Now that Halloween is over and November has come, it’s time to turn our attention to the true excitement of this time of year: professional football. As we get closer to Thanksgiving, football fans’ favorite holiday, it’s the perfect time to brush up on the rules and learn aspects of the game you may not have known before. Pretty soon, you’ll be a pro, eating your pie, and impressing your family with your football knowledge.
NFL Structure
The National Football League, which is America’s professional football league, usually has games on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays. These games are between 32 different teams across the country.
These teams are then divided into one of two conferences, the AFC or the NFC. For reference, the NFC is home to our local favorite, the Washington Commanders. In regular-season games, teams compete within their conference, vying for the top spot, which goes to the team with the best season record (the most wins and fewest losses). To break it down even further, within conferences, there are divisions into North, East, South, and West. These divisions are just to help determine which teams will earn playoff spots by being the best in their division.
Teams to Know
With 32 teams in the league, it can be tricky to remember all of them, and to be honest, not all of them are all that relevant this year.
Some teams having a good season this year are the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Green Bay Packers, each currently sitting at the top of their respective divisions. Among other relevant teams are the Washington Commanders due to their locality, but they are not having the best season, with little chance of making the playoffs. The Chiefs are another team in the media recently, due to Taylor Swift’s connection. One last team to touch on is the Dallas Cowboys, with their history of success and nickname of “America’s Team.”
Team Structure/Positions
Now that you know who’s going to be on your TV, let’s unpack what they’ll be doing. Football is a unique sport, with the team broken down into offense, defense, and special teams. For both offense and defense, there are 11 players on the field at a time, with one team’s offense facing off against the other team’s defense.
The offense’s job is to work towards the end zone to score points. It’s broken down into the offensive line, the backfield, and the receiving core. The offensive line’s job is to snap the ball and protect the quarterback, and it is made up of a center, guards, and tackles. The backfield is positioned behind the offensive line, and they initiate the play, with a fullback, running back, and the quarterback. The receiving core catches throws and blocks defenders from getting to whoever has the ball, and is made up of a tight end, split end, flanker, and slot receiver.
Now for the defense, whose job is to stop the other team’s offense from moving toward the end zone and scoring. The defense is made up of the defensive line, linebackers, and defensive backs. The defensive line is, as you would assume, the first line of defense, and they are in charge of pressuring the other team’s quarterback. The defensive line is made up of the defensive end, defensive tackle, and nose tackle. Behind the defensive line are the linebackers, who help with coverage of offensive players on running and passing plays. There are middle, outside, and rush linebackers. The defensive backs are the fastest defenders on the field, in charge of covering receivers and stopping passes, and they include the cornerback, free safety, and strong safety.
Finally, you can’t forget about special teams, which includes both offensive and defensive players who are also on punt, field goal, kickoff, and return teams, although some players are only on special teams. The punt team comes into play when a team elects to transfer possession after their offense’s drive fails. The field goal team, or point after touchdown, is in charge of kicking the field goal for the additional point after a touchdown. The kickoff/kick return team starts each half and transfers possession of the ball. Finally, the punt return team receives the other team’s punt or kickoff and tries to disrupt the kick.
Game Rules Overview
Professional football games are divided into four 15-minute quarters with a 12-minute halftime, although the average NFL game lasts 3 hours and 12 minutes. The main goal is for a team’s offense to get the ball down the field and score while the opposing team’s defense tries to stop them.
There are various ways for teams to earn points, with the most well-known being the touchdown, for 6 points. But teams can also score one point after a touchdown, three-point field goals, and safeties and conversions for two points.
The offense moves the ball down the field through a series of four “downs”, essentially attempts. If the offense moves the ball a certain distance (usually 10 yards), within their four downs, they get to keep trying until they score or turn over the ball.
Although the offense gets four tries, the fourth down is a crucial decision moment for a team. They can go for it and try to carry or pass the ball the remaining distance to get more downs, but they risk losing the ball to the other team if they fail. For that reason, many teams will choose to either go for a field goal to earn points or punt the ball back to the other team to give themselves the best defensive position possible.
The defense’s role is pretty simple, as they line up each play to try and prevent the other team’s offense from advancing and getting a first down. They do this by tackling, disrupting, and intercepting.
