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A down is a period in which a
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
transpires in
gridiron football. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of
football, but is synonymous with a "tackle" in
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
. The team in possession of the football has a limited number of downs (four in American football, three in Canadian football) 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.
Description
A down begins with a
snap or free kick (such as a
kickoff
Kickoff or kick-off may refer to
* Kick-off (association football)
* Kickoff (gridiron football)
* ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games
* ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club
* ''Kick Off'' (mag ...
or
safety kick), and ends when the ball or the player in possession of it is declared down by an official, a team scores, or the ball or player in possession of it leaves the field of play.
The player with possession of the ball after he has been tackled or is otherwise unable to advance the ball further on account of the play having ended is ''down'' (e.g., "He is down at the 34 yard line").
''Down'' may also refer to the ball after it is made
dead
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
in one manner or another. The
line of scrimmage
In gridiron football, a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line (across the width of the field) beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun. Its location is based on the spot where the ball is placed after the end o ...
for the next play will be determined by the position of the ball when it is down.
Each possession begins with first down. The line to gain is marked 10 yards downfield from the start of this possession, and the situation is described as "1st and 10" (if the goal line is less than 10 yards downfield, then the goal line is the line to gain and the situation is "1st and goal"). If the offensive team moves the ball past the line to gain, they make a new first down. If they fail to do this after a specified number of downs (four in American play and three in Canadian play), the team ''turns the ball over on downs'', and possession of the ball reverts to the opposing team at the spot where the ball was downed at the end of the last down.
If a
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
against the defensive team moves the ball past the line to gain, the offensive team gets a new first down. Some defensive penalties give the offense an automatic first down regardless of the distance.
When the offensive team reaches the final down, the team faces a ''last down situation'' (''third down situation'' in Canadian play and ''fourth down situation'' in American play), where the team must decide whether to use a running or passing play in an attempt to gain a first down (this is called ''going for it''), or alternatively to kick the ball (either by
punting or making a
field goal attempt). Though statistical analysis of games suggests playing more aggressively is the better option, kicking the ball is typically seen as the safer solution; scrimmaging may lead to a turnover on downs, potentially giving the ball over to the other team with good field position.
Downing the player with possession of the ball is one way to end a play (other ways include the player with the ball going out of bounds, an incomplete pass, or a score). Usually a player is made down when he is tackled by the defense. In the NFL, if the offensive player is touching the ground with some part of his body other than his hands or feet, then he is down if any defensive player touches him. In the NCAA, an offensive player touching the ground in the same manner is down, regardless of whether a defensive player touches him.
If recovering the ball in one's opponent's
end zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...
(following a
kick-off in American football, and following any kick into the end zone, except for successful field goals, in Canadian football), a player may down the ball by dropping to one knee (note that in Canadian play, doing so scores a
single for the opposing team). A player in possession of the ball will down the ball if he
fumbles it out of bounds. If a
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
is running with the ball during his initial possession following the
snap, he may down the ball by doing a foot-first slide this is to protect the quarterback from injury. In the NFL, the quarterback is the only player for whom falling down in this way automatically stops play.
Terminology
The situation at a down can be described succinctly in a short phrase of the form ''1st/2nd/3rd/4th & X''. The first part describes which down of the set of four the offense is on, and the ''X'' is a number of yards between the current line of scrimmage and the line at which the offense would gain another set of downs. Thus, offenses will normally begin on ''1st & 10''. If they were to gain 5 yards on the play, the subsequent situation would be described as ''2nd & 5''.
If the distance to the target line is very small, the number of yards may be replaced by ''& inches'' (i.e. ''3rd & inches''). Colloquially, when the target line is far from the line of scrimmage, the term "''& long''" may be used (i.e. ''3rd & long'').
When an offence has a first down within 10 yards of the
goal line, the goal line becomes the line to gain as they cannot make another first down (barring a defensive
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
) without actually scoring. In these situations the number of yards is replaced with ''& goal'', i.e. ''1st & goal''.
Other downs-related terminology is as follows:
*''First down'': The term "first down" can be used both as the first down in a series of downs, and for the statistical achievement of gaining the required ten yards to be awarded a new first down. When a team begins a new possession--for example following a kickoff by their opponents--their first play in the ensuing series of downs will be "first down". However, it would not be recorded as a first down for statistical purposes as the offense didn't do anything to achieve the first down. Statistically they are only credited with a first down if they gain the required ten yards to be awarded a new series of downs.
*''Down by contact'': When a player with possession of the ball is made to touch the ground (other than hands or feet) by a defensive player; for example, if the ball-carrier slips and falls, he can get up and continue, but if he was pushed by a defensive player, he is said to be down by contact and the play is dead. This term is only applicable to professional football; in college and high-school football, the play ends when the player with possession goes down for any reason. An exception to this rule in effect at all levels of the game is that a player who is ''already'' kneeling when he takes possession of the ball is '' not'' considered down. This exception is primarily intended to ensure that the kneeling holder of a place kick attempt will not be considered to be down.
*''
Turnover on downs In gridiron football, a turnover on downs occurs when a team's offense has used all their downs but has not progressed downfield enough to earn another set of downs. The resulting turnover gives possession of the ball to the team currently on def ...
'': Transfer of possession to the other team due to failure to make a new first down on the final down.
*''3rd/4th & game'': Informal term referring to the late-game situation where the team with the ball is losing, and failure to convert that down will seal the outcome by being either the final play before the clock runs out, or a turnover would allow the winning team to run out the clock.
* ''Base downs'': term in American football used to describe 1st and 2nd downs. The term is not applicable in Canadian football since there are only three downs.
* ''Passing down'' or ''running down'': terms used in anticipation of the type of play likely to be called. On a ''3rd & long'' in American football, for example, a pass play is often called, whereas on a 3rd down with only a few yards to the target a running play is often deployed. In Canadian football, the strategy employed for 2nd down is broadly similar to the strategy employed for 3rd down in American football, and 1st and long situations (arising as a result of penalties) may be considered passing downs similar to how 2nd and long situations may be considered passing downs in American football.
Derivation
In the 19th century in
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
football, the ball became dead in the field of play only by mutual consent of opponents. A player carrying the ball and held by opponents would say, "Held!", and his opponent would say, "Have it down." That is, the ball carrier would declare himself fairly held, unable to advance, and an opponent would call on him to put the ball down, initiating the scrimmage.
In modern
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
football, each team has
six tackles to score. If they fail then possession changes over to the other team. The rule was established at four tackles in 1966 and was changed to six tackles at different times in different countries.
In American football, the concept of the act of having the ball down gave rise to "down" as the condition of the player so obligated, and the ball carrier could call for a "down" voluntarily. Although NCAA rules have effectively abolished this (as the ball carrier dropping to the ground immediately ends the play), other codes for North American football, such as the
NFL, still allow (as one way for the ball to become dead) for the runner to cry "down".
Eventually the rules officially applied the word to include all of the action from the time the ball was put into play (whether by snap or free kick) until it became dead. However, in some contexts the down begins when the ball is made ready for play by the officials.
The system of downs, in terms of a set number of plays to advance the ball a certain number of yards, was introduced by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1882. (Then-player Walter Camp, as secretary of the rules committee, chronicled this change, but had not promoted it.) It allowed a team three downs to advance the ball five yards, or retreat with it ten yards, or else lose possession of the ball, a proposal meant to reduce
sandbagging. Early in the 20th century, after the
forward pass
In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridir ...
was added to the game, the required advance was doubled to ten yards, and later a fourth down was added to the series; the alternative of retreating a distance with the ball had meanwhile doubled its requirement to twenty yards and later been abolished. A system of three downs was introduced to Canadian football around 1900 in certain provincial rules, as the game had not yet been standardized nationwide.
Two/Three-and-out
Three and out is a situation in
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
in which a team, after starting an offensive possession, executes three plays, fails to get a first down, and then
punts.
The term comes from the standard practice that an offensive unit only has three "real" plays before they are expected to punt. While, in theory, a team is allowed a fourth running or passing play, using the fourth down to run or pass is a risky move under most circumstances. If they fail to gain a new first down on a fourth-down play, the opposing team takes possession at the spot where they left off, giving them better field position than if the ball had been punted farther toward the opposing team's end zone. Typically, a team will run or pass on fourth down only if they are trailing late in a close game, are close enough to the first down marker (usually a yard or less) and in the opposing team's territory, or in a certain part of the field where a punt will likely result in a
touchback
In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to tra ...
(which will result in a relatively limited net gain of yardage), but just beyond the distance where a field goal is likely to be successful (in the NFL, a missed field goal results in the opposition taking possession at the spot of the unsuccessful kick) – the range at which American football coaches will typically attempt to convert fourth downs where they otherwise would not varies between the opponent's 30- and 45-yard lines, depending on such factors as the kicker's or punter's perceived abilities and the required distance to gain.
Punting following a three-and-out is unlike a
turnover on downs In gridiron football, a turnover on downs occurs when a team's offense has used all their downs but has not progressed downfield enough to earn another set of downs. The resulting turnover gives possession of the ball to the team currently on def ...
. Punting after a three-and-out allows a team the opportunity to set their opposition farther back in field position. On a turnover on downs, there is no punt and the opposing team takes over possession of the ball at the spot of field where the final (third in the Canadian game, fourth in the American game) down ended.
In
Canadian football
Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...
, since there are three downs, the term "two and out" is used in this situation. In the Canadian game,
single points can be scored on punts and missed field goals. As a result, Canadian football coaches will never "go for it" simply on account of the ball being on the edge of field goal range – barring extraordinary circumstances (such as trailing by between four and eight points late in the game), teams facing third and relatively long at the edge of field goal range will typically either punt (typically with the intent of
putting the ball out of bounds near the opposing goal line as opposed to actually scoring a single point) or attempt a field goal.
References
See also
*
1st & Ten, the graphics system used in NFL broadcast to superimpose the first down line on the field of play
*
Fifth Down Game, several instances of incorrect counting of downs
*
Glossary of American football
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''.
0–9
...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Down (American Football)
American football terminology
Canadian football terminology