Different Ways to Score in Football : NFL

Posted on by Nafiz Labib

There are different ways to score in a football match. Here’s all the ways to get points on the board in case you don’t know:

Touchdown: 6 points

Field Goal: 3 points

Safety: 2 points

Try: 1 or 2 points

A touchdown is scored when one of the following is done:

  • The ball is on, above, or behind the opponent’s goal line and a runner takes the ball from the playing field to the end zone

  • A player catches a ball while on, above, or behind the opponent’s goal line, and some part of the ball passed over or inside the pylon

  • A player touches the pylon with the ball, provided that, after contact by an opponent, no part of the player’s body, except his hands or feet, struck the ground before the ball touched the pylon

  • any player who is legally inbounds catches or recovers a loose ball that is on, above, or behind the opponent’s goal line

  • the referee awards a touchdown to a team that has been denied one by a palpably unfair act (rare penalty)

A field goal is counted when all of these conditions are true:

  • The kick is a placekick or dropkick from on or behind the line of scrimmage or from the spot of a fair catch. If a fair catch is made or awarded outside the inbound line, the spot of the kick is the nearest inbound line.

  • After the ball is kicked, it must not touch the ground or any player of the offensive team before it passes through the goal.

  • The entire ball must pass through the vertical area created by the goal post. If the ball passes through the goal but returns through the goal without striking the ground or some object or person beyond the goal, the attempt is unsuccessful

A safety is considered when one of the following occurs:

  • The offense commits a foul on their own end zone

  • when a team sends the ball behind its own goal line, and the ball is dead in the end zone during their possession, or the ball is out of bounds behind the goal line

A try is an opportunity to score extra points when a team completes a touchdown. It begins when a referee blows the whistle. The options available are:

  • kicking the ball in the goal post 15 yards away from the goal line (1 point)

  • throwing/running the ball 2 yards from the scrimmage line to make a “touchdown” (2 points)

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