Rules Of American Football - Derived From Other Popular Versions Of The Traditional Game :

Though derived from other popular versions of the traditional game as played in other countries, American Football can be very confusing, especially for the non-Americans. If you are intrigued by this, here are the basic rules for you to enjoy this thrilling game.

As usual, there are two teams of eleven players each, known as 'defense' and 'offense', playing on a field, 160 yards long and 100 yards wide, which is divided into strips by white lines, marked every 10 yards.

You should understand that the game is based on the rule that the offensive team must attempt to cover a 10-yard section of the field in four (or fewer) "downs" (or "plays"). If they fail in their attempt, the ball will be possessed by the other team which then gets a chance on the other team. On the other hand, if their attempt succeeds, the down is reset to 1, and they attempt to move an additional 10 yards and continue this until the end zone.

The offense may run with the ball or throw it, in its attempts to reach the end zone while it's for the defense to engage the players with the ball on the ground to stop them from reaching the desired zone.

Like any other game, the team scoring more points is the winner, but in case of American Football, the final score can be reached by many different ways:

A touchdown carries six points and is awarded when a player from either team is successful in carrying the ball into the end-zone of the opposing team. On scoring a touchdown, a player is given an option: kick the ball over the crossbar positioned between the goal posts, for one extra point or attempt for two extra points by trying to move forward the ball into the end-zone again (the ball is initially kept on the 2-yard line on taking this option).

A field goal carrying three points is awarded if the ball is kicked over the cross-bar from the field. Field goals are not so frequent as touchdowns because teams favor to score touchdowns, carrying more points. Usually, a player would decide to attempt a field goal only when he is sufficiently close to the goal posts and has a good possibility of succeeding, or when a touchdown seems impractical because of time restrictions. At times, a field goal may be attempted when a team needs to cover a lot of ground in one or two downs, and it seems unrealistic to continue holding possession of the ball.

A Safety carries two points for the opposition when they down a player, or when the player makes the ball to go out-of-bounds, whilst standing in his own end zone. The ball is then given to the opposite team.

The game which comprises of 2 halves of 30 minutes each, lasts for one hour. Each half is divided into 2 quarters of 15 minutes each. The teams change ends after the conclusion of the first quarter, and the third one, to level any advantages or disadvantages of either end of the field. Each team is permitted three 'time-outs' for every half to give a rest to the team and discuss their strategy for their next plays.

If a team decides not to use its time outs in the first half, it's not carried over to the second half. In case there's a tie, there is an overtime period of 15 minutes. The team scoring the first point in overtime wins the game. If either team fails to score, the game ends in a tie.