NFL Video Rulebook Scoring Plays

Rule Summary View Official Rule

Section 1

ARTICLE 2. TYPES OF SCORING PLAYS

Points are scored as follows:

1. Touchdown: 6 points
2. Field Goal: 3 points
3. Safety: 2 points
4. Try after touchdown: 1 point (Field Goal or Safety) or 2 points (Touchdown)

SECTION 2 - TOUCHDOWN

ARTICLE 1. TOUCHDOWN PLAYS

A touchdown is scored when:

1. the ball is on, above, or behind the plane of the opponents’ goal line (extended) and is in possession of a runner who has advanced from the field of play into the end zone
2. a ball in possession of an airborne runner is on, above, or behind the plane of the goal line, and some part of the ball passed over or inside the pylon
3. a ball in player possession touches the pylon, provided that, after contact by an opponent, no part of the player’s body, except his hands or feet, struck the ground before the ball touched the pylon
4. any player who is legally inbounds catches or recovers a loose ball (3-2-4) that is on, above, or behind the opponent’s goal line
5. the Referee awards a touchdown to a team that has been denied one by a palpably unfair act

SECTION 3 - TRY

ARTICLE 1. GENERAL RULES

After a touchdown, a Try is an opportunity for either team to score one or two additional points during one scrimmage down.

The Try begins when the Referee sounds the whistle for play to start. The team that scored the touchdown shall put the ball in play:

1. anywhere on or between the inbound lines;
2. 15 yards from the defensive team’s goal line for a Try-kick; or
3. two yards from the defensive team’s goal line for a Try by pass or run. 

SECTION 4 - FIELD GOAL

ARTICLE 1. SUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL

A field goal is scored when all of the following conditions are met:

1. The kick must be a placekick or dropkick made by the offense from on or behind the line of scrimmage or from the spot of a fair catch (fair-catch kick). If a fair catch is made or awarded outside the inbound line, the spot of the kick is the nearest inbound line.
2. After the ball is kicked, it must not touch the ground or any player of the offensive team before it passes through the goal.
3. The entire ball must pass through the vertical plane of the goal, which is the area above the crossbar and between the uprights or, if above the uprights, between their outside edges. If the ball passes through the goal, and returns through the goal without striking the ground or some object or person beyond the goal, the attempt is unsuccessful.

Note: See 9-1-3 for restriction applicable to Team B formation at the snap.

SECTION 5 - SAFETY

ARTICLE 1. SAFETY

It is a Safety:

1. if the offense commits a foul in its own end zone or;

when an impetus by a team sends the ball behind its own goal line, and the ball is dead in the end zone in its possession or the ball is out of bounds behind the goal line.