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Pick My Team

Lesson 3 of 14 · 6 min

How you score

Touchdowns, kicks, and the rare safety. Why 24-17 is a perfectly normal Saturday night.

Path 0/14

Cream circle = offence (they have the ball)Gold letters on dark = defenceGold oval = the ballSolid gold line = line of scrimmage (LOS)Red arrow = rush

Offence (cream circles)

  • QB quarterback
  • RB running back
  • WR wide receiver
  • TE tight end
  • LT LG C RG RT the offensive line (left tackle to right tackle, centre in the middle)

Defence (gold letters)

  • DE defensive end
  • DT defensive tackle
  • LB linebacker
  • CB cornerback
  • S safety

Special teams (when they appear)

  • K kicker
  • ST coverage / special teams
  • RET returner

Scoring looks odd if you expect rugby’s five or football’s one. NFL scores pile up in sixes and threes, then get a little extra tacked on. A 27-24 game is a thriller, not a basketball match that escaped.

The ways to put points on the board

Motion graphic

How you score

Example 1 · touchdown for 6

How NFL scoring works: a touchdown and a field goalGet the ball into the end zone. A touchdown is six points. Carry it in, or catch it, in the opponent’s end zone. That gold paint at the far end is the target. The gold paint on the right is the end zone. The two uprights at the far end are the posts.7580859095GEZAttacking the end zone → · posts at the back of the paintPOSTSEND ZONEBall

Red zone

Near the end zone · 6 on offer

Get the ball into the end zone

A touchdown is six points. Carry it in, or catch it, in the opponent’s end zone. That gold paint at the far end is the target.

Carry or catch the ball in the end zone for 6. Kick it through the posts at the back of that paint for 3. The same kick, from closer, is the extra point after a touchdown.
  • Touchdown: 6 points. Carry or catch the ball in the opponent’s end zone, or recover it there.
  • Extra point: usually 1 more, a short kick after a touchdown. Almost automatic, until it isn’t.
  • Two-point conversion: instead of the kick, try to run or pass into the end zone from the 2-yard line for 2.
  • Field goal: 3 points. Kick the ball through the posts, usually on fourth down when a touchdown looks unlikely.
  • Safety: 2 points to the defence, if they tackle an attacker in their own end zone. Rare, and very loud.
Carry or catch it in the end zone: touchdown (6). Kick it through the posts: field goal (3) or the extra point after a touchdown (1). The posts sit at the back of the end zone, not on the goal line.KPOSTSEND ZONE
Carry or catch it in the end zone: touchdown (6). Kick it through the posts: field goal (3) or the extra point after a touchdown (1). The posts sit at the back of the end zone, not on the goal line.

A typical scoring drive

A team gets the ball around their own 25. They string together first downs (a run here, a catch there) and slowly eat up the field. Inside the 20 they have reached the red zone, where scores become likely. They either punch it in for a touchdown or settle for a field goal. Then the other team has a turn.

Some drives last eight minutes. Some last 12 seconds because someone throws an interception. Both are legal. Both happen in the same quarter.

Reading a scoreline

If you see 17-10 at half-time, you do not need to reverse-engineer it live. A 7 usually means a touchdown plus the extra-point kick. A 3 is a field goal. So 17 is often two scores and a kick (7 + 3 + 7), and 10 is a touchdown plus a field goal.

Red zone
The last 20 yards before the end zone. Coaches obsess over scoring once they get here.
Walk-off
A kick or score as time expires that wins the game on the spot.

Finished this one?

Next: Offence vs defence →See this week’s games →