At the beginning of each season and just before the playoffs, most newspapers print special sections full of analysis and predictions. Read them. You'll learn a lot, even if you don't understand it all.

2torial #0544: Learn2 Understand American Football (continued) Know why sometimes play is stopped When a player in possession of the ball runs or falls out of the playing area, that player is "out of bounds". Play (and the clock) is stopped, and the officials place the ball back on the field at the point where it left. This is often used, especially near the end of a half, as a strategy where a player will purposely go out of bounds in order to stop play. This gains a few scant moments for his team to substitute players, or send in a new play for the quarterback to initiate.   Penalties are called, when observed by the officials, for infractions of the rules. Penalties are common, and generally take the form of loss of yardage, or loss of a down. This often results in a team will having to gain more than 10 yards to make a first down. Another way that teams find themselves in that situation is if a quarterback, runner or receiver loses yardage by being tackled behind the "line of scrimmage" (the point from which the play was started). Step 8