H-Cane Speaks

A FOOTBALL GUIDE: For People Without a Clue

If you are one of those people that hasn't had football as a positive part of your life, this post is for you. 

Read on, my friends and feel enlightened... as this clouded subject shall be cleared for you to see the NFL in all its glory.

Here is a tip: After reading this, watch a game from start to finish. See it with a fan of the game, as you then may or may not start to cheer for what may become your favorite team.
First Things First: The Objective of Football:

A football game has one simple objective: Move down the field and get the ball into the end zone while the other team is trying to stop you from doing it.

Simple as that – Team A is trying to move forward, Team B is trying to stop them.

The Field of Play:

A football field starts in the middle and works its way out towards each end. Every 10 yards is marked with a line and number starting from each end and meeting at 50 yards in the middle. Basically from left to right it reads: goal, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, goal.

This is an illustration of a field:

A football field

The Football Team:

Each football team is divided in 3 groups: The Offense, The Defense & Special Teams. 

Each group has its own purpose: The purpose of the offense is to score points, the defense is to stop the offense and special teams is to handle situations involving kicking the ball. 

Each group has 11 different players and each player has different titles & duties. Here are the positions for the offense and defense:

THE STANDARD OFFENSE

THE STANDARD DEFENSE

The Offense and how it moves down the field:

At first - to the untrained eye, football looks like a bunch of fat psychos slamming into each other. But there really is a simple method to that madness. The game revolves around the offense and what it is trying to do.

The Objective of the Offense: "You have 4 chances to move the ball forward at least 10 yards"

The offense is trying is move the ball down the field, at least 10 yards at a time in the direction of the opponents end zone. (The end zone is the rectangular area on both sides of the field easily distinguishable by the team colors it is painted with and usually bears the home team’s name.) 

It has 4 chances to do so. These chances are called downs (because in order to begin or end a play, the ball has to be down on the ground - simple to remember). 

Each down is usually noted rather ingeniously as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th down... this is football... not rocket science, we keep lingo logical.

When the offense attempts to move forward it is called a play. When the offense starts their play, they are using up one of their downs to attempt to move the ball towards the end zone. The team continues moving forward using up their four downs until they reach that 10 yard objective.

Each time they reach that 10 yard objective, their downs are reset to 1 and they get to go 4 more times, again trying to reach a new set of 10 yards until they finally reach the end zone. Teams move forward by either running or passing the ball, whatever they feel is best.

This continuous endeavor is known as a drive, because they are driving down the field towards the goal (duh). Drives last until the offense fails to reach 10 more yards or gets into the end zone and thus scores points.

You now understand the whole basis of football. With what you just read - you can say that you get the point... but now it is time to understand the how.

The Start of a Play:

When the offense comes onto the field, it has a brief meeting called a huddle. A huddle pretty much looks like a big group hug or some sort of middle school clique distributing rumors. While in a huddle, the team is trying deciding the best way to move forward – “Should we pass or should we run with the ball?” Usually, the coach determines this and tells his QB via hand signals or speaks into a mic which emits his voice into to wireless speaker inside the QB’s helmet.

Once the play is decided, the offense goes to the line of scrimmage. Everything begins at the line of scrimmage, which is the area that marks where ball is placed and the offense must start their play from. (TV channels usually color this line blue.)

You’ll know a play is about to start when you see all of the players from each team lined up in a row facing each other, standing still and nothing seems to be going on (Which is true, as nothing really has happened besides everyone getting ready for the offense to start their 1st attempt to move forward).

At this point, the team is in a formation, which is how each player is arranged at the line of scrimmage. Formations serve two purposes:

1. Execute the play to its highest potential

2. Fool the defense into incorrectly guessing what you’re about to do.

A lot of time goes into designing formations – which is why football resembles chess/checkers. Some formations look like run plays but are actually pass plays in hopes of confusing the other guys. The defense has its own formations to counter the offense, so don't feel bad for defense.

Simple Football formation for an offense and a defense:

The Play and how it works (a simple point of view):

As previously noted teams may move down the field by either running with or passing the ball to eligible team mates (e.g. the WR’s). The ball is the tool here, as that's market to identify how far the team moved. So really - the guy holding the ball has a large target on his chest and a big responsibility to keep moving forward.

Now a team doesn't just show up to a game and say "Run and I'll throw you the ball". Before each game, coaches come up with schemes during the week that they believe would best accomplish their running or passing play. This is called a gamplan. Details, such as which side of the field to run to, are designed into each play. Offenses study hundreds of plays before game day.

When at the line of scrimmage, the QB starts the play (by shouting “hike”) and then proceeds to carry out whatever their plan is. When the team moves, the defense will try to stop them by tackling the guy with the ball. When a player with the ball is tackled, the play is considered over, the next down begins. The offense must now start from that point on the field continuing their journey to 10 yards. However, if the offense moves backwards, they need to make up that lost ground and STILL get to the original objective (which is why it is really, really bad to move backwards – duh, again). Conversely, if the offense goes beyond the 10 yard mark, they also start from that far point (which is why it is really, really good to move way past 10 yards)

If the offense is unable to move 10 yards by the end of their 4th down, the other team’s offense will receive the ball at that point on the field at the exact spot where the other team’s offense left off. Now it is the other team’s offense’s turn to accomplish the same feat, moving in the opposite direction.

So there you go – basically, it's push, push forward and doesn’t let the other guy stop them and if you have to get stopped by all means make sure it isn’t behind the line of scrimmage!

Scoring:

As the drive progresses and a team is able to make any part of the football cross the goal line (The thick white line that designates where the field and the end zone meet) they score. This is called a touchdown (because the ball touched down in the end zone while in control of the offense). If the team scores points, that long tedious drive is considered a success.

Basic Rules for Any Drive:

• The guy with the ball must stay in bounds. If a player goes out of bounds they are considered tackled. If any part of that player's foot touches the boundary line, they are out of bounds.
• Don’t cheat by using equipment or other actions that give you unfair advantage (doing so will cause a penalty which means you’ll either move backwards or lose a down) .
• 10 yards means 10 yards, there is no rounding up. (That's why football is known as a game of inches ... people have lost championships because they missed that 10 yard objective literally by an inch. Oh and they do measure this... they have a group of referees who’s sole purpose is to measure the distance between where the ball started and where it ended up)

An Example of a Drive:

• The Cowboys’ offense starts with the ball on the 20 yard line on their side of the field. (They have a long way to go.)
• The down and distance left to 10 yards is noted, which in this case is 1st and 10. (1st down with 10 yards still to go before they can be awarded 4 more downs)
• The team knows that they have to move the ball 10 yards, which, in this case, is marked by the 30 yard line.
• A huddle is made and they discuss “What is the best way to move this ball forward against this defense?”
• They decide to throw it.
• The Cowboys lineup at the line of scrimmage in formation
• The Cowboy’s QB shouts “HIKE” to begin the play and everyone does what they are assigned to do for the play to work... Such as:

1. Blocking defenders from hitting the ball carrier
2. Run in a specific direction (known as a route) while trying to avoid or confuse defenders
3. Other actions to ensure the play executes properly.

• The QB sees his WR running alone.
• He decides to throw the ball to that WR
• The receiver catches it 8 yards in front of the line of scrimmage and is quickly tackled to the ground by the other team’s defense thus ending that play/his ability to gain anymore yards.


• It is now 2nd down (2nd chance) and 2 (yards to go) – the last pass moved the offense 8 yards closer to that ever-present 10 yard objective.


• Since they used one down already they now have 3 more to get the final 2 yards.


• They huddle again to decide how to do that.


• They decide to pass again.


• They line up in a different formation.


• QB starts the play and throws the ball at another receiver.


• Unfortunately, that WR is unable to catch the ball and instead watches it fall to the floor, subsequently ending the play. (When a ball is thrown and no one catches it, it is considered dead once it hits the ground.)


• It’s now 3rd down (3rd chance) and 2


• They realize that used up their second chance and STILL have to get those two last yards.


• They huddle which gives the QB time to insult the receiver for dropping the pass.


• They decide to run this time in hopes of getting the last two yards


• They lineup in yet another formation.


• They call HIKE.


• The QB hands it the Running back (RB).


• The RB runs forward for 4 yards! That means they gained the 2 original yards that were left plus an extra 2 yards! They moved 12 yards, which is better than what they needed when they first started.


• Their reward: The line of scrimmage is relocated to that part of the field and they are given 4 more downs, keeping their drive and hopes of scoring alive.


• It is now 1st and 10 again on the 32 yard line. (They went from the 20 yards line, moved up 12 yards – 20 + 12 = 32)


• Huddle again to decide what the plan is for the next set of 10 yards.


• They decide to pass again.


• Line up, HIKE and…All hell breaks loose!


• The defense somehow figured out that the offense was passing


• The QB is tackled before he can throw it four yards from the line of scrimmage.


• Now it is 2nd and 14 (10 original yards plus the 4 they just lost)


• They now have 14 yards to go with one less down to do it. (This is the kind of situation defenses want to impose on offenses, it’s what they get paid for.)


• The drive continues like this with all sorts of plays until the offense scores score or lose possession of the ball.

The End of a Drive:

If an offense doesn’t score, they lose possession of the ball and hand it over to the opposing team’s offense. When this happens, it is called a turnover. (because you turned the ball over to the other team… again, plain English.)

This can happen in the following ways:

1. 
   

   The QB passes it… to the wrong team… which is called an interception (the

   opposing defense intercepted your pass to your team mate).
2. The offense runs with the ball, it then falls out of the RB’s hands… and the other team picks it up/lands on it. This is called a fumble (which in the dictionary: means dropping an item)


3. The offense didn’t make the 10 yards by the end of the 4th down, known as a

   turnover on downs

When a turnover occurs due to the defense taking hold of the ball, the defender that stole the ball away can start moving in the opposite direction until they are tackled. The reason they do this is because once they are tackled, this offense comes onto the field and begins the play from that point. So obviously, they will try to help their offense out by giving them great field position.

This is why turnovers are very dangerous. If the defense grabs it and doesn’t get tackled, therefore making it into their end zone, they score. Which means all of a sudden the offense, has to learn to tackle that defensive guy before that happens, which is something they aren’t trained to do.

Example of a turnover:

Idiot QB throws it to the Great Team Defense.

The Great Team Defense intercepts the ball at the 40 yard line and starts running in the opposite direction of the idiot’s drive in the direction of the Great Team’s goal

The idiot offense desperately tries to stop him before he runs all the way to the goal and scores a defensive touchdown.

The idiot offense somehow manages to tackle the defender at the 20 yard line.

The Great Team’s offense now come onto the field at the 20 yard line – and the idiot offense goes back to the sideline and tries to explain to the coach why they are horrible.

Penalties aka cheating:

Penalties are a part of the game and can changeits outcome. Every time there is a penalty, the team being penalized will move backwards on the field, lose a down or allow for the retry of a down.

Penalties are in place for 3 reasons:

1. To ensure no player does anything to achieve an unfair advantage: Using safety equipment to bring down or hold players (such as grabbing and pulling on the other player’s face mask) or moving onto the team’s side of the line before the play begins (known as the infamous “Offside”)


2. Protect the players from unnecessary violence that would cause injury: Poking the eyes, Hitting a QB after he threw the ball


3. Protecting the league and sport from downgrading in the public’s view: Unsportsmanlike conduct, such as excessive celebrations or fighting

How the NFL (National Football League) is setup:

The NFL is divided half, with each side known as a Conference. The conferences are named the AFC and the NFC. Each conference is divided geographically into 4 Divisions: East, North, West and South, each possessing 4 teams.

Season Schedule:

There are 17 weeks in a season (16 games plus 1 bye week to rest and reorganize the game plan, which is given to each team). Teams play other teams in their division twice. They also play teams from 2 other divisions one time. (one from their Conference & one from the other Conference)

Becoming the Superbowl Champion:

At the end of the season, the top teams in the league go into a tournament style play where the winners move on and the losers go home. This is known as The Playoffs.

The Playoffs are divided in two one section per conference. 6 Teams enter each section of the playoffs. The top team in each division at the end of the season progress into the playoffs. The 2 next best teams in each conference progress as well. When each conference has one team left standing (known as the conference champions) – we have ourselves the entrants for the Superbowl. Whoever wins the Superbowl becomes the World Champion of the NFL – and will be so all through next season until a new champion is crowned.

Now you can say Yes to the famous question: Are you ready for some football!?