NFL Scoring Explained: Touchdowns, Field Goals, Safeties and 2-Point Conversions

Football scores can look strange to new fans. Why does a team have 17 points? Why do analysts call a 14-point lead "two scores"? It all comes down to five ways to put points on the board. Here is how NFL scoring works, from the touchdown to the rarest play in the rulebook.

Touchdown: 6 Points

A touchdown is the main way to score. A team scores one when a player carries the ball across the opponent's goal line, or catches a pass while in the end zone with control of the ball and both feet (or another body part) down in bounds.

The ball only has to break the plane of the goal line, an invisible wall rising from the front edge of the end zone. That is why you see running backs stretch the ball forward as they are tackled.

A touchdown is worth 6 points, and it earns a bonus try.

The Try After a Touchdown: 1 or 2 Points

After every touchdown, the scoring team gets one untimed play called the try. It has two choices:

• Extra point (1 point): a kick through the uprights, snapped from the 15-yard line, which makes it roughly a 33-yard kick. Pros make the vast majority of these.
• Two-point conversion (2 points): a single run or pass from the 2-yard line. If the ball reaches the end zone, the team earns 2 points.

Coaches go for two when the math demands it, for example when trailing by 8 late in a game, or when analytics say the higher-risk play is worth it.

Field Goal: 3 Points

A field goal is a kick through the uprights during regular play, usually on fourth down when the offense is close enough to the end zone. It is worth 3 points.

Because the kicker stands about 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage and the goalposts sit at the back of the 10-yard-deep end zone, a field goal attempt is roughly 17 yards longer than the line of scrimmage suggests. A kick from the opponent's 30-yard line is about a 47-yard attempt.

Safety: 2 Points for the Defense

A safety is worth 2 points to the defense. It happens when the ball carrier is tackled in their own end zone, when the offense fumbles the ball out of its own end zone, or when the offense commits certain penalties, such as holding, in its own end zone.

A safety also costs the offense the ball: the team that gave it up must kick it away from its own 20-yard line. That makes a safety one of the biggest momentum swings in football.

Defensive Two-Point Conversion: 2 Points

The rarest score in the NFL: if the defense takes the ball away during a try, such as an interception, a fumble recovery or a blocked kick, and returns it all the way to the other end zone, the defense scores 2 points.

Why Some Scores Matter More Than Others

Football scores bunch around certain numbers because touchdowns plus kicks equal 7 and field goals equal 3. The most common final margins in the NFL are 3 and 7 points, which is why you will hear:

• One-score game: a lead of 8 points or fewer, since one touchdown plus a two-point conversion can tie it
• Two-score game: a lead of 9 to 16 points
• Three-score game: a lead of 17 points or more

When a team leads by 14 late in the fourth quarter, the trailing team needs two touchdowns, which is why commentators start talking about onside kicks and timeouts.

Quick Reference: NFL Scoring

Keep Learning the Game

Now that you know how points are scored, see what happens when the scoreboard is level after four quarters in our NFL overtime rules explained, or learn how teams reach the Super Bowl in our NFL playoff format guide.