Scared yet? I’m aware this is a British based wesite, so a number of you reading may not understand the workings of American Football, such as positions, rules, what have you. So for those of you who want to know, this blog is here to help you learn the basics of the game in time for the start of the new season on the 9th of September. I’m nice like that.
I’m just going to go into the basics for now. We can leave the subtleties to a later date.
It's not THAT subtle.
Here is a diagram of a football field.
Smaller than I’d originally hoped, but we persevere. The field is 100 yards long, with lines across the field at 5-yard increments. Every other line is labelled, as you can see. Each yard is marked by a hash at either side of the field and twice again slightly further towards the middle. Every play of the game has to start from between these inner hash marks.
There is a 10 yard section beyond the 100-yard pitch at either end. These are the endzones, which I’ll go more into later. Within each endzone, there are goalposts, the crossbar of which being 10 feet off the ground and the uprights being 18 feet apart.
There's something not quite right here....
A 53 man NFL squad will be split into 3 sections; Offense and Defense, with are fairly self-explanatory, ans Special Teams, which are generally to do with kicking the ball. 11 players from each team are on the pitch at any one point, but substitutions are unlimited and very regular.
The offense’s job is to advance the ball, and try and score some points. This can be done either by passing the ball to a team-mate, or by running it. The offense has 4 attempts (called ‘downs’) to advance the ball 10 yards. Failing to do so turns the ball over to the opposing offense. For this reason, most teams choose to punt the ball away on 4th down, or if they are in range of the goalposts, attempt a field goal (see below). The defense’s job is to stop any of this happening.
....by any means necessary.
In the words of the great John Madden, the goal of football is to score more points than your opponent. There are many ways to score points, but here are the 5 most common;
Touchdown: Worth 6 points. This is when you advance the ball into your opponent’s endzone, either by running it in or by catching a pass in the endzone.
Field Goal: Worth 3 points. Pretty much the same as a conversion or penalty in rugby. The kicker has to kick the ball from the ground through the uprights in the opponent’s endzone.
Extra Point: Worth 1 point. Only available after a TD, this is a very short field goal conversion. Alternately after a TD, you can go for a…
2-Point Conversion: Shockingly, worth 2 points. It’s essentially trying to score another TD from the 2-yard line, but only worth 2 points.
Safety: Worth 2 points. When the ball-carrier is tackled in his own endzone, the defense gets the points.
While I said the most common, the top 3 are the only ones that happen in pretty much every game. You’ll generally only see a few 2-pointers per season for a single team, and the frequency of a safety is even lower.
That up there is an offensive formation. No, it’s not racist, it’s I-Form, so called because the backs are lined up in an I shape. The positions are as follows:
Quarterback: Recieves the ball at the beginning of the play (called ‘the snap’). From here, he will usually throw the ball to a reciever or hand it off to a running back. Notable players: Peyton Manning (Colts), Tom Brady (Patriots), Drew Brees (Saints).
Running Back: Usually recieves the hand-off from the QB and tries to advance the ball by running it. Can also be used as a reciever or to block oncoming defenders. Sometimes called a Halfback. Notable Players: Chris Johnson (Titans), Adrian Peterson (Vikings), Maurice Jones-Drew (Jaguars).
Full Back: A larger running back primarily used to block for the HB, but can sometimes run the ball in short yardage situations. Notable Players: Tony Richardson (Jets), Leonard Weaver (Eagles), Le’Ron McClain (Ravens)
Wide Reciever: Catches the ball. Sometimes required to block on rushing plays. Notable Players: Andre Johnson (Texans), Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals), Randy Moss (Patriots)
Center: Snaps the ball to the QB, then blocks oncoming defenders. Notable Players: Nick Mangold (Jets), Jeff Saturday (Colts), Shaun O’Hara (Giants)
Offensive Guard: 2 starters, one on each side of the center.Also used to block, but tend to make more of an impact in the running game than in pass protection. Notable Players: Steve Hutchinson (Vikings), Alan Faneca (Cardinals), Chris Snee (Giants)
Offensive Tackle: Your largest and best O-Linemen will be your tackles. Normally the LT will be a bit better, so to protect the QB’s blindside. But obviously, if you have a left handed QB, your RT should be better, to protect him from defenders he won’t see coming. Notable Players: Joe Thomas (Browns), Jake Long (Dolphins), Ryan Clady (Broncos)
Tight End: This guy is like a bigger, slower WR. Can be brought in as an additional lineman if needs be, or can act as a reciever. Notable Players: Dallas Clark (Colts), Antonio Gates (Chargers), Vernon Davis (49ers)
Well, that’s the basics of NFL offense. I’ll leave defense until next time, as I get the feeling it might take a while. It’s more complicated than offense. So, yeah, thank you for reading, and if you want to look at some examples of successful plays, NFL.com has LOADS of them. Here’s a couple from a game I happened to be re-watching as I was writing this blog:
Passing TD: http://www.nfl.com/videos/new-york-jets/09000d5d815cc405/Jets-take-the-lead
Rushing TD: http://www.nfl.com/videos/new-york-jets/09000d5d815cc5bb/Divisional-Can-t-Miss-Play-Plenty-of-Greene
So, thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it. Anything you’d like me to go over in the next blog, or just anything to say, feel free to comment. Adios, people.
