American football is a popular and exciting sport, but for outsiders and novices the rules, or laws, might seem complicated and isolating. To properly appreciate the game, you need at least a basic grasp of the rules, which are designed to keep the game fair and safe. Each team tries to score more points than its opposition through touchdowns, field goals, extra points and safeties. Rules determine which team is on offense and which team is on defense, and limit the amount of attempts your team gets at scoring before the opposition gets a turn.
Basics
Football is played on a field 100 yards long and 160 feet wide. At each end of the field is a 10-yard end zone, into which you have to get the ball to score a touchdown. Yard markings are clearly painted on the field every 10 yards. A pro game lasts one hour, divided into four 15-minute periods. If the score is tied after an hour, 15 minutes of overtime ensues, and the first team to score wins. Each team is allowed 53 players, although only 11 are allowed on the field at one time. Players are divided into three groups: offense, defense and special teams.
Scoring
To score a touchdown, you have to get the ball into the opposition's end zone, either by running it there or by throwing it to a player who can catch it in the end zone or catch it and run it in. A touchdown earns your team six points. Immediately afterward, you can either try to kick the ball between the goal posts for an extra point, or try to get the ball back into the end zone on a single play for two points. Besides touchdowns, you can score with a field goal, which is done by kicking the ball between the opposition's goal posts, and earns you three points, and with a safety, which is when one of your defensive players tackles the opposing player with the ball in his end zone. This earns you two points.
Downs
A game begins when the defensive team kicks to the offensive team. The offensive team then has four opportunities, called downs, to advance the ball 10 yards or more. If successful, it gets another four downs to get the ball another 10 yards, and so on until it scores or fails to advance the required 10 yards. If it cannot move the ball 10 yards in four downs, the opposition gets its turn from the spot on the field where the other team had last started a down. However, most teams that fail to get 10 yards after three down opt to punt the ball on fourth down, thus forcing a poorer field position for the opposing team. Teams that are close enough to the opposition's goal posts also can try to kick a field goal; however, it they miss, the opposing team takes over on the spot of the down.
Penalties
Football is a contact sport and rules exist to regulate safety. If you break them, you earn your team a penalty, which could result in the opposing team being allowed to advance five, 10 or 15 yards closer to your end zone, or, if you're on offense, you could be pushed farther back from the goal. For example, grabbing another player's face mask warrants a 15-yard penalty, while delaying the game earns you a five-yard penalty. Tackling a player from behind, blocking below the waist, spearing, tripping or using unnecessary roughness are some of the most common fouls. If the quarterback intentionally throws a pass out of bounds to avoid losing yards or to waste time, this is a foul unless the ball is spiked or he is beyond his offensive tackles and throws the ball past the line of scrimmage.
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