NFL Football is a team sport that utilizes team strategy and physicality to score points. Each season features seventeen games split into two 45-minute halves; any player touching any boundary line or anything other than players, officials or pylons is out of bounds and must return immediately to his seat.
Offense
An NFL team can move the ball downfield through different means in order to score points, including running plays such as inside zone, outside zone, counter and some kind of draw as well as passing plays.
Based on their offensive scheme, teams may employ anywhere from zero to five wide receivers (WR). These players typically line up either on the front of or behind the offensive line (where they may also be known as flankers, wingbacks, or slot receivers) where their primary function is catching passes and running after them, acting as running backs on certain plays when necessary.
Defense
Defense teams attempt to prevent offensive teams from scoring touchdowns or field goals at their own end zone or into opponents’ goalposts for field goals. Defensive players may score points by returning a missed field goal attempt or intercepting passes; returning missed field goal misses; intercepting passes; forcing and recovering offensive fumbles or recovering an offensive fumble by forcing and recovering it themselves.
Defensive linemen, more commonly referred to as defensive tackles (“DT”), typically begin a play by positioning themselves between guards and center on an offensive line. Their primary duty is to rush quarterbacks or stop running plays; outside linebackers (OLB) also form part of this defensive formation.
Special teams
Special teams players may often go unrecognized in the NFL, yet their contribution cannot be undervalued. From kickoff returns and precise punting to explosive kickoff returns, special teams players play a pivotal role. From their explosive kickoff returns to precise punting techniques, special teams players’ abilities can have a significant influence over game outcomes.
Ficken and his Chargers special teams unit have been tirelessly practicing a fake punt technique using multiple repetitions during practice sessions and taking steps to conceal their formations so as not to give away too much information to their opponent team.
While the Chargers have experienced incredible success this season, they understand that past results don’t guarantee future successes and must work tirelessly each week to improve their performance and stay at the top.
Kickoffs
Owners voted this year to revamp the kickoff, hoping to give it more life while prioritizing player safety. While still beginning from their 35-yard line, all 10 members of a kickoff team must also stand within an area between 35-30 yards from them when setting up for kickoffs.
Receiving teams may then field the ball using up to two returners. No fair catches are permitted and teams attempting an onside must inform officials. The goal of these rules is to reduce high-speed collisions that cause injuries on kickoff returns; as a result, kickoff return rates have fallen significantly under them.
Punts
At times, punts may bounce and hit someone on the receiving team, leading to a chaotic scrum as whoever touched it gains possession wherever it lands.
Teams often punt on 4th down in order to pin their opponent within their territory and gain better field position, increasing their odds of scoring a touchdown.
Prior to the snap, only players from the punting team are permitted to cross the line of scrimmage; after it, however, any player may down a punt; such an action is known as illegal touching and gives possession to the receiving team at its point of touch.
Touchdowns
Football teams win games by scoring touchdowns. To score one, a player must either run or pass into their opponent’s endzone to bring in the ball for six points and score it as a touchdown.
In the 1930s, leaders of the NFL’s then-young league wanted to make its games more engaging so as to attract college fans. To accomplish this goal, they legalized passing from any point behind the line of scrimmage, eliminated penalties for multiple incomplete passes during one series of downs, moved hash marks closer to center field and added two-point conversion and gave touchdowns more value than points.