Football For Dummies (USA Edition) Cheat Sheet

If you're looking for a simple guide to American football, our Football For Dummies Cheat Sheet breaks down the essentials. We explain the core objective: scoring points by moving the ball into the opponent's end zone. You'll learn the key football rules, including the roles of offensive positions like the quarterback and defensive positions like the linebacker. We also define common terms such as "touchdown," "field goal," and "down," and provide a straightforward list of penalties and their consequences to help you follow the game with confidence.

American football is about trying to make points by passing, carrying, or kicking an oblong ball (with two pointed ends) into your opponent's end zone. Football is a rough-and-tumble game with its own jargon, including some terms that are just plain odd. For example, a strong safety is a defender, and a regular safety is a play that scores two points — go figure.

But knowing football lingo (including the fun slang) and the players, not to mention common penalties, can take you a long way toward getting a handle on this popular American sport.

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Player positions in American football

When two opposing American football teams meet on the gridiron (playing field), the player positions depend on whether the football team is playing offense or defense. Football pits the offense, the team with the ball, against the defense, which tries to prevent the offense from scoring. Each side lines up facing the other with the football in the middle.

What are the offensive positions in football?

The offensive side is the side that has possession of the football. The offense’s primary job, as a team, is to move the ball down the field toward the opponent’s end zone to score — either by touchdown or kicking a field goal. There are other ways to score as well, but those are primarily left to special teams. Within the offense, the functions are divided amongst key positions:

What are the defensive positions in football?

In American Football the defense’s primary job, as a team, is to keep the offense from scoring points — by intercepting the ball, tackling members of the offense, and in general preventing the offense from moving the ball closer to their end zone to create a scoring opportunity. Within the defense, the functions are divided among key positions.

American football terms and definitions

To understand and enjoy American football, get familiar with key terms and what they mean. Until you grasp basic football lingo, listening to announcers call an National Football League (NFL) game can be like listening to monkey gibberish. The following list fills you in on the basic American football terms you need to know:

List of football penalties

Making sense of the penalties in American football can be tough — unless you have a handy list of common football penalties to refer to as you watch a game. Here are some brief explanations most common football penalties in the NFL.