A beginner’s guide to American football
American football is one of the national sports in the United States. Although the sport is loved by many, a lot of you might not know as much about this version of football. We are going to introduce you to the basics so that you may understand a bit more the next time you are watching an American football game.
The matches in the NFL (National Football League), college and high school series fill stadiums with over 100,000 spectators. Just like with Belmont stakes odds, people watch nervously as they put their money on one of the teams. The Super Bowl, the final in the NFL, is one of the world’s most watched sporting events and a great night to bet for those who enjoy that.
What you need to know
Here is what you need to know about the point system:
- Touchdown: If you get the ball down in the opposing team’s end zone you get 6 points.
- After a touchdown, the scoring team has one attempt to either kick the ball up between the opposing team’s two goal posts, or to get the ball down once again in the end zone. This triggers 1 or 2 points, respectively.
- If, after a touchdown you choose to go for 1 point, it is called “Extra point”. If you prefer to go for the riskier 2 points, it is called “2-point conversion”.
- A match lasts 60 minutes, and is divided into 4 quarters, each lasting 15 minutes. Between the 2nd and 3rd quarters there is a longer break.
- To keep the ball, the attacking team has four attempts to move the ball 10 yards forward. These attempts are called downs. Between each down, it is stated which down is to be played, and how many yards are missing before the attacking team can get four new downs (and will then not let the opponent get the ball). If the attack achieves, for example, only one yard on their first down, it will subsequently be 2nd & 9, meaning that it is the second down with 9 yards left.
- If you do not manage to move 10 yards on the 4 downs, it is the opposing team that takes over the ball. They take over the ball where the others left off. Therefore, you often spend 4 downs on either scoring a field goal, or with what is called a punt.