American football is a very strategic sport

Football is a very physical and rough sport. It is true that the players are impressive under their protections of the future. An image of gladiator shines. Football is more than a gladiator sport. It is ruled by hundreds of precise rules, 7 referees are present to keep the game fair play.

The essence of the interest for this sport lies on the base rule that I will try to explain: In order to score points, we need to get as close as possible to the end zone of our opponent. Often the teams advance little by little.

A team has 4 tries (downs) to cover 10 yards. If that team can cover the 10 yards in less than 4 downs, then it can continue its progression. On the other hand if at the 4th down the 10 yards are not covered, then the opponent can get the possession of the ball.
It would be unjust if this rule would stop there because imagine if we are on our own field and we loose the possession of the ball. Then the opponent would have the possibility to score to easily, this is why there is a possibility to make it a bit tougher: At the 4th down, you can kick (punt) the ball with the foot. The team looses the possession of the ball but the opponent will get the ball farther in its own field

Example:

First down 10 yards to go. (1st down and 10)
Gain of 2 yards
Second down and 8 (10 - 2 = 8) yards.
Gain of 5 yards
Third down and 3 (8-5 = 3) yards.
Back of 4 yards
Fourth down and 7 (3+4) yards.
Gain of 5 yards.

Team looses the ball and becomes the defense. (Because in order to continue, we needed at least 7 yards and gained only 5!)

Other example:

1st and 10
Gain of 5 yards
2nd and 5
Gain of 7 (Excellent!!! The team can continue as it got more than 5 yards ! Get a fresh set of 4 new downs and 10 yards to go from that point.
1st and 10
Gain of 30 (Once again !! "First down!!")
1st and 10
Back of 3 (A little less impressive there it is ok we still have 3 more attempts)
2nd and 13
No gain (aie, we feel the stadium getting worried, the set of coaches is probably not happy with this effort)
3rd and 13
Gain of 5 (better but it is not enough for the first down)
4th and 8
What do we do now ?
3 choices:

If the distance to score a touchdown is large then the team should get out of this whole by using the punt (we will not risk to loose the ball in our own field and give a gift to the opponent)
If the distance for a new set of downs (8 yards) seem to be doable by the attack then it can try to convert them but watch out because if the 8 yards are not converted then the team looses the possession of the ball.
If the distance for the new set of down is too large but we are close to the end zone of the opponent then we could try to kick the ball between the goal posts. That can bring 3 points. It would be better than nothing.

8 yards is a distance relatively big so the good choice would be to PUNT. Often if the distance for the 1st down is bigger than 2 yards then the choice is the punt of a field goal. If we are inside the 35 yards of the opponent field (from the end zone) then we will typically choose a field goal. If the ball is placed 35 yards from the goal line then the kick will have to travel a distance of 50 yards. (the kicker will kick be ball 6 yards behind its current position to protect against the defense, and the field goals are 10 yards behind the goal line so it will be 35 + 6 + 10 = 51 yards.

and now read about:

The tale of a game just as if you were there

The Strategy - Introduction to American Football - rules of US football

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American football is a very strategic sport