page_title: American football rules
section_title: Playing the game
hierarchical_section_title: American football rules / Playing the game
caption_attribution_description: HONOLULU (Jan. 27, 2013) Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, flips the ceremonial coin to start the 2013 Pro Bowl as head referee Ed Hochuli and Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman look on. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David Kolmel/Released) 130127-N-IT566-053
context_page_description: Gameplay in American football consists of a series of downs, individual plays of short duration, outside of which the ball is dead or not in play. These can be plays from scrimmage – passes, runs, punts, or field goal attempts – or free kicks such as kickoffs and fair catch kicks. Substitutions can be made between downs, which allows for a great deal of specialization as coaches choose the players best suited for each particular situation. During a play, each team should have no more than 11 players on the field, and each of them has specific tasks assigned for that specific play.
caption: Cecil D. Haney flips the coin at the 2013 Pro Bowl.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "HONOLULU (Jan. 27, 2013) Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, flips the ceremonial coin to start the 2013 Pro Bowl as head referee Ed Hochuli and Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman look on.  (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David Kolmel)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3S", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "270", "Image YResolution": "270", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2013:01:27 20:49:28", "Image Artist": "David Kolmel", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "620", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1232", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1346", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6865", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/640", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "500", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:01:27 14:27:26", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:01:27 14:27:26", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "34", "EXIF SubSecTime": "86", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "86", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "86", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1890", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1350", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "34", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}