Comparison of American Football and Rugby League - Advancing The Ball

Advancing The Ball

In American football, the team that's in possession of the ball (the offense) has four "downs", to advance the ball 10 yards towards the end zone. When the offense gains 10 yards, it gets another set of four downs. If the offense fails to gain 10 yards after 4 downs, it loses possession of the ball.

A down ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following:

  • The player with the ball is tackled.
  • A forward pass goes out of bounds or touches the ground before it is caught. This is known as an incomplete pass. The ball is returned to the original "line of scrimmage" for the next down.
  • The ball or the player with the ball goes out of bounds.
  • The player either goes or is forced out of the field (out of bounds)
  • The offense turns the ball over to the defense.
  • A team scores.

This closely resembles the six-tackle rule in rugby league. The team in possession has a "set of six" tackles before having to hand over possession. A key difference is that there is no automatic way of earning a new set of tackles in rugby league. Each set is effectively a chance to score, with failure to do so resulting in relinquishing possession. Another major difference is that play stops briefly when the player in possession of the ball is tackled and resumes once he gets to his feet and returns the ball to play.

Players can advance the ball in two ways in American football:

  • By running with the ball, also known as rushing. One ball-carrier can hand the ball to another; this is known as a handoff.
  • By passing the ball forwards to a team-mate. This can only be performed once on a down, and cannot be done if the ball crosses the line of scrimmage. The illegal forward pass rule has changed several times, with the current NFL rule being that the passer's entire person must be beyond the line of scrimmage for a forward pass to be illegal. The passer (most often the quarterback but not always so) can therefore straddle the line of scrimmage, or even be mostly beyond it, but still legally pass the ball, regardless of where the ball is in relation to the line of scrimmage.

In rugby league the ball cannot be passed forward, so players can advance the ball by either running with it, or kicking it ahead and chasing it. This concept is preserved in American football; any player may pass the ball backwards, regardless of player position and location of the field. In addition, a ball passed backwards remains live, even if not caught, so long as it remains in play, similar to rugby league.

Following a down, the ball is returned to play within a restricted time limit by a "snap" in American Football. All players line up facing each other at the line of scrimmage. One offensive player, the center, then passes (or "snaps") the ball back between his legs to a teammate, usually the quarterback and play commences.

In rugby league the ball is returned to play following a tackle via the "play the ball", in which the tackled player gets back to his feet and rolls the ball back to a teammate, usually the hooker. The tackled player will usually try to return to the ball to play as quickly as possible before the defensive line can re-form.

Possession may change in different ways in both games:-

  1. An automatic handover takes place when the team in possession runs out of downs / tackles.
  2. When the ball is kicked to the opposing team. This can be done at any time but it is normal to punt on the last down / tackle.
  3. Following an unsuccessful kick at goal.
  4. When an opposing player intercepts a pass.
  5. In rugby league the opposition are awarded a scrum if the player in possession drops the ball forwards or makes the ball go forwards with any part of his body other than his feet. This is called a knock-on.
  6. When the player in possession drops the ball and it is recovered by an opposition player. This is called a fumble in American football and a knock-on in rugby league.
  7. In rugby league if the ball goes out of play, the opposition are awarded a scrum the "loose head and feed" of the scrum. Penalties and 40/20 kicks are exceptions to this rule.
  8. In American football possession changes hands following a successful score and the team scoring kicks off to the opposition. In contrast, in rugby league the team who conceded the points must kick off to the team who scored. (In some amateur levels of American football, and in Canadian football, the team who conceded the points has the option of kicking off to the opposition rather than receiving the kickoff, but this option is extremely rarely invoked.)
  9. In American football, on a kickoff following a score the kicking team may try an onside kick to attempt to retain possession for themselves. The kicker either dribbles the ball forward or, more popularly, drives the ball into the ground in an attempt to make it bounce high into the air for a teammate to catch. This is most often done by a team that is behind late in the game, but can be done anytime to surprise the receiving team and retain an advantage. The most famous example of the latter came when the New Orleans Saints attempted - and recovered - a surprise onside kick at the start of the second half of their victory in Super Bowl XLIV against the Indianapolis Colts. For an onside kick to be legal, the ball must either travel 10 yards before it is touched by the kicking team or be touched first by the receiving team. If a member of the kicking team is the first to touche the ball before it travels 10 yards, a penalty is called and the receiving team gets possession of the ball. The advantage of an onside kick is obvious - the chance to retain possession. However, it is risky when not essential, because if the kicking team fails to retain possession, their opponents will have extremely good field position and a much shorter distance to travel to score. Onside kicks are difficult to execute, because the ball must travel ten yards before it can be touched by the kicking team, which is usually exactly where the receiving team's most advanced players are. The average success rate for onside kicks is about 25%, with most of the successes coming when the receiving team does not expect an onside kick to occur.

In both codes, tactical kicking is an important aspect of play. However, kicking in general play is more common in rugby league. Kicking is far more heavily restricted in American football; the rules currently prohibit a player from kicking the ball after he has crossed the line of scrimmage, whereas a rugby league player can kick the ball at any time, from any point on the field. In rugby league, a player can receive a kick (and still maintain possession) if he is behind the kicker at the time of the kick; that feature is not allowed in the American game, except in the onside kick scenario described above.

Read more about this topic:  Comparison Of American Football And Rugby League

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