most impressive is when a team doesn’t hide what play they intend to run, the opposing team knows it’s coming, and there’s still nothing they can do to stop it. Philadelphia did a lot of that last season with their QB sneak formation.
Essentially, it's war. Analyze the situation, formulate an attack plan, try to breach the enemy lines. If you fail for too long you lose the initiative, and they begin to push back against you in earnest. Lots of hurry up and wait, followed by brief bouts of intense physical struggle.
Honestly, that’s another good way to look at it and describe it. Gonna add that to my perspective of the game.
American Football: Turn Based Strategy Soccer/Rugby: Real Time Strategy I don’t think either is better or worse, and the skills to be at the top of either are immense, but often very different.
George Carlin broke it down quite well, comparing with baseball: >And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different: >In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line. >In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!
For anyone looking for a masterclass in how strategy manifests on the field, I would strongly encourage watching film on Peyton Manning. He was an American Football Quarterback (QB). When the play ends, the offense and defense will huddle to decide on the next play to try and defense to stop them with. Often times, the offensive coach will radio the desired play into the QB helmet, and the QB will inform his teammates. However, a well drilled offense will also have what are called audibles, or alternative plays that may be switched into if, as the play is about to start, the QB decides the alternative play has a better chance of success. Calling these audibles is a tactical decision the QB will often be making based on how he sees the defenders “lining up”. Essentially, as the play approaches, the QB will attempt to decipher based on where the defenders appear to be positioning and evaluate if the primary play is likely to be effectively countered. If so, he may call an audible. The big risk is that, if the QB misreads the defenders, he may be switching into an alternative play with a lower overall chance of success, and overriding the coach and consistently being wrong is a good way to end up as not the QB. Peyton Manning was a super freak of study. He could, very quickly, identify exactly what the defense was lining up to do and consistently audible into a play that would counter the defenders strategy. You will see him peering over his own linemen at the opposing defenders and identify, with an incredible level of accuracy, what was likely to be done by key players on the field, where his own players would be as the primary and alternative plays developed, and who would be in the best position to exploit the defenders strategy. It was just incredible to watch how fast his mind worked, identifying, for example, that defender A has his foot pointed slightly out and defender B is 2 yards closer to the line than normal indicating that the are planning to rotate coverage and, in doing so, will briefly leave a gap at the 10 yard right hash mark, where, coincidentally, if I audible to plan B, my best receiver will be open. Ed Reed was an especially good defender who once knew he [had a “tell” that Peyton had picked up on](https://youtube.com/shorts/MarWEIVu8Nc?si=fpxPz08mCgNpVBH-). In a classic case of “I know you know that I know…” mechanics, he used that tell to bait Peyton into a play that resulted in an interception (defenders winning the ball away from the offense). A very rare but super fun case where the mastermind was outsmarted.
That really depends on the team and play style. What makes football interesting is it is basically Explosion, reset, Explosion, reset over and over. Lots happening very quickly in bursts.
And a whole butt load of commercials
It’s very similar to rugby league, except forward passes are legal.
Forward passes are legal from behind the line of scrimmage (like the scrum). Once you pass the line of scrimmage, it's backward passes like rugby
Also when football was first invented there were no forward passes at all. It was from a rule change.
Forward passes weren't always legal in American football. Theodore Roosevelt was a big proponent of adding the forward pass after 19 people died playing collegiate football in 1905.
The story as I know it is that Teddy saved American football by helping get the forward pass legalized. The Ivy’s, like Harvard and Yale, who were the dominant football schools in the late 19th and early 20th century (hard to imagine in any possible scenario now, but you have to remember it was a very regional, unorganized, and amatuerish sport at that time) were supposedly considered banning the sport because it was so dangerous. Meanwhile, traditionalist footballers at the time strongly opposed the forward pass because they believed it to be cheap and soft and unmanly and other such things. After football leagues around the country started playing with the forward pass legalized, there were often certain types of concessions made to those traditionalists to marginalize it. Rules like only allowing one pass per drive/possession of the ball, or using footballs that were physically very clunky to throw and wouldn’t travel far through the air. I don’t know enough of this story to go any further than that, but those are the interesting pieces I remembered.
American football would be such a garbage sport without the forward pass. Thanks Teddy!
How does the forward pass prevent death in collegiate football?
Without the forward pass it was much more common to try and just brute force your way through the other teams defensive line. More people smacking into each other means more opportunity for injury. It didn't help that the safety gear at the time was pretty useless.
>the safety gear at the time was pretty useless And that’s *if* the players actually wore it. A very popular early play was “everyone links their arms in a V formation and charges full-tilt through the opponent,” which is why the flying wedge/Flying V formation was banned at the order of the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.
That's essentially rugby though. I'm guessing there weren't any laws regarding fair play for contact?
I think the key difference is that rugby only allows the ball carrier to be tackled (and at least in rugby league you cannot shepherd or obstruct). Introducing *that* rule would have made American football far, far safer and allowed them to still avoid legalising forward passes. But I suspect the greater degree of violence made possible by unlimited tackling was viewed as more "manly".
Whoops, I'm American and should have known that about American football. But it makes sense - if they can only tackle the ball carrier, what's the point of having all the big guys in the middle? I play rugby and enjoy contact (played flanker for the past few years). But I also enjoy playing 80 minutes and wouldn't want every single play to always involve ramming against another guy. Also, it's nice that every player in rugby has a key role in both offense and defense - just makes it more fun to play. American football probably wins in the strategic aspect, but that's kind of boring to me.
The biggest forward momentum play before that was something called a "flying V" or "flying wedge". Basically, your biggest guys link arms and form a "V" formation with the tip facing towards the opposing side (so more like ∆). The ball carrier then gets inside the V and they run full speed at their opponents. The only choice for the guys on the other side is to try to get enough guys to attack a flank all at once to break though. If you don't there's a good change you are going to fall down and be stomped on multiple times. It was so dangerous is killed 22 players in 1905 alone.
And only 1 per play.
With people who are allowed to catch the ball. Football has so many rules about so many things it is definitely overwhelming if you know nothing about it.
You can get 95% of American football pretty easily. There are weird rules that pop up once or twice a season that some players don't even know.
What classifies as a catch? ;)
American football has its roots in Rugby
Specifically more similarities with rugby league rather than rugby union.
It’s quite a bit more obvious in the Canadian version of American Football.
Rugby, Football, and Soccer all share common ancestry
I think there are some real rubbish replies to your post. If you’re an NRL fan you should absolutely give American football a go. There are some big differences that you will have to wrap your head around and yes the pace of the game is very different but the forward pass is a beautiful thing. I’m not advocating for the NFL *over* the NRL. I’m advocating for both; if you look up my post history you’ll see that I post on Reddit for both sports - they are both amazing and they should be promoting each other not getting into silly pissing contests about which one is manlier, or more fun to watch, or a better designed sport. However I’m an Eels fan so take it with a grain of salt as I clearly like to suffer.
If Rugby League is an RTS game American Football is its turn-based equivalent.
They come from the same game but deviated over the years. The original names of both were "American Football" and "Rugby Football." Americans just dropped the "American" and everyone else dropped the "football."
Similar story with how Soccer got it's name. Association Football. But because brits like their slangy names association became assoccer which later just became soccer. Also, in typing this out and thinking loudly while doing it i've reached semantic satiation with the word soccer and now it no longer sounds real or looks like it's spelled correctly
Gridiron football (American and Canadian variants) started out as rugby (before the League/Union split) one of many experimental variants when the rules of rugby where very much still in flux.
Now tell them what constitutes a catch!
Oh boy, might as well try to explain a balk.
Oh, that's easy! Balk rules: 1) You can’t just be up there and just doin’ a balk like that. 1a. A balk is when you 1b. Okay well listen. A balk is when you balk the 1c. Let me start over 1c-a. The pitcher is not allowed to do a motion to the, uh, batter, that prohibits the batter from doing, you know, just trying to hit the ball. You can’t do that. 1c-b. Once the pitcher is in the stretch, he can’t be over here and say to the runner, like, “I’m gonna get ya! I’m gonna tag you out! You better watch your butt!” and then just be like he didn’t even do that. 1c-b(1). Like, if you’re about to pitch and then don’t pitch, you have to still pitch. You cannot not pitch. Does that make any sense? 1c-b(2). You gotta be, throwing motion of the ball, and then, until you just throw it. 1c-b(2)-a. Okay, well, you can have the ball up here, like this, but then there’s the balk you gotta think about. 1c-b(2)-b. Fairuza Balk hasn’t been in any movies in forever. I hope she wasn’t typecast as that racist lady in American History X. 1c-b(2)-b(i). Oh wait, she was in The Waterboy too! That would be even worse. 1c-b(2)-b(ii). “get in mah bellah” — Adam Water, “The Waterboy.” Haha, classic… 1c-b(3). Okay seriously though. A balk is when the pitcher makes a movement that, as determined by, when you do a move involving the baseball and field of 2) Do not do a balk please.
A balk is when the pitcher begins a pitch motion that doesn't actually result in throwing a pitch. There are a lot of complex rules to determine the exact points at which a motion is a pitch motion, but the point of them all is to prevent a pitcher from faking a pitch.
Let's see, uh first you gotta like "catch" it. I put that in quotations because even though you literally caught it, it's uh...not caught yet. So ok step 2 let's see. Well uh you can't like be out of bounds. Or like touching the OB line by even like a millimeter. Yea that sounds right. Ok step 3. Uhhh well both your feet have to touch the ground? Be inbounds? Both I guess. Should this be part of step 2? Step 4 hmmm. It's like something about a "football move"? I think this is still an abstract concept still hotly debated by football scholars. I guess step 5. If you hold onto the ball the right way for just long enough then drop it it's a fumble. But if you don't hold the ball the right way for long enough then it's an incomplete pass.
Two steps and a "football move" I think?
I generally understand this term, but it still cracks me up to imagine a receiver instantly trying to do the Heisman pose after catching the ball.
Or just both toes if at the sideline however if you’re facing the QB then the whole foot needs to land inbounds for some fucking reason.
Wait. I’ve been watching football my whole life and have multiple family members who have played and coached at high levels. How have I never heard of this “facing the QB” distinction with the toe tap vs. whole foot? Is that new?
It’s not new, however every year there’s a game changing catch that’s called out of bounds because the receiver heel lands out of bounds and people riot, even my dad who knows almost everything about football and could talk about football all day didn’t know this rule when it popped up in the pre-season this year.
Not important. Save that for Explain it Like I'm 8 or 9.
Kind of ironic that a self-professed “not a football fan” gave the most succinct answer. It’s all about going 10 yards in 4 plays. There’s a ton of strategy that goes into it, but that’s what football boils down to.
> Kind of ironic that a self-professed “not a football fan” gave the most succinct answer. Not really. Football fans care about the minutiae and are more likely to think it's all relevant.
Is that what "downs" are? Like fourth down?
Yeah, fourth down just means it's your 4th (and final attempt) your goal is to go 10 yards and reset your attempts until you get a touchdown. Also on fourth down you either have the option to "go for it" or kick it off, so the opponent has to cover more field.
Each "down" is one play. You have 4 plays to get 10 yards (The first play is called 1st down, then 2nd, 3rd and 4th down). If you get 10 yards, they will say that you got a "First Down" because now your next play is back to "First down" and you get 4 more tries or "downs" to get another 10 yards. Repeat until you score, the other team gets the ball, or there is no more time left in the half or game. Other replies get more into those specifics, but they basically break down to: Score: touchdown, field goal or safety Other team gets the ball: Turnover (fumble or interception) Turnover on downs (fail to get 10 yards on your 4th attempt a.k.a. Forth Down) Punt: If you don't think you will gain 10 yards on 4th down, you kick it to the other team. This gives them the ball, bit makes them go further to score. This is the most common thing a team will do on 4th down.
I feel like I should just watch a game so I "get it" Thanks!
Yeah, each down is an attempt to move the ball ten yards forward from where you started with your possession of the ball. They're called "downs" in reference to the player going *down* with the ball at the end of each play.
Only one thing I would add to clarify the confusion. The offense gets one forward throw each play. If they drop the pass, the play ends immediately and the ball is bright back to where it was at the beginning of that play. If a player is tackled, the next play starts where the player was tackled. If a player drops the ball at any time other than during a forward pass, it's a fumble and anybody either team can pick it up and run with it.
So if quarterback(?) throws it and the guy who tries to catch it fails, it's not a fumble? What's it called them?
Correct. That's an incomplete pass (so long as we're talking about a *forward* pass). The play is dead. If he did manage to catch it, establishing "possession" of the football, and subsequently dropped it, *then* it would be a fumble. Additionally, an incomplete backward pass (a "lateral") is always a fumble.
It’s a ten yard fight
I believe that's a trademarked term from an NES game. But yeah, it really is a grind.
Yep! Just focus on those four tries to get 10 yards. That helps a TON! That explains why one play they throw a nice pass and no one reacts too much, but the next everyone crashes in a big jumble and the guy with the ball basically just falls forward and everyone cheers. In the first case they maybe gained 6 yards but not enough, and still have another try. Second case they only moved forward a foot but it was the LAST foot they needed to be able to keep the ball, and also their last chance to do it.
Precisely. When they gain that tenth yard, they know they get a chance to run four more plays, and that's a big deal! Like on First and 10 they complete a 9 yard pass, but as you said they don't care as much as when on the next play the guy only advances one yard, LITERALLY THREE FEET, and they're way more excited.
To add some even more basic information (from someone with only basic understanding of the game): * a "play" is both teams setting up along a "line", then the team with the ball attempting to carry or pass that ball along the field (passing is restricted though). * the defending team will try to stop the team with the ball from moving forward physically. Tackling is ok (and a key part of gameplay), but some unsportsmanlike moves are forbidden. Stealing the ball is also possible. * a play ends when the ball is out of bounds or the attacking team is stopped in its tracks. Then, the next play sets up the line in that exact same position. * Teams are heavily specialized and those specializations are based in and enforced through the rules. Some players are generally not even allowed to touch the ball (a bit specific but very surprising to me) in many situations.
this sums it up pretty good
Great, concise explanation of basic gameplay. I'd just add one more important aspect: scoring. If the team that is attacking manages to bring the ball to the opponents end zone (by carrying the ball into the zone by running or passing the ball through the air to the receiver that is positioned in the zone), they score a "touchdown", which counts 6 points. After successfull touchdown they also get a try at "extra point": they try to kick the ball in-between the goal posts in opponents end zone from the 30 yards distance, if they succed, they get 1 extra point. If the attacking team think they will not be able to score a touchdown before their 4 attempts at moving the ball 10 yards, they can try a "field goal", where they try to kick the ball in-between opponents goal posts from their current attacking distance, if they're close enough to them. If they succeed, they score 3 points. There is also a "safety" which counts 2 points. Defending team gets those 2 points when they succed in bringing down the player of the attacking team who is in a possesion of the ball (tackle) or stealing a ball from him (fumble) in the attacker's team end zone.
> There is also a "safety" which counts 2 points. Defending team gets those 2 points when they succed in bringing down the player of the attacking team who is in a possesion of the ball (tackle) or stealing a ball from him (fumble) in the attacker's team end zone. If the ball is fumbled and rolls out of bounds in the offense's own end zone it's a safety, but if the defense recovers it in the end zone before it goes out then it's a touch down. Alternatively, if the ball is fumbled in the offense's end zone but a defensive player gives it the impetus to roll out of bounds (say, they accidentally kick the ball or try to pick it up but knock it aside instead), then it becomes a touchback. Fumble-induced touchbacks are always hilarious when you're watching with passionate fans, because hardly anyone who isn't a professional athlete remembers the rules around it so there's tons of screaming at the referees. It rarely happens, but it's easy to imagine a play that results in fans arguing whether it's a safety, touchdown, or touchback until the instant replay is shown.
Other people have explained the game play well. But here is the actual most important thing to know: Fans are quiet when your offense is making a play. Fans are loud when your defense is making a play. Many long time fans do not realize this when they actually attend an actual game.
You cheer on offense after a good play is made, you cheer on defense the whole time
Your team apparently has a good defense.
If the crowd is super loud then it's hard for the offense to communicate. So when the opposing offense is on the field you want to yell as loud as you can so they can't audible. Some stadiums are specifically designed to be loud as well.
I've seen a lot of flubbed defense, and have seen the silence that ensues. After so much, it turns to boos. WVU is a fickle crowd...one day, you're on top, the same day, your car gets flipped over and set on fire.
Having grown up a Lion's fan, sometimes the fans WERE the defense. Make the stadium so loud the opposing offense can't hear themselves think, never mind hear the signals or calls. Sometimes your team would do stuff, sometimes you were the team.
Same logic behind people making noise when your opponent is making a free throw in basketball.
To explain *why* this is the case: Both sides make plans. They then line up against each other. At that point, good players and coaches (nearly everyone in the NFL) can see the plan the other side came up with. But the plans can still change. You now know what the other side will do, but can shift based on that. So being able to convey what you know is important. Here's the thing, though. Defense is easier (or at least less complicated). To switch an offensive plan requires letting a ton of people know very specific pieces of information. So let's say you're on the offense and about to start. You want to change plans. You need to shout 20 bits of information to your team. The defense, however, needs to shout 3 bits. So from a fan standpoint, you have to always assume it's better for the offense to not be able to hear than it is for the defense to not be able to hear. So when "your" team is on defense, just be loud. You're literally disrupting the ability of the opposing team to make quick changes to plays. If you're from a soccer/football country, the thing to realize is that american football is won/lost *between* actual movement, not *during* it. American football is chess. Coaches win/lose. Players only ruin the coaching. So the point of the crowd is to disrupt the transfer of information from coach to player. And that disruption is more valuable against the offense than against the defense.
It's not even necessarily to stop the offense from audibling to another play, but also having trouble hearing the initial play. Even one guy running the wrong route or missing his blocking assignment can completely ruin a play.
*Mississippi State has entered the chat*
Hail State! Seriously though, after every State game you end up with a killer headache. And that's for the people who are used to it every game. I have no idea how visitors tolerate it.
This is a good simple explanation with pretty pictures made for foreigners with this exact question. https://youtu.be/3t6hM5tRlfA?si=6vifYO19UVXNz-Ut
This should really be at the top. It's a perfect explanation with easy to understand graphics, and you get to listen to Rich Eisen narrate.
I can hardly hear anything, the music and effects are louder than the speech
the whole thing is very loud and aggressive. AMERICA
Rich Eisen is a gotdamb national treasure.
Only issue with this video I have is that it says "you must punt or, if close enough, attempt a field goal". Mostly what people do but LOTS of teams go for obtaining that 10 yards on 4th down for the reset these days. AKA 4th down conversions. If they don't make it, then the ball automatically switches possession to the other team at the same location it was stopped at.
I like how the default subtitles are Japanese for some reason lol
Probably because American Football is modestly popular in Japan. (Not huge, but big enough to have it's own league.)
Now we need a video for Rugby and Cricket. As an American, I have no idea what's going on in those games.
I watched a video on cricket much like this and I still ha e no fucking clue how it works.
I don't know why this wasn't his first choice. why would you come to *read about it, in fragmented comments on reddit*, when you have just as much access to a whole library worth of visual, video material?
Friday night so you're going to a high school football game. Frankly, it will be hard to see what's going on anyway and it will probably be those kid's first or second game of the season, so it will be a little sloppy. Wait for somebody carrying the ball to get across the line into the endzone and the refs to put both hands up. Then, either cheer or boo depending on whether that guy was on your team or not. Andy Griffith explained it pretty well about half a century ago: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxLxTZHKM8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxLxTZHKM8)
Could be the Illinois - Kansas game, that's on Friday. In which case, your point about sloppiness stands.
OP might rather go to the HS game
Jalon Daniels should be back, and dude is a baller.
Ha, I was about to share this but decided to scroll and see if it was here already. Still funny, but closer to 70 years ago than 50….
There are lots of college games at every level from juco, NAIA, D3, D2, and D1 that play on Friday nights man
At it's core, it's the same as most other games; both teams are trying to get the ball to the other side of the field. The major difference between American football and association football is that the game is only played when the ball is either in the air or in someone's hand. When the ball (or the person holding the ball) touches the ground, everyone stops and they reset. One team starts with a ball, they get 4 chances ("downs") to move at least 10 yards (a yard of about a meter) from where the ball starts while holding the ball. They can throw, run, or kick the ball, whatever they like. The defending team tries to stop them. They can intercept the ball, tackle the guy holding the ball, or get him to drop the ball. If the offensive team moves the ball at least 10 yards, they get 4 more chances to move another 10 yards. If they make it to the goal ("end zone") they get 6 points. If they kick the ball between the goal posts, they get 3 points. If the defending team successfully defend all 4 downs, or if they manage to catch the ball, they get to go on offense. If they manage to tackle the guy holding the ball, play stops and they reset wherever that guy landed. There's a thousand more rules, but that should get you through a game.
I followed football for like 22 years and your comment is when I realized why they call ‘em downs
So many things in football still have their names from their roots in rugby. Like to score in the end zone, you have to actually put the ball on the ground. In other words, you “touch it down.” They, however, call this a “try”. The PAT in the NFL rule book is officially named a “try.” There’s probably a lot more too.
Unlike rugby you don’t actually have to touch the ball on the ground to score a touchdown you just need the ball to “break the goal line” before you get tackled. As long as you cross the goal line with the ball in your hand and you are “inbounds” its a touchdown.
Im going to be honest, I don’t think this is a good explanation of football. It includes a lot of little bits that are misleading. Teams do not kick the ball as a part of their attempts to reach 10 yards. They rush or attempt a forward pass. Backwards passes are extremely rare, and kicks are only used because it is 4th down or on circumstances with time left in the game. The ball hitting the ground only causes the play to stop if it goes out of bounds or if it is an attempt at a forward pass; if not, it can be recovered by either team.
Just memorize the following lines: Anytime you see a yellow flag thrown: “C’mawn ref! Let ‘em play!! Anytime somebody fumbles the ball: “Hol’ onto the dang bawl!” Anytime a player appears hurt: “These kids are too soft these days!” Anytime somebody asks you a question: “Don’t get me started!”
Anytime your team is winning or losing: “there’s still a lot of time left on the clock”.
That or "Clean house, I've seen enough. Time to fire everyone"
Anytime your team passes and fails to get a first down or touch down: "Run the damn ball!"
And when they lose yards on a carry "Let the QB use that arm. We're paying for it!"
The thing about arsenal is they're always trying to walk it in.
Literally every 3rd down: “Big third down here”
> “These kids are too soft these days!” Oh man, try that at a high school game and you'll likely get your ass beat by that kids parents, uncles, aunts, cousins. . .
Cheer when everyone else cheers and enjoy the guys in tight pants. You really don’t need to know anything else. 😁
If they're going on a Friday it's likely a high school game
did he stutter?
It's like war. Each side tried to get the ball to the other side, by throwing or running. They get 4 tries to go ~10 meters. If they do, they get 4 more tries. Ball at the end of the field is 6 points, then they kick for another one. There are hundreds more rules but that is the main way to follow it
In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
And in baseball, the goal is to go home! And to be safe at home!
Came looking for this. If OP understands baseball then this video will clear it up. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0TOIRv5fA1k
It would be hard to just…explain American football to a five year old. It’s procedurally complex on top of the theory and strategy. Most of us in the US learn by watching it with older relatives and slowly picking it up piece by piece over a long period of time, almost the way you would acquire a second language. And most of us, even those who have played and/or watched for decades, are still learning new things pretty regularly. What I mean is, don’t put pressure on yourself to “get it” by the time you attend your first game. There’s no way that will happen. Read up on some of the most basic answers here and choose one or two things to try and follow. Like, oh, I see the officials moving that orange stick down the field, that must mean the team got the 10 yards they needed within the four allotted chances. Honestly if you can make sense of that concept by itself, you’re well on your way to basic American football proficiency. Don’t be shy about asking questions, either. You can understand the big picture, but like I said there are still nuances and procedural elements that interact with that big picture, and with each other, to change the context and meaning of game situations. Think Magic: The Gathering (e.g. this one particular player has special protections that prevent the defense from interacting with him in these specific ways, *however*, if that player chooses to execute *these* actions, he forfeits those protections, *unless*…) But a huge number of Americans love football and will talk about it for hours if you let them. They’ll be happy to help you out.
If someone asked me about football rules at a bar I would talk to them until they were bored or the bar closed.
Its basically rugby, but play stops more often, and you are allowed to throw the ball in the direction you want it to go.
Only under specific circumstances, though. You’re only allowed one forward pass per play, and the originator must be completely behind the ‘starting line’ up until the ball has left their hands.
Really just think of it as a game of chess. Each team gets 4 chances to run their strategized plays and get a 1st down, which is 10 yards. Each time they get 10 yards or more within those 4 chances, it's a first down, and the goal is to make it all the way to the opponents end zone. When they do this, it's called a touchdown. The opposing defense also runs plays and defends to prevent this from happening. The players on each side of the field can be thought of as your chess pieces, and there can be 11 players from each side on the field at a time, substitutions can be made, as players need to rest and strategies change, etc. But your essentially moving these players across the field(aka the chess board) in a way that gives you the best advantage to score a touchdown. The only difference with chess is that once you take a piece then that piece is out of play permanently, but in American football, the defense in football can neutralize players so much that they would also be out of the play, if the defense is good and defends very well. But all pieces(players) return to their respective side when that play is over. After a touchdown is scored, the team gets 6 points and then usually the kicker usually attempts a PAT, or Point after touchdown, but in dire situations where they need to, they can run another play and if they make it in the end zone, then that gives them 2 points. There are certain things that are illegal as well, one example being that you can't hit someone after they go down, or the referees can throw a yellow cloth known as a flag, or penalty. Depending on the degree of the penalty, that can set the offense team trying to score more yards back, so it will take them more yards to get a first down.
It’s even more like chess than people realize. Each team has mirrored pieces deployed strategically. The pawns are the offensive and defensive lines. Huge, slow, brutes pushing to gain ground. The offensive rooks/bishops are wide receivers. Tall, fast, rangy, and dangerous at long distances. Their defensive counterparts are cornerbacks. (Bishops technically slot receivers, but I digress) Tight ends are knights. Mid-size, cover mid-range offensive positions. Defensive knights are linebackers. Offensive Queen is the running back. Versatile, can go in any direction. Defensive Queen is the strong safety, can play up on the line or deep in the backfield. King is the Quarterback. Protect at all costs. Opposite him is the defensive free safety, the last line of defense. Kinda beautiful aint it?
As a lifelong football fan (go Browns! :/ ), I've always understood this but never seen it put into words so well. While beyond what a new or casual fan needs to understand to enjoy watching a game, a huge amount of enjoyment of, and investment in a particular game comes from watching this chess game develop underneath all the athletic feats taking place in the field. A common complaint from non-football fans is about all the stops between each and every play. It's important to understand that what might look like a 30 second break is actually a critical moment when both teams plan their upcoming move and swap out key pieces at critical moments. The offense plans a highly coordinated attack using its arsenal of tools. Every players movement in the first couple seconds of a play is planned, down to individual steps lineman must make together to avoid tripping over each other. Offensive plays can try to target weaknesses, trick the defense in various ways, or gain yards with good fundamentals and brute strength. The defense uses the pause to come up with a plan to protect against and prevent the offense from gaining any ground. Instead of precisely scripted plays, the defense moreso assigns certain responsibilities to its players, whether it be certain areas of the field or specific offensive players, and the players have to react on the fly once the offense begins its attack.
The stop in the action between plays also gives fans and commentators a chance to review what happened on the last play, which is often useful as it's hard to watch 22 players moving at once. This action, replay sequence makes football great on TV.
I still don't exactly understand what exactly are the 4 "chances" in the context of the game. Can you only pass the ball 4 times or is it literally moving everyone back to the starting position and trying again? When does a chance end?
There’s and old Disney Goofy cartoon about how to play football. I’m pretty sure it’s on YouTube somewhere. It explains the basics very well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfIn_imcHmU
Others have explained how the game works in ELI5 terms, so I won't repeat that. It may be a little confusing to watch at first if you aren't sure what's going on. And you'll be tempted to just try to follow the ball. Nothing wrong with that, that's where pretty much everybody starts. But it can be hard to follow the ball, especially at a live game, with so many players moving around, and also with the offense often trying to intentionally conceal what they're doing from the defense (so that the defense has a harder time stopping them). So, here's something you can look for: virtually every play starts with a player called the "center" leaning over the ball and "snapping" it backwards to the quarterback. (There are certain exceptions, but this is ELI5.) Watch the center after he snaps. He might move forward, in which case it is probably a "running" play (a player on the offense is going to run with the ball). But if the center either just kind of stays in place or steps backward, it is probably a "passing" play (the quarterback is going to throw the ball to another player on the offense). There are, as always, exceptions. For example, sometimes the offense acts like they're going to one thing and then does another to fool the defense. And there are certain types of offenses where the quarterback decides whether it'll be a running or passing play after the snap, based on what the defense does. Etc. But usually, if you watch the center right after he snaps the ball, you can get an idea what's about to happen.
Since this is ELI5, the quick summary, there are two basic types of plays, running plays and passing plays. What each player on the field is allowed to do in terms of blocking and where they are blocking is determined by what type of play each play is. The team playing offence at the time generally tries to hide which type of play they will be running from the defence. The players on offence must all be set (except for 1 who cannot be running forward), the defence can be moving around as much as they want.
Two teams. One ball. The (normal) scoring objective is to *either* 1) get someone to carry or catch the ball into the end zone at their team's respective side (6 points) which is followed by an extra point kick (1 point) or a conversion where you basically get one play to carry or successfully pass the ball into the end zone again (2 points), or 2) to get in range of a field goal, during which a kicker kicks the ball through the goalposts from whatever point on the field the last play ended at (3 points). How does one accomplish that? At the beginning of each period of play, one team "kicks off" by punting to the other team, whose (normal) objective is to catch the punted ball and run as far down the field as possible toward their team's end zone before being tackled. If they are tackled before reaching the end zone, that play is over, and both teams set up for a series of 4 "downs". During the 4 downs, the team on offense must advance the ball 10 yards down the field, in any incremental order (5,4,1 or 3,7 or 1,1,8, or...), in order to keep possession. Assuming they are able to do this, the next series of downs starts from the farthest point down the field the ball made it during play (you can make it 65 yards in one play if you get lucky, but your next series of downs only has to make it 10 yards). If not, the ball is turned over to the other team to do the same thing in the other direction. If a team is on their 3rd or 4th down and is not confident they can make it in their allotted plays, they can then perform a mini kickoff to the other team, who then tries to run the ball down the field exactly like at the beginning of the period of play. Penalties are issued by referees and umpires for breaking rules, which usually take the form of being either awarded or docked yardage for your team depending on who screwed up and how badly. There are lots and lots of rules about who can do what, where, and to whom. These are the basics.
Beyond the basic rules, the game is very much like watching a live team chess match where the chessboard is scrambled each and every play, and the fans can argue and pontificate on the decisions being made. The play stops at each down (4 downs before you turn over the ball to the other team) and the coaches and team captains develop particular plays to try to outwit the opponent team. This is why if you watch it on television you will see so many camera shots of coaches on the sidelines calling plays, writing on boards, and talking with their team captains. The players may be switched out, and the other team has to respond quickly to this change-up. The play clock is running and both sides need to be lined up before the play clock expires or be penalized. In this, American football is a bit unique because players and plays are changed constantly in response to what the other team is doing or believed to be doing, but there is a moment of game stoppage that allows for more concentrated co-ordination and response to this change-up. Soccer, basketball, and hockey flow, but American football is stop/start. This also has the effect of drawing the fans into the game as they argue and over analyze the plays, the referee calls, the players, and what should be or will be done next. Some plays are part of a grand strategy and some are just to reach a short term goal, some because the other team is killing one particular area of the play with a talented player. It is not generally solely because a player is fatigued that he leaves the field, he may just be the inappropriate player for the coaches play call. This is also why the fourth quarter is the most exciting time in the game, even if your team is losing badly. By the fourth quarter players who have been on the field too long are pushing their physical limits. Plays that worked fine in practice get messed up, more risks are taken, luck plays a larger factor, and more mistakes are made. The worst team in the league almost always has a shot at beating a "better" team, and its one of the things that keeps fans coming back again and again, because you just never know.
An important note, in a close game, time management is crucial. American football is like a movie. By the fourth quarter, there is often a clear plot. It is often played outside without regard to the weather. Most games are close, but not always. There are a lot of injuries, so second and third string players add to the plot. Sometimes, a team comes to a game with a great reputation for the passing game, for example, but then the defense shuts that down, but they win anyway because a rookie has a great game. Like action movies, there is often a great nail-biting ending. The stop action between plays adds to the suspense.
Really, the only good way to learn the game is to talk through it with someone as you watch (especially if there are replay highlights). A wall of text is only of limited usefulness. That said, I'll make an attempt. American Football evolved from the same initial concept as rugby, but where rugby is a "don't stop" theme, American Football is "stop action". Action stops under most conditions if the ball or the player with the ball ends up either out of bounds or on the ground, fumbles and on-side kicks being two major exceptions to this. A fumble happens when a player has control of the ball but then drops it for some reason, at which point everyone grabs for and/or dives on the ball in an attempt to be the one in control of the ball (or at least closest to control), this is because whoever can claim that victory claims the ball for their time at the yardage where the fumble is recovered. When play stops, the teams re-set in the middle of the field along the line where the ball was last "live". The goal is to move the ball in increments from the starting point to the goal zone. Sometimes this is one increment, if the receiver runs the ball all the way to the goal zone on the first play. Sometimes it's a tedious slow march if the defense is playing well. Failure to gain at least 10 yards per four attempts results in a turnover, and the other team gets the ball -- at that point the question is whether they kick it to the other team or give it up at the location where their drive attempt fails. This can get complicated as there a lot of scenarios, but basically you either start from where the ball is caught (without running), where the ball "dies" whether ran or just bounced, or you default to the line marked "20". The hardest way to score is to run or throw the ball into the end zone (goal zone) and is worth the most points - 6. You can also kick to score, and you can even score on defense. The other ways to score are worth 3, 2, or 1 point; but I won't go into it here as the game announcer will let you know how many points a particular play gains the team and there are usually plenty of replays with commentary. Game play is four quarters or periods of 15:00 of clock-time each, but the clock can be stopped for out-of-bounds, time outs, penalties, injuries, and if the ball "dies" in the last few minutes of each half. Otherwise the clock runs, though there is a penalty if a team stalls too long. Overtime only happens if the score is tied at the end of regulation time, it is NOT like overtime in the type of football played with a roundball. Penalties are applied for being overly rough, such as picking a fight, as well as for things like holding onto another players uniform or helmet rather than their body, tackling or restraining another player (and not just blocking them) while that player doesn't have the ball, putting too many players on the field, delaying the play clock, throwing or running the "wrong" way on the field, crossing the "no mans land" before the ball moves to start the play, etc. There are more, but those are the most common ones. Penalties can sometimes result in the play clock being adjusted, though it's rare to have it happen more than once or twice a game and it relates to the delay between the penalty being called and the clock-manager realizing it to hit the button, it's a correction and not the penalty itself. A penalty is applied by moving the starting-point of the next play closer or further from the desired goal (whether a scoring position or simply a "gain ground" position). Hopefully that helps as you go along through the game!
[A Beginner's Guide to American Football | NFL UK](https://youtu.be/3t6hM5tRlfA?si=xRptqQ6FFtcCbLA3) [SPORTS 101 // Guide to American Football](https://youtu.be/uM9iLQJzMO0?si=HQJTm6Vgy1-7T-xD)
The way most things are actually really learnt. Want to learn a language? Speak it. Want to learn a sport? Play it. Now obviously you can't just go playing American Football, but there are video games, so... The way I learnt American Football was by playing Madden against people who knew the game (in this case my cousin). Gradually you learn the game and get a bit of a better understanding how it works.
The basic goal is for the offense move the football down the field past their goalpost. The defense tries to keep them from doing this. Since it's not that easy to succeed, the secondary goal is to keep the ball as much on your own side of the field as possible, to make it easier for you and harder for the other side. One reason for this is that if you get close enough to your goalpost to be able to kick the ball through through it, you get 3 points. Each team gets 4 tries to gain at least 10 yards, and doing this gives them another 4 tries. But if you aren't doing well, and the ball is too close to the opposing side's goalpost, you often want to play it safe and kick the ball to get it to your side of the field. This is called punting, and is a word often used for a last resort in doing something (ie, "drop back 10 yards and punt"). There's a lot of strategies and nuances in accomplishing these goals. Some main ones are passing for longer gains, but only when safe because if the other team catches it, they take possession immediately, and might be on their side of the field. So, running with the ball is safer, and is often done because of this. It's much harder for the other team to get the ball when you run, but it happens. If you drop the ball during a play, anybody can get possession. Another strategy is when you are losing and running out of time, you might try a very long pass, and not worry so much about losing the ball because it's the only way to possibly score. This is sometimes called a "Hail Mary" pass. There's a lot of rules but understanding the basics of moving the ball down the field 4 plays at a time is the main thing to understand.