Football 101: Pointers for Newbies Watching Tonight's Super Bowl

Photo of one of the 72 game balls for the Super Bowl by AP/Charlie Riedel

So, the Giants making the Super Bowl has you preparing to watch a football game and you don’t know much about the sport. Let us help you with some pointers about the game.

The weird thing about football is very little of it is done with your foot. Teams take the ball and either run it or throw it (pass) to try and gain yards. You need to get ten yards every four chances (downs) or the other team gets the ball. That's assuming there are no penalty flags (yellow flags thrown for rules violations).

Football plays have all sorts of exotic names from “sweep”, “slant” and “bomb” to “screen”, “go” and “out”, but for the most part, plays will be a run or a pass. Play begins with both teams lined up near the ball at the “line of scrimmage” and starts when the ball is snapped. The play ends when the ball is thrown incomplete, or the person carrying the ball is brought down (tackled) or forced out of bounds. Now, let’s say you mastered the basic stuff, here are a few things you can use to impress your friends and spice up your Super Bowl party.

On Sunday you will hear the term “blitz” a lot. Blitzing is when the defense brings extra players into the pass rush and tries to sack the quarterback (Tom Brady or Eli Manning also known as “QB”). Look for a lot of guys running at the QB and you can reasonably assume it is a blitz. If you are at a party with a lot of football fans it is perfectly acceptable to scream, “blitz” at this point, just know your audience.

Another term to know is “sack”. Whenever the QB is brought down by the defense behind the line of scrimmage it is a sack. You will see some players celebrate this feat with a dance, feel free to make one of your own up and entertain your friends with it.

You can also add some knowledge to your party like pointing out that both head coaches were members to the Giants coaching staff in 1990 when they won the Super Bowl. Or that Tom Brady would become only the third quarterback to win four Super Bowls with a win Sunday, but use knowledge sparingly; no one likes a show off.

And, if all the football seems to overwhelming for you or the game becomes a blowout, there are always the commercials to keep you interested.

Football season may be over soon, but you can still get Howie Long's Football For Dummies for next season