3. Downs

During their time on the field, the offence tries to gain as many yards as it can to try and move the ball closer to the opponent’s end zone. Similarly to the 6 attempts in rugby league, in American Football, when the offence gets the ball, it has four attempts, downs, to gain 10 yards. If the offensive team successfully moves the ball 10 or more yards, it earns another set of four downs. If the offence fails to gain 10 yards, it turns the ball over to the Defence. The defence therefore not only tries to prevent the offence scoring, but also from gaining the 10 yards needed for a first down. If the offence reaches fourth down, and there is a long way to go to achieve the 10 yards, it will usually kick the ball. This can either be an attempt at kicking a field goal to score points, or a “punt” to send the ball deep into the Defence’s half to make their Offence start near its own end-zone.