Down ( American and Canadian football ) A down is a period in which a play transpires in American and Canadian football . The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football , but is synonymous with a ' tackle ' in rugby league . Description . A down begins with a snap or free kick ( such as a kickoff or safety kick ) , and ends when the ball or the player in possession of it is declared down by an official , a team scores , or the ball or player in possession of it leaves the field of play . The player with possession of the ball after he has been tackled or is otherwise unable to advance the ball further on account of the play having ended ( e . g . , " He is down at the 34 yard line " ) is down . " Down " may also refer to the ball after it is made dead in one manner or another . The line of scrimmage for the next play will be determined by the position of the ball when it is down . Each possession begins with first down . The line to gain is marked 10 yards downfield from the start of this possession , and the situation is described as " 1st and 10 " ( if the goal line is less than 10 yards downfield , then the goal line is the line to gain and the situation is " 1st and goal " ) . If the offensive team moves the ball past the line to gain , they make a new first down . If they fail to do this after a specified number of downs ( four in American play and three in Canadian play ) , the team is said to " turn the ball over on downs " , and possession of the ball reverts to the opposing team at the spot where the ball was downed at the end of the last down . When the offensive team has not yet made a first down before reaching the final down , the team faces a " last down situation " ( " third down situation " in Canadian play and " fourth down situation " in American play ) , where the team is forced to decide whether to either scrimmage the ball in an attempt to pick up the first down ( this is called " going for it " [ on fourth down ] ) , or alternatively to kick the ball ( either by punting or making a field goal attempt ) . Though statistical analysis of games suggests playing more aggressively is the better option , kicking the ball is typically seen as the safer solution ; scrimmaging may lead to a turnover on downs , potentially giving the ball over to the other team with good field position . Downing the player with possession of the ball is one way to end a play ( other ways include the player with the ball going out of bounds , an incomplete pass , or a score ) . Usually a player is made down when he is tackled by the defense . In the NFL , if the offensive player is touching the ground with some part of his body other than his hands or feet , then he is down if any defensive player touches him . In the NCAA , an offensive player touching the ground in the same manner is down , regardless of whether a defensive player touches him . If recovering the ball in one ' s opponent ' s end zone ( following a kick - off in American football , and following any kick into the end zone , except for successful field goals , in Canadian football ) , a player may down the ball by dropping to one knee ( note that in Canadian play , doing so scores a single for the opposing team ) . A player in possession of the ball will down the ball if he fumble s it out of bounds . If a quarterback is running with the ball during his initial possession of the same play following the snap , he may down the ball by voluntarily sliding from his feet to a sitting or recumbent position - this is to protect the quarterback from injury . In the NFL , the quarterback is the only player for whom falling down in this way automatically stops play . Derivation . In the early 19th Century in rugby football , the ball became dead in the field of play only by mutual consent of opponents . A player carrying the ball and held by opponents would say , " Held ! " , and his opponent would say , " Have it down . " That is , the ballcarrier would declare himself fairly held , unable to advance , and an opponent would call on him to put the ball down , initiating the scrimmage . In modern rugby league , this is called a " tackle " and each team has six tackles to score ; if they fail then possession changes over to the other team . In American football , the concept of the act of having the ball down gave rise to " down " as the condition of the player so obligated , and the ball carrier could call for a " down " voluntarily . Although NCAA rules have effectively abolished this ( as the ball carrier dropping to the ground immediately ends the play ) , other codes for North American football , such as the NFL , still allow ( as one way for the ball to become dead ) for the runner to cry " down " . The rule is rarely used , despite having practical advantages over the preferred method of intentional downing , the kneel . Eventually the rules officially applied the word to include all of the action from the time the ball was put into play ( whether by snap or free kick ) until it became dead . Three - and - out . Three and out is a situation in American football in which a team , after starting an offensive possession , executes three plays and fails to get a first down , thereby in most cases forcing them to punt or if close enough , attempt a field goal . This is comparable to " three strikes you ' re out " in baseball . The term comes from the rule that an offensive unit only has three " real " plays before they are expected to punt . While , in theory , a team is allowed a fourth play , this usually does not apply , as using the fourth down to execute a play is a risky move under most circumstances . If they fail to convert to a new first down on a fourth down play , the opposing team will be allowed to take over possession at the stop where they left off , giving them better field position than if the ball is punted farther toward the opposing team ' s end zone . Typically , a team will only attempt a play on 4th down if they are trailing late in a close game , are close enough to the first down marker ( usually a yard or less ) and in the opposing team ' s territory , or are deep enough where a punt likely results in a touchback , but just out of field goal range . Punting following a three - and - out is unlike a turnover on downs . Punting after a three - and - out allows a team the opportunity to set their opposition farther back in field position . On a turnover on downs there is no punt , and the opposing team takes over possession of the ball at the spot of field where the 4th down attempt failed . In Canadian football , since there are three downs instead of four , the term " two and out " is used in this situation .