How to Play American Football: 10 Steps (with Pictures) – wikiHow

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American football is a popular game played between two teams.Each team has 11 players on the field at a time. In professional games, players will specialize in one position on either offense, defense, or special teams. The goal of the game is to score more points than the other team after 4 quarters of play. Before the game starts, each team is assigned a scoring area, called an endzone. The game begins with a kickoff where the defending team kicks the ball as far as they can towards their endzone. To understand the rules of the game, first you must learn how the down system works. Whenever the offensive team takes the ball, they have 4 turns, called “downs,” to move the ball at least 10 yards by passing or running the ball. So, a play on “second and 6” means that it’s the offensive team’s second turn with the ball, and they have 6 yards to go until they get 10 yards and earn a “first down.” If a team does get a first down, they get a new 10-yard target and a fresh set of downs. If a team makes 4 attempts and does not get 10 yards, the opposing team’s offense takes the ball and starts over on 1st down going the opposite direction from wherever the last play ended. Many teams will choose to punt on fourth down rather than run a standard play if they aren’t close to the first down marker. A punt is where the offense voluntarily gives up possession of the ball by kicking it towards their endzone. A punt is often preferable to “going for it” on a fourth down because it will take the other team longer to get to their side of the field and potentially score. There are three main ways that a team can score in American football, with the highest number of points awarded when a player takes the ball into their endzone for a touchdown. When a player scores a touchdown, their team is awarded 6 points. The offense can then either kick the ball through the uprights for an additional 1 point (called an extra point), or run a normal play and attempt to score again for an additional 2 points (called a two-point conversion). At any time, the offense may also try to kick a field goal by kicking the ball through the uprights. This is common on 4th down when the offensive team is close enough to the uprights to kick it, but too far away from the first down line to risk going for it. If the kicker successfully kicks the ball through the uprights, their team is awarded 3 points. If they miss, the opposing team takes control of the ball wherever the last down took place. Whenever a team scores, the scoring team kicks the ball off from a predetermined point on the field and the team that was on defense takes the field on offense. After 4 quarters of play, the team with the most points is declared the winner. For tips on how to create a great plays, read on!

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