Down (gridiron football)

The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football, but is synonymous with the 6 "tackle" rule in rugby league.

A down begins with a snap or free kick (such as a kickoff or safety kick) and ends when the ball or the player in possession of it is declared down by an official, a team scores, or the ball or player in possession of it leaves the field of play.

Though statistical analysis of games suggests playing more aggressively is the better option,[citation needed] kicking the ball is typically seen as the safer solution; scrimmaging may lead to a turnover on downs, potentially giving the ball to the other team with good field position.

If recovering the ball in one's opponent's end zone (following a kickoff in American football, and following any kick into the end zone, except for successful field goals, in Canadian football), a player may down the ball by dropping to one knee (in Canadian play, doing so scores a single for the opposing team).

Other downs-related terminology is as follows: In modern rugby union football, teams have unlimited possession of the ball to score a try.

Eventually the rules officially applied the word to include all of the action from the time the ball was put into play (whether by snap or free kick) until it became dead.

Early in the 20th century, after the forward pass was added to the game, the required advance was doubled to ten yards, and later a fourth down was added to the series; the alternative of retreating a distance with the ball had meanwhile doubled its requirement to twenty yards and later been abolished.

Three and out is a situation in American football where a team, after starting an offensive possession, executes three plays, fails to get a first down, and then punts.

Typically, a team will run or pass on fourth down only if they are trailing late in a close game, are near enough to the first down marker (usually a yard or less) and in the opposing team's territory, or in a certain part of the field where a punt will probably end up being a touchback (which will result in a relatively limited net gain of yardage), but just beyond the distance where a field goal is likely to be successful (in the NFL, a missed field goal results in the opposition taking possession at the spot of the unsuccessful kick).

The range at which American football coaches will typically attempt to convert fourth downs where they otherwise would not varies between the opponent's 30- and 45-yard lines, depending on such factors as the kicker's or punter's perceived abilities and the required distance to gain.

Punting after a three-and-out allows a team the opportunity to set their opposition further back in field position.

As a result, Canadian football coaches will never "go for it" simply on account of the ball being on the edge of field goal range barring extraordinary circumstances (such as trailing by between four and eight points late in the game).