Hey friend,
Welcome to part 1 of a beginner’s guide to the NFL. Last week was a sweet introduction to why watching sports can be fun.
But this week we’re getting into the actual basics of football so you’re not totally lost once the game’s actually in session.
Most of us have watched sports at least once in our lives and if you’re familiar with basketball or baseball, the great news is that the main goal is always exactly the same: score more points than the other team.
It just looks a little different here because football is a high-contact game on a massive 100-yard field where everyone’s wearing cute jerseys, helmets, and pads to stay safe.
The unique thing about football is that every player has a specific role on either the offense (the players trying to score) or the defense (the players trying to stop the other team from scoring). Unlike basketball, your offense and defense are never out there at the same time. When your team has the ball, that means the offense is on the field and the defense hangs out on the sidelines. When the other team gets the ball, your defense will now be able to play, meaning teams are constantly changing players in and out depending on who has possession of the ball.
When your team has the ball, the offense gets four attempts to move it ten yards down the field. Each attempt is called a “down.” If you gain those ten yards within four downs, the count resets and you get four fresh chances to gain the next ten yards. If you don’t, it then becomes the other team’s turn to try and score with the same rules.
That’s why the game pauses every few seconds. Each stop is usually the end of one down and the start of the next. It’s also why you’ll hear things like “third and four,” which just means it’s the third down and there are four more yards left to go out of ten total. And while the game clock is only an hour (15 minutes per quarter), you’re actually watching for about three, because of all the time it takes to set up each down.
Now that you know the rules, scoring is really simple for football. All you really need to know is that a touchdown is 6 points, which just means that the team was able to get to the end of the field inside what’s called “the end zone.” I like to call it the celebration zone because a lot of players do a little dance there or interact with fans. After a touchdown, the team also gets a bonus try to kick the ball through the goalposts for 1 extra point.
The other way to score is a field goal, which is 3 points. When your team isn’t close enough to the end zone for a touchdown but is close enough to kick it through the goalposts, they’ll take that instead, because some points are better than no points.
I know that can be a lot, but I promise that’s about it. If you made it this far, so proud of you. That is pretty much all you ever need to know about the actual rules of the game to survive a Sunday watch party. It really took me so much time when I first started learning to understand the “downs” specifically, but it’s a lot of fun once you get into the strategy and different ways teams try to score.
One of my favorite parts of football is that gradually you’ll also find yourself drawn to specific players. For now though, the only position I’d recommend knowing is the quarterback, the player who leads each team’s offense (the side trying to score).
So when you think of popular players like Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow or Josh Allen, they’re pretty much the face of each franchise. Not everyone on the team touches the ball every play, but the quarterback almost always does. They’re the one throwing it, handing it off, or running with it themselves, so nearly every chance to make points starts with them.
Analysts compare quarterbacks constantly, so it’s easy to assume they’re facing each other, but they’re never actually on the field at the same time. They’re really just taking turns, trying to outplay each other against the defensive players, which comes down to their own skill and how many wins they can get their team.
Don’t worry if you don’t remember any of this right away. You don’t need to know every little detail to enjoy the game, the snacks, and the company. Any extent of the game is fun, and you learn with time.
And if you’d rather watch than read, I learned from Hoops for Hotties and she does a great job explaining it for the girls <3
Next week is the fun one: picking your team.
:)
Go NY Go…NY Giants 4 Eva