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In gridiron football, a turnover on downs occurs when a team's offense has used all its downs but has not advanced the ball enough to earn another set of downs. The resulting turnover gives possession of the ball to the team on defense.
A football team has four plays (downs) (three in Canadian football) to advance the ball at least ten yards or to score. Any ground gained during each down short of these ten yards is kept, and any ground lost must be regained in addition to the ten yards. Thus, if a team gains four yards on first down, it then has three more downs to gain the six remaining yards; if a team loses four yards on first down, it must gain a total of fourteen yards over the next three downs.
If a team gains the required ten yards, it becomes first down and the team receives another four downs to gain another ten yards or cross the goal line for a score. Otherwise, the result of the final down includes turning possession of the ball over to the team that had been on defense.
If a team reaches its final down, then rather than risk a turnover on downs, it usually concedes that the drive has ended and executes one of the following plays:
In some instances, a team may elect to use its final down to try to gain the yardage, rather than punt or kick a field goal. This is referred to as "going for it" (or "sticking" as opposed to "kicking"). The risk is that, if the play fails, the opposing team takes possession of the ball at a more advantageous field position than it would after a punt. Factors that may lead to a team making this choice are:
Near the end of the game, the score of the game becomes more relevant to the decision to go for it:
If there is only time left on the clock for a single play (in either half), there are no long-term considerations. The offense typically executes a Hail Mary pass or a series of lateral passes. A team that is leading at the end of the second half, or either team at the end of the first half, may have the quarterback kneel to end the half with minimum chance for mishap.
High-school coach Kevin Kelley, the former head coach at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas, achieved national notoriety for his absolute refusal to punt, regardless of field position. He led the school to multiple state championships with a heavily analytics-driven strategy. After becoming Pulaski's head coach in 2003, he ran across a research paper by a Harvard professor who argued that punting made no mathematical sense. Kelley responded by initially reducing punting to less than twice per game, and soon eliminating it altogether. [1]
In the National Football League, turnovers on downs do not count as turnovers in statistics for either team; turnover statistics tally turnovers that occur during a play — namely, fumble recoveries and interceptions.
A down is a period in which a play transpires in gridiron football. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football but is synonymous with the 6 "tackle" rule in rugby league. The team in possession of the football has a limited number of downs to advance ten yards or more towards their opponent's goal line. If they fail to advance that far, possession of the ball is turned over to the other team. In most situations if a team reaches their final down, they will punt to their opponent, which forces their opponent to begin their drive from further down the field; if they are in range, they might instead attempt to score a field goal.
Strategy is a major part of American football.
Gameplay in American football consists of a series of downs, individual plays of short duration, outside of which the ball is or is not in play. These can be plays from scrimmage – passes, runs, punts or field goal attempts – or free kicks such as kickoffs and fair catch kicks. Substitutions can be made between downs, which allows for a great deal of specialization as coaches choose the players best suited for each particular situation. During a play, each team should have no more than 11 players on the field, and each of them has specific tasks assigned for that specific play.
Street football, also known as backyard football or sandlot football, is an amateur variant of American football primarily played informally by youth. It features far less equipment and fewer rules than its counterparts and, unlike the similar touch football, features full tackling.
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The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see Glossary of Canadian football.
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In gridiron football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final down, with the hope of giving the receiving team a field position that is more advantageous to the kicking team when possession changes. The result of a typical punt, barring any penalties or extraordinary circumstances, is a first down for the receiving team. A punt is not to be confused with a drop kick, a kick after the ball hits the ground, now rare in both American and Canadian football.
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