Last updated: Oct 14, 2022
When most people think of football scoring, they think of touchdowns. However, there are different options to score points in football that are fairly interesting. Read more to learn all you should know about scoring in football.
Table of Contents
- Where Do Football Teams Score Points?
- Scoring In Football
- Touchdowns
- The Try
- Field Goals
- Safeties
- FAQ
End Zones
All scoring outside of kicks happens in the end zones and each team gets one to defend. The end zone is ten yards deep and spans the entire width of the field.Teams will rotate which end zone they get to defend each quarter. End zones are usually a different color from the rest of the field and easy to identify.
Players that enter the opponent's end zone with the ball while a down is being played, whether on offense or defense, will score a touchdown. If a team kicks the ball through the goal posts during a scrimmage down, they will score a field goal. Players who are tackled in their own end zone while holding the ball will cause a safety. Lastly, after a touchdown, a team will either attempt an extra point or two point conversion.
Goal Posts
Besides the end zone, football fields also feature a goal post on either side of the field. These goal posts reside in the back of each endzone. Teams can score field goals by using a down to kick the ball through the uprights, and can also earn one point after a touchdown is scored by kicking the ball through the posts.
Scoring In Football
There are lots of ways to score points in football. Teams can score points by recording:
- Touchdowns - 6 points
- Field goals - 3 points
- Safeties - 2 points
- Extra points (the try) -1 point
- Two point conversions (the try) - 2 points
Touchdowns
A touchdown occurs when a team carries or catches the ball in the opposing team's end zone while staying inbounds.A touchdown is worth six points. In order to be considered legal, they also must touch two feet in the NFL (or one foot in most amateur leagues) to the ground while holding and controlling the ball. If any part of the ball crosses or touches the goal line while a player has possession of the ball, the touchdown will count. After a touchdown, teams are awarded an extra point try.
The Try
The try is an untimed down to score additional points only after a touchdown is scored. It either takes the form of a kick through the goal posts or a play from scrimmage near the opposing team’s end zone.
Extra Points
On the extra point, a kicker attempts to kick the ball through the opposing team's goal posts. Extra points are worth one additional point.Most teams elect to kick the ball during the extra points period after a touchdown. This is because the extra point kick is a very high percentage play and is often thought of as guaranteed points. However, in the NFL, the extra point try was moved from the two-yard line to the 15-yard linepreceding the 2015 season.Before the rule change, teams kicked successful extra points 97 percent of the time. This number dropped to 94.2 percentin the first year with the new rule.
Two Point Conversions
On a two-point conversion, a team must carry or catch the ball in the opposing team's end zone while staying inbounds.Two point conversions can only happen after touchdowns, and teams only have one attempt to succeed. This is a team’s other option (besides the extra point kick) after scoring a touchdown. As their name suggests, these conversions are worth two additional points. The play begins at the two-yard line in the NFL and the three-yard line in college football. Most teams will only attempt a two point conversion if they need to make up extra points or if there is an issue with their kicking unit.
Field Goals
Field goals happen when a kicker, a player on the special teams, attempts to kick the ball through goal posts in the opposing team's end zone.Field goals can be taken from distance on the field, and are always worth three points. Teams usually elect to kick a field goal if they are within their opponent’s 40 yard line and are faced with a 4th down situation. If the kick is blocked or missed, it may be returned by the defense to either score a touchdown or improve their field position. If the kicker misses the field goal and it is not recovered by the defense, the opposing team’s offense will take over at the same yard line that the ball was snapped from.
Safeties
Safeties happen when the offense makes a mistake in their own end zone with the ball. The offense either goes out of bounds, gets tackled, or fumbles out of bounds in their own endzone.A safety is worth two points for the opposing team, who gets to retain possession of the ball after.
One-Point Safety
There is also an extremely rare one-point safety that only applies during extra points.The same rules as a safety apply, except it is only worth a single point because it occurs during a PAT.This has only happened a few times (ever) in college football, and has never occurred in the NFL.
FAQ
How is a touchdown scored?
In football, a touchdown is scored as six points. A common misconception is that a touchdown equals seven points, because most teams end up with seven points afterwards. However, that is because teams must make an extra point after scoring the touchdown to get to seven points. They can even choose to go for a two-point conversion, resulting in the team ending up with eight points.
How do you get two points in football?
Football teams can score two points through either two-point conversions or safeties.Safeties occur when a player in possession of the ball is tackled or steps out of bounds in their own end zone. Meanwhile, two-point conversions take place after a touchdown when the offense opts to run a play instead of kicking an extra point.
What is an extra point in football?
In football, an extra point is when a team attempts to make a short field goal to score one additional point after scoring a touchdown. This is the more common of the two tries that a team can choose from after a touchdown. The other try is a two-point conversion, which requires the team to get in the endzone on one play from the two or three-yard line. Most teams choose the extra point because the probability of making it is much higher.
