How Does American Football Actually Work?

A photo of a Philadelphia Eagles quarterback throwing a football.

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, many people from countries outside of the United States, where American football is much rarer, have been left wondering how the game actually works. Well, football—not to be confused with the other football (soccer)—involves throwing, catching, and kicking an oval, egg-shaped ball.

The game is played between two teams, each fielding 11 players at a time on a rectangular field that measures 120 yards long and 53.3 yards wide. This includes a 100-yard main playing area marked with lines every five yards and a 10-yard-deep end zone at each end, where tall goalposts with a horizontal crossbar stand at the back. A regulation game lasts 60 minutes of actual play time, and it’s split into four 15-minute quarters, though the clock stops frequently after incomplete passes, out-of-bounds plays, penalties, timeouts, and between nearly every snap. This means that in reality, most games actually run for over three hours from start to finish.

So, how does a team win? Simply put, the objective is for each team to score more points than the other by advancing the ball into the opponent’s end zone or by kicking it through the uprights of the goalposts. Points come in four main forms. The main one is a touchdown, which is worth six points, and it happens when a player carries the ball across the goal line into the end zone or catches a pass there while staying inbounds. After a touchdown, the scoring team gets one additional play: usually a placekick from the 15-yard line worth one point, or a play from the two-yard line to advance the ball into the end zone again for two points. A field goal, worth three points, is scored by kicking the ball through the uprights from any spot on the field and is often attempted on fourth down (we’ll go over what a “down” is later in this article) when reaching the end zone seems difficult. Finally, a safety, worth two points, is awarded to the defense when it tackles an opponent in possession of the ball inside that opponent’s own end zone or under certain penalty situations that force a similar result.

Play revolves around a system of downs and yardage. The team with the ball, known as the offense, gets four attempts to advance at least 10 yards. Each of these four attempts is called a down (eg. first down, second down, etc.). If it gains those 10 yards or more, it earns a new first down and another set of four attempts. If it fails to reach 10 yards after four downs, possession automatically goes to the other team at the spot where the ball came to rest. Each play starts at the line of scrimmage, an imaginary line across the field at the ball’s forward point. The center snaps the ball backward between his legs to the quarterback, who can hand it off to a running back for a run, keep it and run himself, drop back to throw a forward pass to an eligible receiver such as a wide receiver or tight end, or lateral the ball sideways or backward to a teammate. Only one forward pass is allowed per down, and it must be thrown from behind the line of scrimmage. If the pass is caught, the receiver can run with the ball until tackled or forced out of bounds. If the pass falls incomplete, the play ends and the next down begins at the original line of scrimmage. If the defense intercepts the pass, it immediately takes possession and can try to advance the ball the other way.

An image of Ohio State University’s football field.

The defense works to stop the offense by tackling the ball carrier so that his knees or any part of his body except hands and feet touches the ground while in contact with an opponent. The defense can knock down or intercept passes, recover fumbles when the offense loses the ball during a play, or force the offense into unfavorable situations such as punting or missing a field-goal attempt. A play ends when the ball carrier is tackled to the ground, steps out of bounds, a forward pass hits the ground untouched, or certain other events occur like a fumble recovery. On fourth down, the offense often chooses to punt the ball downfield, giving up possession but usually forcing the opponent to start farther from its own end zone. Kickoffs restart play at the beginning of each half and after most scores, with one team kicking the ball to the other, which then begins its drive from the point of the catch or recovery. A special onside kick is sometimes used late in games when a team is trailing and wants to regain possession quickly, though it carries higher risk. On punts or kickoffs, the receiving player can signal for a fair catch by raising one arm, meaning he catches the ball without advancing and cannot be tackled at that moment, allowing his team to take possession cleanly at the catch point.

Teams divide their players into three main units that rotate in and out depending on the situation. The offense focuses on moving the ball and scoring, the defense concentrates on stopping the opponent and creating turnovers, and the special teams unit handles all kicking, punting, and return duties. Numerous rules govern blocking, tackling technique, pass interference, holding, roughing the passer, and other actions, with penalties resulting in yardage gained or lost and sometimes an automatic first down or loss of down.