Details on Olympic Flag Football: Scoring, Rosters, Rules To Know

Scoring

• There is no kicking in Flag Football, so no scoring via field goals or traditional extra points attempts.
• All touchdowns are worth six points.
• After each touchdown, teams will remain on offense for one play extra play and have the option of going for:
  • One point: via one play from the five-yard line to get the ball into the endzone.
  • Two points: via one play from the 10-yard line to get the ball into the endzone.

“Tackling”

• All players will wear three flags and in place of tackling, defenders must obtain at least one of the flags from the ball carrier to have him/her be considered down.
• There is no jumping or diving at ball carriers allowed.

Downs & Turnovers

• Starting at the opposition’s five-yard line, the offense has four attempts (downs) to get to the midfield (halfway mark), which gives it a first down (four additional downs/attempts) to get the ball into the endzone.
• Turnovers on downs result in the team getting the ball from the opposition’s five-yard line (as opposed to where the turnover on downs occurred).

The Field

• The field (or the pitch as it might be referred to internationally) is smaller than a traditional American Football field. It’ll measure 70 yards by 30 yards with 10 yards of endzone on each end.

QB Rush?

• It doesn’t sound like there will be rushing allowed by the QB, per the Olympics’ official site.

Play starts at a team’s own five-yard line with the centre snapping the ball back to the quarterback who either passes the ball forward to try and find a receiver, or hands off to a running back.

Other Rushing Flag Football Rules

• No rushes are allowed when the offense is within five yards of the endzone.

What about Overtime?

• If the score is tied after 40 minutes of play, sudden-death overtime begins, meaning the first team to score wins.