WASHINGTON — It’s nearly time for the big game: The Kansas City Chiefs are taking on the Philadelphia Eagles again during the 2025 Super Bowl. 

This year, more than 117 million people are expected to tune in for the Super Bowl. Because it’s such a big event, it won’t just be diehard sports fans cheering on the teams. There will also be plenty of folks who aren’t as sure about the ins and outs of how football works. 

If you’re one of those people, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what you need to know: 

When the coin toss is called, the winning team can pick whether they want to kick or receive the ball to start off the game. Oftentimes, the winning team will let the losing team pick instead. 

When they defer that choice to the other team, it allows them to pick whether they want to kick or receive the ball at the start of the second half. Most teams want to receive at the start of the second half, because the receiving team is able to score immediately, so they allow the opposing team to choose who starts with the ball when the game begins.

It didn’t always work that way though. It’s only been since 2008 that the NFL started allowing coin-toss winners to defer their choice. Before then, winning coaches elected to receive the ball 99% of the time, according to ESPN. But after the rule change, most coaches usually defer. 

The basic flow of football is this: A team gets four plays, called downs, in order to move the ball in 10-yard increments. Each time the player with the football is tackled, or downed, the play is over and they move on to the next down. If the team with the ball can move it more than 10 yards within those four plays, the count resets. 

The fourth down is the last chance a team has to make it over the line and reset their downs. If the team tries and fails, the defending team will get the ball at that position. Oftentimes, this can put a previously offensive team in a bad position because the ball is still near their end zone. 

To prevent getting trapped in a bad position, teams will often elect to kick the ball to the other team for their fourth play. The opposing team gets the ball anyway, but their plays will start wherever the player who catches the ball is tackled. 

The yellow penalty flags are what the officials use to indicate when a rule has been broken. When a referee sees an infraction, they throw a flag onto the field. It’s also sometimes used to mark the location of where a penalty occurred. Depending on the penalty, a play may be stopped or waved off. 

A player can be penalized for being in an offside position if any part of their body is over the line dividing the teams (where the football is placed) when a play starts. Watching on TV, there’s a yellow line overlaid over the field to show where the teams should stand. 

If a player is offside, their team gets a 5-yard penalty and the down is replayed, unless the penalty is declined.  

Sometimes you may hear the announcers refer to a team on the offense having a “free play” after there’s a flag thrown for someone being offsides. That’s because referees often let those plays continue after the penalty and worse comes to worse, the offense gets to redo the down after the 5-yard penalty. But if they happen to get more than 5 yards during the penalized play, they can decline the penalty. 

After each play of the game, a 40-second countdown clock begins for when the next play has to happen. This is to keep the game moving quickly and to prevent one team from stalling too long if they have the ball. A delay of game penalty happens when the offense doesn’t hike the ball before that timer runs out. 

If a delay of game penalty is called, the team responsible loses five yards and the down is replayed.

A safety has two meanings in an NFL game. On one hand, there are defensive players called safeties. On the other, it can mean a rare way to score points during a game. 

When the defensive team tackles an offensive player with the ball inside the offensive team’s end zone, or if the offensive team commits a penalty while the ball is in their end zone, it’s called a safety. In that case, they lose possession of the ball and the opposing team gets two points.

A sack is when the quarterback is tackled while holding the ball. When a quarterback is sacked, their team has to start the next play from where they were tackled, adding to the distance their team needs to cross before the next first down. 

If a player on the offense is holding the football (and doesn’t drop it) inside the opposing team’s end zone, they score six points. A seventh point is awarded if the team is able to kick the ball between the field goalposts from the 15-yard line after the touchdown.

After a touchdown is made, both teams line up for the extra point kick. The opposing team is trying to block the ball before it can be kicked, and the offensive team is trying to give their kicker as much time as they need to successfully get the point. But occasionally, the offense chooses to try a two-point conversion. If they can make it back into the end zone starting from the two-yard line, their team receives an extra two points. 

When the same player manages to get a touchdown and two-point conversion on the same drive, it’s called an octopus.

When a play begins, the defending team will try to sack the quarterback. In a standard play, there are four defenders on the line trying to accomplish this while others guard players running to make a catch. 

A blitz is when more than four defenders rush the offensive line, trying to bring down the quarterback before they can make a throw or run with the ball. While it’s an effective tactic, it’s also a risky maneuver because it leaves openings for the quarterback to throw the ball to someone unguarded further down the field. 

In football, the team with the ball has four plays (called downs) to move the ball 10 yards forward. When they successfully move it 10 or more yards, the down resets to 1 again. When the scoreboard shows “2nd and 8,” for example, it means that they’re on their second down and there are eight yards left before the downs reset.