A few NFL questions from a English fan.

[DoubleVodkas]

Just watching the Eagles V Bears game and have a few questions. I've had a interest in football for around 3 years now but I'm no expert so was wondering if one of you fanatics can enlighten me.

What happens say if you are 2nd and inches and you don't score but the defence gets a 5 yard penalty against them?


Is a running back only as good as his offensive line?


Can a player play both offensive and defensive line or is it too specialised?


How many referees are there?


There doesn't seem to be a lot of black quarterbacks. Is it the culture or with their athletic attributes they get turned into receivers and running backs?



That is all for now chaps. Oh, I love reading the Brett Favre debates!

[DoubleVodkas]

Note. On the first question I men't to say 2nd and goal.

[znuff_fan]

if the D gets a penalty, it will give and automatice first and goal

a RB MAY be as good as the OL, but then their are acceptions to the rule (like Barry Sanders) who can see things and bounce around to make things happen. I would say the majority are as good as their line allows them to be.

The only way you will see a OL/DL combo is watching arena football, where they play more ironman football, which I happen to love btw.

[SkyDog112046]

If the defense was to commit a penalty on 2nd and goal from the 2" line the ball would go half the distance to the goal to the 1" line and it would be 1st down again.

A good running back can make an average line look good, but even the best RB's in history could do nothing with a very bad line.

Players can play both offense and defense. Troy Brown of the Patriots played wide receiver and defensive back plus special teams in the same game, many times.

There have been several very good black QBs - Warren Moon, Doug Williams, Randall Cunningham, and current QBs Donovan McNabb & David Garrard come to mind. The ones that are willing to be a QB first and read the defenses and play pocket passer can be quite successful. It's the ones like Vince Young and JaMarcus Russell that think "run" first and "pass" second that never learn to read a defense that never make it. There are too many of them that got by on raw athletics in college and never made the transition to pocket passer which is why you don't see very many in the NFL.

[UtahRatt]

What happens say if you are 2nd and inches and you don't score but the defence gets a 5 yard penalty against them? Half the distance to the goal and 1st down.


Is a running back only as good as his offensive line? most of the time, great RB's can still make noise or on the flip side a great offensive line can make a normal RB look great.


Can a player play both offensive and defensive line or is it too specialised? they can but no one could take the beating of playing both ways on the line. If someone does switch it's normally to fill in a hole for an injured player/players that the team has run out of back ups for.


How many referees are there? one referee and six other officials..Had to look it up myself.


There doesn't seem to be a lot of black quarterbacks. Is it the culture or with their athletic attributes they get turned into receivers and running backs? There is a lack but no real or factual answer, just like the lack of whites in Basketball. The stereotype answer is that blacks are faster but can't handle the mental aspect of being a QB.

[DoubleVodkas]

Cheers people.

[chadcroz]

For your first question, it's not always an automatic first down. If there is offsides on the defense, it will be half the distance to the goal and a replay of 2nd down.

As for the officials questions there are a total of 7 officials out there.

Referee--stands in the offensive backfield and his primary key is watching the qb. He calls all hits to the qb and whether they are late or not. Can also call obvious holding penalties in the backfield. He's the guy in charge and gives the signals.

Umpire--stands 8-yards from the line of scrimmage near the linebackers. First key is to see if interior lineman run block or pass block. If they pass block he starts moving forward watching for holding or other illegal blocking. When pass is thrown he follows ball and helps w/catch/no catch.

Head Linesman/Line Judge--they are on the line of scrimmage standing on the sideline. HL is on visitors/chain side. LJ is on home side. They are responsible for plays to their side, players lining up wrong and defensive offsides. They also have keys on pass plays. Usually it's the 2nd widest guy on his side.

Side Judge/Field Judge--SJ is on chain/visitor side. FJ on home side. 20 yards deep on the sideline. Responsible for deep pass plays. Most often will rule on pass interferance. Their main key is the widest reciever on their side.

Back Judge--18-22 yards deep. Main key are pass plays. Main key depends on the offensive formation. Typically it's the tight end.

These are just basic keys for each position. There is much more, but I think you can get the basic idea. I'm a referee for high school football and a side judge for Division 2 college.

[johnk5150]

Is a running back only as good as his offensive line?

It helps, but there are a few exceptions.