1. Kickoff - A kickoff happens to start every game, and to start the second half. It also happens after a team scores a Touchdown or a Field Goal. Afterwards, they kick off to the other team, and begin defending. The kickoff starts with the kicking team running in formation towards the ball on a tee, and the place-kicker puts the ball in play. Once the ball is in the air, the receiving team will have one or two players back to catch the ball and begin running toward the opposite end of the field. The rest of their teammates are blocking, creating a wall to help the returners advance the ball. As the kicking team is running toward the ball, and the receiving team is securing the ball and beginning to advance, there is a moment where both sides collide. Usually the player with ball is tackled somewhere in that mess, but every now and then he breaks free and runs for a huge gain. If the receiving team can catch the ball and run all the way back, it is a Touchdown. If he is tackled, the play is over, and that team brings their offensive unit onto the field to begin normal play. Also possible is a "Touchback" where the kick goes all the way into the End Zone of the receiving team. When the kick returner picks up the ball in the End Zone, he has the choice to run it out, or to kneel and forfeit his chance to advance with the ball. In doing this, the play is dead, but his offensive teammates will start with the ball on the 20 yard line, which is a fair place to begin driving down the field. Don't be surprised to see kick returners do this several times per game, as it is a wise move to get the ball on the 20 yard line, if you're not sure you can run it past the 20 yard line. It's basically a game of judgement by the return man.
2. Downs - A "Down" is basically any play. Some plays like kickoffs and punts are technically not on "downs" but most any other play is. The term started back at the origin of the game, when a player was "down" the play was over. So to keep track of plays, you'd say "1st down" and then make another tackle and say "2nd down" and so on... The team with the ball always starts with a set of 4 downs. Beginning with the "1st Down", the offensive team has to advance the ball 10 yards in order to get a new set of downs. That's what all the measuring and "1st and 10" is all about. If the first play is a running play for 3 yards, then the next play will be referred to as "2nd and 7". If that play is for 16 yards, then it's back to 1st and 10 again because the offense picked up more than the necessary 7 yards remaining for a "First Down". It's kind of like picking up the extra lives in a video game. You can't get them all at once, but you have to pick them up along the way to survive. This concept is what really makes football strategy so different than other sports. On every play, the offense can try to pick up enough yards to get the First Down, or try to go deeper down the field to score a Touchdown, or something in between. The defense has to decide how aggressive to be in stopping the First Down, with out allowing a Touchdown or other really big yardage. A common phrase during games is for offenses to "avoid 3rd and long". This means, you don't want to be stuck on 3rd down, with long ( 6 or more) yards to go for a First Down. In this situation, the team with the ball almost has to pass, rather than run, and the defense knows it. The defense also knows that with this being the 3rd down, the offense probably isn't going to risk trying some long play to score a Touchdown right then. Most likely, they're going to pick up those 6 yards and stay alive with a First Down. But in that moment, the defense can make one stop, and then force the offense to punt the ball away. If that happens, the defense has successfully defended their goal, without allowing points, and have returned the ball to their team for an opportunity to drive down the field and score. In football, 3rd downs are huge plays, scattered throughout the game at various times, and at various places on the field.
3. Penalties - Penalties are called by the Referee and and indicated by throwing a yellow flag on the field. Usually, the flag is thrown near the player that committed the foul. As a result of the penalty, the team with the ball will either be forced back, losing yardage, or be given yards to move forward. The next play will start from the new field position, and the downs will be affected as well. Sometimes a 5 yard penalty will be called on the defense, and so the next play will be 2nd and 5 for the offense, based on the defensive mistake. There are all sorts of penalties, but basically, the reward/punishment for these fouls is either yards lost or gained, and sometimes a down will get replayed as well. To list all penalties and explain them would take hours, but if you watch a football game closely, most of the time the announcers and refs are pretty clear as to why a penalty was called. Listen to the call, watch the replay to see what that meant, and then watch for the result of the penalty to affect the downs or yards lost/gained.
4. Punt - A punt occurs when the team with the ball realizes that they will not be able to score a Touchdown or Field Goal on their current possession. With their last play or "down" they punt the ball to the other team. A punt is a drop-kick by a special player who has one job.... kick the ball to the other team as far back as possible. This tactic uses one last offensive play to send the ball far downfield and give the the defense a much better position when they begin defending their End Zone.
No comments:
Post a Comment