Touchdown pass

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Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald catches a touchdown pass in the 2009 Pro Bowl Larry Fitzgerald catches TD at 2009 Pro Bowl.jpg
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald catches a touchdown pass in the 2009 Pro Bowl

In gridiron football, a touchdown pass is a pass thrown from the passer (usually the quarterback) to a receiver that results in a touchdown being scored. The pass can either be caught in the end zone itself, resulting in an immediate touchdown, or in the field of play, followed by the receiver carrying the ball into the endzone himself for the score. Either way, the quarterback is credited in his statistics with the touchdown pass.

Gridiron football Sport primarily played in the United States and Canada

Gridiron football, also known as North American football or, in North America, simply football, is a football sport primarily played in the United States and Canada. American football, which uses 11-player teams, is the form played in the United States and the best known form of gridiron football worldwide, while Canadian football, featuring 12-player teams, predominates in Canada. Other derivative varieties include indoor football, football for smaller teams, and informal games such as touch and flag football. Football is played at professional, collegiate, semi-professional, and amateur levels.

Forward pass in American and Canadian football

In several forms of football a forward pass is a throwing of the ball in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridiron football in which the play is legal and widespread, and rugby football from which the North American games evolved, in which the play is illegal.

Quarterback position in gridiron football

A quarterback, colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the offensive team, and is often responsible for calling the play in the huddle. The quarterback also touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and is the offensive player that almost always throws forward passes.

The term "touchdown pass" is mostly used for statistical purposes for the quarterback. The statistic is considered to be highly prestigious among quarterbacks, and is one of the four factors in determining the passer rating.

Passer rating is a measure of the performance of passers, primarily quarterbacks, in American football and Canadian football. There are two formulae currently in use: one used by both the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL), and the other used in NCAA football. Passer rating is calculated using a player's passing attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions. Since 1973, passer rating has been the official formula used by the NFL to determine its passing leader. Passer rating in the NFL is on a scale from 0 to 158.3. Passing efficiency in college football is on a scale from −731.6 to 1261.6.

In the game, the effect is simply the scoring of a touchdown (6 points). When a touchdown is achieved by running, the quarterback is not credited with a touchdown pass.

See also

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