If four downs pass without resetting to the first down, control of the ball passes to the other team. X Research source Otherwise, the downs count from one to four.

If the goal of 10 yards (9.1 m) from the first down is achieved before the fourth down is over, the count resets to the first down, commonly noted as '1st and 10' to indicate that the standard 10 yards (9.1 m) are once again required to reset to the first down. The offense is allowed four downs to move the ball at least 10 yards (9.1 m) towards the end zone. Downs - The word 'down' is synonymous with the word 'chance' or 'plays' in American football.Throughout the second half, the end zones each team defends is the one opposite the end zone that team defended in the first half. After halftime, there is a second kickoff by whichever team did not perform the opening kickoff. This initial play is called the kickoff, and typically involves a long kick down field from one team to the other, with the team that kicked the ball rushing towards the team receiving the ball in order to prevent them from running the ball a long ways back towards the kicking team's end zone. Once the kicking and receiving teams are decided, the team captain who lost the coin toss gets to decide which goal his or her team will defend during the first half.

If correct, that captain may choose to kick off or to receive the opening kickoff or allow the visiting team captain to make that choice. The opening kickoff - At the very beginning of the game, the head referee flips a coin and the home team captain calls out which side of the coin will be face up.These are the kickoff and the downs system. American football is made up of two basic structural elements that guide play. X Research source There are many penalties, but some of the most common are 'offside' (someone was on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped), 'holding' (a player grabbed another player with his hands, and either player doesn't have the ball, instead of blocking him properly), 'false start' (when a player moves before the ball is snapped), 'Unsportsmanlike conduct' (when a player does something that doesn't show good sportsmanship, and 'clipping' (someone contacted an opposing player other than the ball carrier from behind and below the waist). Penalties normally result in the offending team losing between 5-15 yards of field position. This lets everyone on the field know that a penalty has been called. Penalties are indicated by referees, who throw yellow flags onto the field when they see a violation.

Play time can stop for a few different reasons: If a player runs out of bounds, a penalty is called, a flag is thrown, or a pass is thrown but not caught by anybody (an incomplete pass), the clock will stop while referees sort everything out.The teams have 30 seconds to get into formation and begin the next play. If the offense succeeds in taking the ball 10 yards in the 4 downs they get another 4 downs to move the ball 10 yards. If the team fails to do so within the 4 downs, the offensive team has to hand over the ball to the opposing team. Each team has 4 downs and within those downs, they have to make ten yards from the line of scrimmage (the starting point). When a play is over, an official called a referee, places the ball on the yard marker which corresponds to his or her judgment of the place where the forward progress of the player with the ball was stopped. A play begins when the ball is moved from the ground into the hands of the players, and ends when either the ball hits the ground, or the person holding the ball is tackled and his knee or elbow touches the ground.X Research source While the clock is active, the game is divided into even shorter segments called 'plays' or 'downs.' Football is divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each, with a break between the second and third periods called 'halftime' that is normally 12 minutes long.

Playall instead of seasonplay