New to NFL

[Yorkshire]

Hello,

After 31 years on this Earth I have finally decided to find out what this "American" football is all about.

Living in England, coverage of the NFL has never been that good, unless you are willing to get up in the middle of the night.

Coverage is getting better, so it's time for me to take the plunge.

First thing was to learn the basics. Done. (Not as difficult as peoples over here make out.)

Second thing pick a team. Unfortunately for you guys, I've picked you. (Whatever sport I follow, my teams never do well. Big sorry for that.)

I have literally never seen a full game. Highlights here and there. Now I need you to begin to fill in a few gaps. I've got a few weeks until the cowboys are on tv over here (Commanders at Dalls, 14th October.)

1) Who are the Dallas players to watch out for? (both good and not so good.)
2) Who are the Cowboys main rivals?
3) How will "we" do this season? expectations?
4) What went wrong against the Chiefs yesterday?

Now a question on football rules, really sorry if this is a stupid question!

5) It's regarding 2 point conversions: If a team decide to go for 2 points, how far from the end zone do you start with the ball? How often do teams go for this option? (It doesn't seem worth the effort to gain one extra point, compared to PAT.)

and finally:

6) As a beginner, is it worth me watching 49ers at Seattle or The Steelers at Cincinnatti? They're the next 2 gmes on.

Lucking forward to getting a few answers. Don't feel you've got to answer everything!

 

[Yorkshire]

6) As a beginner, is it worth me watching 49ers at Seattle or The Steelers at Cincinnatti? They're the next 2 gmes on.

First rookie error:

I now realise 49ers at Seattle was last night. Time zone error on my part. 49ers got thrashed. I thought they were good?

 

[TheCowboy]

Hello,

After 31 years on this Earth I have finally decided to find out what this "American" football is all about.

Living in England, coverage of the NFL has never been that good, unless you are willing to get up in the middle of the night.

Coverage is getting better, so it's time for me to take the plunge.

First thing was to learn the basics. Done. (Not as difficult as peoples over here make out.)

Second thing pick a team. Unfortunately for you guys, I've picked you. (Whatever sport I follow, my teams never do well. Big sorry for that.)

I have literally never seen a full game. Highlights here and there. Now I need you to begin to fill in a few gaps. I've got a few weeks until the cowboys are on tv over here (Commanders at Dalls, 14th October.)

1) Who are the Dallas players to watch out for? (both good and not so good.)
2) Who are the Cowboys main rivals?
3) How will "we" do this season? expectations?
4) What went wrong against the Chiefs yesterday?

Now a question on football rules, really sorry if this is a stupid question!

5) It's regarding 2 point conversions: If a team decide to go for 2 points, how far from the end zone do you start with the ball? How often do teams go for this option? (It doesn't seem worth the effort to gain one extra point, compared to PAT.)

and finally:

6) As a beginner, is it worth me watching 49ers at Seattle or The Steelers at Cincinnatti? They're the next 2 gmes on.

Lucking forward to getting a few answers. Don't feel you've got to answer everything!

1. Dez, Sean Lee and Brandon Carr

2. History might suggest the Commanders but I will always hate the Eagles the most. Followed by Washington and New York.

3. IMO anywhere from 7-9 to 10-6

4. Offense wasn't clicking. Defense did well, we just couldn't score touchdowns

5. 2 point conversion is at the 2 yard line. Same for an extra point. Teams usually go for this in scenarios such as being down 17-15 to tie the game, or if a team just scored and it is 17-16, you might want to go for 2 just so that the 3 point lead would be safe (19-16) if the defense fails and they score a field goal. Otherwise, you would lose 19-18

6. Tonights game is good for you to sit down and learn the game. No, it's not the most exciting game or with the best teams, but this will be good for you to learn the game

 

[Nova]

Welcome to the NFL. Welcome to the fanbase. And welcome to Cowboys Zone!

1. Players to watch for:
Since you're new to the NFL, I've included links to video segments from the NFL's top 100 to add perspective-- a program in which the NFL network ranks the top 100 players each year according to a survey of other players around the league.

--DeMarcus Ware: Position: Defensive End / Age: 31 / Ht: 6'4" (1.94m) / Wt: 260lbs (118kg)
He's a good player... great actually. One of the best at what he does. But he's playing somewhat of a new position, so he's a player to watch for.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d82a2c1fd/The-Top-100-Players-of-2012-DeMarcus-Ware

--Dez Bryant: Position: Wide Receiver / Age: 24 / Ht: 6'2" (1.88m) / Wt: 222lbs (101kg)
This is a guy who we've all been excited about since we drafted him in 2010. He's probably one of the best natural talents I've seen since I started watching football in 1990. He's coming off of a breakout year in which he performed very well, but the two years before that he was dealing with maturity issues (to sum it up quickly). He's still learning and getting better, but he's quickly rising to the top.
http://www.dallascowboys.com/multim...z-Bryant/5cf4b59e-5bd2-4532-bbba-38680ab2ea13

--Tony Romo: Position: Quarterback / Age: 32 / Ht: 6'2" (1.88m) / Wt: 236lbs (107kg)
I wouldn't be doing a good job of introducing you if I didn't mention the most important player on the team. Tony Romo is a pretty good quarterback but hasn't been very good in the spotlight of big games. As usual, our season hinders around his play. He is the most polarizing figure in the NFL.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d828b9e73/Top-100-Players-of-2012-Tony-Romo


2. The Cowboys main rivals are their foes within the division.

The New York Giants: (www.Giants.com)
The Washington Commanders: (www.Commanders.com)
& The Philadelphia Eagles: (www.philadelphiaeagles.com)

Depending on who you ask you'll probably get a different answer, but TheCowboy is correct-- traditionally the Washington Commanders are our biggest rivals. Personally, I despise the Eagles the most.

3. How will we do this year?

Depends on who you ask. We've been the definition of average the past two years, missing out on the playoffs/post season in the final game of the regular season. I myself haven't seen much to make me think we'll do much better this year, but the team is very talented and if they 'click', their best could be just as good as anyone else's best-- so I'm hopeful.

4. What went wrong against the chiefs yesterday (Now a few days ago, of course)?

That's where that whole 'average team' comes into play. We're an average team and the Chiefs are about the same. In the end they just made more plays in crucial situations, and we didn't capitalize on our opportunities. We just made too many unforced mistakes.

5. 2 Pt conversions are tried from the 2 yard line.
The risk is usually not worth it. But of course, there are situations where there is no risk in going for the 2 pt conversion and there is only reward to be gained. Such situations typically only occur in desperation or toward the end of the game.

TheCowboy explained this rather well, but for another example, say it's the 4th quarter, and the Cowboys have only kicked 3 field goals over the course of the game and the Giants have kicked one field goal and scored two touchdowns (as well as the extra point on both). The score would be 17-9 in favor of the Giants. Now say the Cowboys score a touchdown with less than a minute left-- the TD only gets the Cowboys to 15, because of course without the extra point, the TD is only worth 6. Obviously the chances of getting the ball back and scoring again are slim, so it makes more sense for the Cowboys to go for the two point conversion and send the game to overtime.


With those questions answered, there still is a lot to learn. Seems like you've gotten most of the basics out of the way, but if you ever have a question, ask and don't be shy. Generally people are cordial in the main forum, so feel free to start a thread there and ask. And if you feel embarrassed about it, send me a private message and I'll be happy to help.

Some sites that will help:

1. To keep up with the Cowboys:
www.DCfanatic.com
I find this site to be very helpful. It's not an official site by any means, but the site is updated quite a bit with lots of media pertaining to the Cowboys.

2. A slightly deeper understanding of the positions and players. Do not be frightened by the name of the site. I stumbled across this girly site while teaching my girlfriend the ins and outs of football and it actually was pretty helpful.
http://www.thecollegefootballgirl.com/football-terms/the-basics/players-by-position/

3. You seem to have the basics down, but if you ever need a reminder...
http://football.about.com/cs/football101/a/bl_football101.htm


Once again, welcome to the forum.

 

[Yorkshire]

Cheers!

Great reply. There has been a program on over here about the Bengals preseason; it's helped a lot with the basic.

BTW is the AT & T arena as impressive as it looks?

Just need the wife to "allow" me to watch a few games now

 

[Rack]

Cheers!

Great reply. There has been a program on over here about the Bengals preseason; it's helped a lot with the basic.

BTW is the AT & T arena as impressive as it looks?

Just need the wife to "allow" me to watch a few games now

Yeah the stadium is impressive. I was there 3 years ago (or was it 2?) and I sat directly above Condaleeza (sp?) Rice. I mean, I was EXACTLY above her, if I'd spit it would have landed in her drink.

Last year I had lower level 50 yard line tickets for the Browns game and they were AMAZING!

 

[Yorkshire]

What will be the best game for me to watch this week?
1) Lion @ Commanders

2)Colts @ 49ers

3)Bears @ Steelers

4)Raiders @ Broncos

Wont have time to watch them all

Watched Steelers at Bengals. Starting to understand the various positions.