Possession Of Ball In American Football

Possession of the Ball

Football

The ball can change to the possession in following ways:

- The other team fails to get a first down after four downs

- The other team scores a touchdown or a field goal. The team that scores then kicks to ball, known as a kickoff, to the other team.

- The other team punts the ball. A punt is a kick there the player drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. Punts are mainly used on fourth down when the team does not want to risk giving up the ball to the opponent at the spot they currently are.

- An interception happens where the defensive player catches a forward pass from the other team and can run the ball until he is tackled, forced out of bounds or scores.

- A fumble occurs where an offensive player drops the ball and a defensive players picks it up and can run with the ball until he is tackled, forced out of bounds or scores.

- The offensive team misses a field goal attempt on fourth down and as a result the other team gets the ball at the spot of the kick. If the field goal is missed and the ball is still in the field of play then a defensive player may pick it up and advance it.

- If an offensive carrier is tackled or forced out of bounds while he is still in his own end zone then it is a safety Football.