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Posts Tagged ‘Touchdown’

American Football has been a pastime of American’s for over 100 years. The NFL (National Football League) is the major source of football in the United States and has been so since it merged with the AFL (American Football League) in 1966. The popularity is growing year to year, and before any newcomers can begin to enjoy the sport, they must understand the basic rules and how the game is played.

Object of the Game

There are two teams, with each team protecting one end of the field from their opponents. This area is called the “endzone” and is where a team attempts to get the ball when it is in their possession. There are 11 players from each team on the field at one time and they are separated into “offense” or “defense”.

When a team is on offense, they are given 4 attempts (commonly called “downs”) to attempt to move the ball 10 yards at a time. If they are successful, the downs will reset to 1 and they will attempt to move another 10 yards until they reach the endzone. If the defense is able to stop them from moving 10 yards after 4 attempts, then their team will now get a chance on offense.

The offense is allowed to throw or run the ball to try to move it into the endzone and it is the job of the defense to tackle the player with the ball to the ground in order to stop them from advancing.

Scoring

Similar to most major sports, the object of the game is for one team to score more points than the other team; however, in American Football there are many ways to accumulate the points that make up the final score. Here is a description of each:

Touchdown (6 points) — this occurs when a player from one team is able to cross into their opponent’s endzone with possession of the ball.

Field Goal (3 points) — if a team is unable to get into the endzone, but it close enough to be able to kick the ball between the two goal posts positioned at the back of the endzone, they may attempt to do so.

Extra Point (1 point) — after a touchdown, the scoring team is able to attempt to kick the ball between the opponent’s goal posts to add one point to their score.

2-point conversion (2 points) — after a touchdown, the scoring team can choose to try to get the ball into the endzone again instead of kicking for the extra point. If successful, they are awarded two points.

Safety (2 points) — if an offensive player is tackled into their own endzone by the other’s team’s defense, then the opposing team will be awarded two points and are then given possession of the ball.

Length of Game

The game lasts for 60 minutes and is separated into 2 halves of 30 minutes each. Each half is broken into 2 quarters of 15 minutes each. Each team is awarded 3 timeouts per half which allows them to stop the clock from moving and to give their player’s a rest.

If a team does not use all of their timeouts in the first half, they do not carry over into the second half. If the score is tied at the end of the game, then there will be an overtime period consisting of 15 minutes. The the first team to score any points in overtime will win the game. If nobody scores during this period, the game will be called a tie.

There are many more details which make up the game of American Football, but the above basic rules will be enough to get you started to enjoy and understand the game. Now all you need to do is pick a favorite team and cheer them on!

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When the Jacksonville Jaguars joined the National Football League in 1995, a whole lot of excitement was generated, especially in the Jacksonville area. Since that time they have had up and down seasons and benefited from the play of some great players. Here is a look at eight interesting facts about some of the players who have played quarterback for the team.

-With 25,698 passing yards, no quarterback has thrown for more total yards for Jacksonville than the team’s original starting quarterback Mark Brunell.

-The most passing touchdowns ever thrown in one year by a Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback is twenty, Mark Brunell did this twice, once in 1998 and then again in 2000.

-Brunell sits at the top of the list of total passing touchdowns for the Jaguars with 144.

-The first touchdown pass thrown in the NFL by Jags quarterback Byron Leftwich came during 2003 in week 2 and was thrown in the fourth quarter to George Wrightster.

-Mark Brunell threw more touchdowns against the Cincinnati Bengals during his career than any other team.

-Brunell threw 86 interceptions during his time with the Jaguars, by far more than any other quarterback who has played for the team.

-The first touchdown pass David Garrard threw in the NFL came in the fourth quarter of a 28-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans in 2002, which was his rookie year. The pass was thrown four yards and went to Jimmy Smith.

-In 2001, Mark Brunell was sacked 57 times. No Jags quarterback has ever been sacked more than that in one season.

-The player who caught the most touchdown passes from longtime Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell during his career was the great Jimmy Smith with 44.

Caffeinated Content

Football is a great game. Watching two teams out on the football field, offense and defense, is like watching two generals commanding their armies. So many possibilities; play books three inches thick; men the size of trucks; and the stadiums filled with people, some of whom had to wait six years to get tickets. And with all the excitement, all the suspense at that last second field goal and all the great players…

There are enough rules in this game to make you want to pull every last hair out of your head.

The typical lay person, the casual football fan and even some of the bigger fans, probably don’t know half the rules of the game. Yeah, they know the main rules, four downs to make a first down and things like that, but the more complicated rules have many fans wondering what is going on half the time. Even the refs can many times be seen standing around trying to figure out which rule of the game was broken, if any at all. And what it more than one rule was broken? How is that situation settled?

Even the rules on contact with a receiver are so fuzzy, or not enforced the same by each set of refs. Some games will go by and you’ll see a receiver get clobbered beyond the five yard mark and nothing gets called and then in another game the defender will simply brush up against his sleeve and get called for pass interference. A little consistency would be nice. Certainly that doesn’t help the situation any.

One of the most confusing rules is whether or not a receiver had possession when catching a pass before going out of bounds. Technically, he’s supposed to have both feet in bounds when he makes the catch. If he catches the ball with one foot in and then takes a step and has the other foot out, it’s no catch. But what it he’s pushed out of bounds? Would he have caught the ball with both feet in had he not been pushed? How is that situation handled?

Then of course there is the matter of actually scoring a touchdown. The football has to cross the plain of the goal line. Now, if the offensive player is on the ground when he scores, it’s pretty easy to tell if he crossed the goal line. But what if he’s on top of a pile up, four feet off the ground as he’s trying to dive in? How do you figure out if he’s crossed the plain?

Then of course there is forward motion when a running back gets tackled. If he gets hit by a 350 pound truck and gets sent hurtling five yards back, where is the ball marked? Does it get marked where the tackler hit him or where he lands? What if he trips? Can he get up and start running again? If he trips and one foot goes out of bounds, can he start running again?

So many questions and we haven’t even scratched the surface of the surface of all the rules of football. Yes, this game can really give you a headache.

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