Scoring and the Value of a Possession
Touchdown 6, the try after (kick 1 or scrimmage play 2), field goal 3, safety 2. Simple — but the interesting part is what those numbers do to decisions. A team down 8 late needs a touchdown and a two-point conversion; a team down 9 needs two scores no matter what. Coaches carry cards mapping score differential to strategy, and the math changes with the level's conversion rules and overtime format.
The deeper idea: possessions, not yards, are the game's currency. A punt is not "giving up" — it is selling this possession to improve the field position of the next one. A turnover is catastrophic not because of the yards but because it destroys a possession outright. Once you count possessions, aggressive fourth-down calls and field-position punting both start making sense as two answers to the same accounting problem.
How this changes by level
Youth: Many leagues place the try at different distances for kicks vs. runs, and some award more points for a kicked try to encourage the skill.
High School: The try snaps from the 3-yard line. Kicking is scarce — a reliable kicker is a genuine strategic weapon many teams simply do not have.
College: Tries snap from the 3. The defense can return a turnover on a try for two points the other way. Overtime forces two-point tries in later rounds.
Pro: The kicked try snaps from the 15 — a 33-yard kick, no longer automatic. The two-point try snaps from the 2. That gap is deliberate: it makes going for two a real decision.
Open in the interactive app — animated simulation inside →