What's the Red Zone? I don't see any red...

Red Zone - the area inside the 20-yard line

When a team is on offense and they get to the 20-yard line closest to the end zone where they're trying to score, that is the Red Zone (from the 20 to the end zone).

You'll hear TV announcers talk about a team's "Red Zone Scoring" or the percentages of times they score (touchdown, field goal, or no score) once they've made it to the Red Zone.

Side note: We like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In their stadium, they have a huge pirate ship. Whenever the Bucs make it to the Red Zone, they fire the canons from the pirate ship one time. (When they score, the canons fire one time for each point scored.) It's awesome and LOUD - especially when you're in the stadium!

You're going the wrong way!

You may have noticed that your favorite team is heads towards both end zones at different times of the game. Or maybe you didn't notice. But it happened.

After each quarter, the teams switch direction they are going to get to the end zone (when they are offense).

For example:

• 1st quarter, when your team is trying to score, they are heading towards the right on your TV.
• 2nd quarter, they're heading left on your TV when they try to score.
• 3rd quarter (start of the 2nd half), they're heading right again.
• 4th quarter - back to the left.

I think it is so they both have to deal with the downfalls of each end zone (like a strong wind or looking into the sun).

Or maybe it's just to confuse us a little bit more.

What is the red flag the coach threw?

Sometimes, you'll see a coach throw a red flag onto the field. This means that he wants to challenge the ruling on the field (because he doesn't agree with what the ref called).

When a ruling gets challenged, the referee watches the play using instant replay (to see if the right call was made or if they messed up).

After reviewing the play, the call will either get overturned (which is what the coach wanted) or it will stand as called. To overturn a ruling, there has to be "indisputable visual evidence" - which means it has to clearly show on the replays. The officials get the same replays that the TV channel broadcasts - so if YOU can't see it clearly, the official can't either. Sometimes, you'll wish there was a better angle - but it is still determined by what is actually SHOWN on the replay.

Each coach gets 2 challenges per game.

If the coach WINS the challenge (and gets the ruling overturned), he is not charged a timeout. If he wins two challenges in the game, then he earns a 3rd red flag for later (if he needs it).

If the coach loses the challenge (and the ruling stands as called), then the team loses a timeout (because - let's face it, the game stopped). So, a team has to have a timeout left in order to use their challenge.

During the last 2 minutes of each half, coaches cannot challenge a play. During that time, plays can still be reviewed, but it has to be a "booth review" - which means the officials in the viewing booth want the field officials to look at the replay.

Not all plays are reviewable though, so if the coach challenges an un-reviewable play, then the ref tells him he can't challenge and the game goes on (and the coach is not charged a challenge or a timeout).

Random - there's a green dot on this guy's helmet

You might notice some players have a green dot on the back of their helmet. That means that they have a radio in their helmet. The radio lets them hear calls from the coaches on the sidelines. The quarterback has the green dot - and there can only be one green dot on the field at a time per team. Sometimes, the defensive captain on the team will have a dot too.

Just in case you were wondering...

He was on the ground but got up and kept running...

In the NFL, if a player falls down or trips on his own (and stays in bounds) and is not touched by a player of the other team, he can get up and keep the play going. If a player of the other team causes him to fall (tackle, pushes, etc.), then when the player falls, he is considered "down by contact" and the play is over.

To know if he is officially down, they look for an elbow or knee (or butt) to touch the ground. If just his hand hits the ground, he's not considered down and can keep moving the ball.

Sometimes, the player with the ball will fall on top of a player from the other team. If his knee or elbow or butt doesn't touch the ground, he can keep going!

You will see these kind of plays reviewed or challenged too - that's when they're looking to see if someone on the other team touched him (sometimes it's just a whiff and no contact was made) and if his knee/elbow/butt actually touched the ground.

Beginner's Guide to Football

I stumbled across the Beginner's Guide to Football on the NFL website. It's a good reference for some basic points. Just thought it might help you!

The game clock has a mind of its own...

When does the NFL game clock stop? Some reasons...

• A timeout is called (duh, right?)
• The person with the ball runs out of bounds (this is important when there's not much time left in the half)
• There's an injured player on the field (although sometimes the team has to use a timeout then too - it depends)
• The red challenge flag is thrown by a coach (which means the referees review the previous play to see if the decision needs to be changed)
• It is the 2-minute warning (this is at the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters)
• Change of possession (interception, score, punt, etc.)

Sometimes you won't realize the clock stopped because they'll switch to a TV commercial.