Official Rules of NFL
Football's rules provide the framework of the game. There are seven officials on the field at all times to help adjudicate the game and make sure the players adhere to safe practices within the rules. The official rules of the game aexplain scoring, timeouts and procedural solutions for the players.
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Minor penalties
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The NFL has designated 31 penalties that result in the offending team being penalized five yards for each violation. Some of these rules include off-sides, illegal procedure, illegal motion, false start, delay of game and more than one man in motion. If any of these penalties are called, the offending team is penalized five yards and the down remains the same. A five-yard penalty may result in a first down but may not if the yards needed to achieve the first down originally is more than five yards. For example, if the defense is off-sides on a 4th-and-8 play, the result of the penalty would leave the offense with a 4th-and-3. In most cases, the offensive team would still punt if that had been their original plan or kick a field goal if that had been their plan.
Major penalties
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The NFL defines a major penalty as any rule infraction that results in a 10 yard penalty or more. There are 26 of these penalties listed in the rule box. Offensive pass interference, offensive holding and an illegal block above the waist are all 10-yard penalties. Roughing the passer, unnecessary roughness, clipping, fair catch interference and taunting are among the 15-yard penalties. All 15-yard penalties committed by the defense result in a first down. This includes situations where the offense had more than 15 yards to go to earn a first down. For example, the offense may face a 3rd-and-26 situation after suffering losses on the first two downs. On third down, the quarterback attempts to throw down-field and he is struck by an onrushing defensive lineman a full second after he throws the ball. Say the pass was incomplete. The defense is penalized 15 yards for the late hit and the offense is awarded a first down in addition to being given the yardage.
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Sudden Death rules
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If a regular-season game is tied at the end of a 60-minute game, the two teams play a sudden death overtime period. Before the start of overtime, the captains of the two teams meet in the middle of the field and the officials flip a coin to determine who gets the ball. The team that wins the coin flip has its choice of receiving, kicking or defending a goal. The choice in overtime is almost always to receive the ball. The first team to score wins the game. The score can be a touchdown, field goal or safety. If the team that wins the coin toss drives down the field and scores, the other team does not get a chance to possess the ball and tie the game.
Timing rules
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The game is divided into four 15-minute quarters. After the play begins, the clock remains in motion as long as the play stays in bounds or a pass is not incomplete. If a runner or receiver is tackled in bounds, the offensive team has 25 seconds to run the next play once the ball is signaled ready to play by the official. The game clock continues to wind down. If a pass is incomplete, the clock stops until the next stop. If a runner or receiver runs out of bounds, the clock is stopped until the ball is marked ready for play. In the last two minutes of the first half and the final five minutes of the second half, the clock will remain stopped on any play that goes out of bounds. Teams are allowed to stop the clock between plays by their own choice on three different occasions in each half. The clock also stops when the officials are viewing a replay in order to determine the accuracy of a particular call.
Instant replay rules
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Each team is given two opportunities per game to challenge rulings on the field. These rulings have to do with touchdown or no touchdown calls, possession, in-bounds or out of bounds calls or placement of the ball on the field after a play is over. If a team uses both of its challenges successfully, the team gets a third challenge. Additionally, the NFL has its own replay official who can challenge plays in the final two minutes of each half. Instant replay cannot be used to challenge a penalty call. If pass interference is called against the defense and the coach of that team believes the call was incorrect, that type of play is not allowed to be challenged by the current rules.
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