A play from scrimmage is the sequence in the game of

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
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during which one team tries to advance the ball, get a first down, or score, and the other team tries to stop them or take the ball away. Once a play is over, and before the next

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 * Pla ...

starts, the football is considered

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 ...

. A game of American football (or Canadian Football) consists of many (about 120–150) such plays.

Specifications

The term is also used to denote a specific plan of action, or its execution, under a particular set of circumstances faced by either team.Shields, Patricia and Rangarajan, Nandhini. 2013
''A Playbook for Research Methods: Integrating Conceptual Frameworks and Project Management''
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offensive team In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

may be faced with one or two downs left in a possession and still ten or more yards to go to earn a new set of downs. In this instance, they may decide to employ a

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 gridiron ...

. Well in advance of the particular game, a number of different kinds of

plays will have been planned out and practiced by the team. They will be designated by obscure words, letters and/or numbers so that the name of a play does not reveal its exact execution to outsiders. The team's coach, or perhaps the

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 ...

, will choose one of the planned

ing strategies, and tell the team, during the

huddle In sport, a huddle is the action of a team gathering together, usually in a tight circle, to strategize, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulation ...

which one has been chosen. Because of planning and practice, each player is expected to know what his role in the play is to be, and how to execute it. This will be the offensive play. Conversely, the

defensive team In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

will know that the offense has to cover a good deal of ground in a single play, will expect a forward pass, and will know from earlier study something of the propensities of the offense they face. The defensive captain is likely to call out a specific

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

or defensive play, to anticipate and counteract the expected action by the offense.

The play

The play will begin with the

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of the ball (typically but not exclusively to the

), and it will end when the effort by the offensive squad to advance the ball has either succeeded in scoring, or has been frustrated by the ball being downed before the aim of the offensive play is accomplished, or by the defensive squad having managed to come into possession of the ball without first downing it. In the event of change of possession during a play, the team newly in possession of the ball may try to advance it toward their opponent's goal, which the team formerly in possession will naturally resist. Change of possession during a routine play may occur by

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

or by

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

(often collectively referred to as ''turnovers''). Change of possession may also occur in other ways. A change of possession can occur "on downs", if the offensive team fails to achieve a

first down 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 a "tackle" in rugby league. The team in possession of the f ...

or a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

in a specified number of consecutive attempts, known as " downs" (four in American football; three in Canadian football). Another way is through a change of possession play, when the offensive team (having perhaps surmised the unlikelihood of scoring or of achieving a

within the allowed consecutive attempts to do so) kicks the ball away in what is known as a punt. A touchdown (and subsequent conversion attempt, whether successful or not) or successful field goal attempt will be followed by a kickoff.

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'' (magaz ...

s and field goal attempts are not considered true change of possession plays. An unsuccessful field goal attempt will usually also result in a change of possession (without a kickoff), but is usually not counted as a turnover.

References

{{Gridiron football plays American football terminology

Specifications

The play

See also

References