NFL Red Zone Question?

There is no difference in scoring if a play begins inside or outside of the red zone. Field goals count 3 points and touchdowns count 6 points regardless of where the play started on the field.

There is no "red zone" rule. The red zone is simply a term used to indicate the area between the 20 yard line and the end zone at each end of the field. If an offensive team has possession of the ball inside their opponents 20 yard line then they're inside the "red zone".

If you look at an NFL football field you'll notice there is a red line painted along side the 20 yard line on each in of the field. That's where the term "red zone" comes from.

Back in the 1960's the General Manager of the Dallas Cowboys, Tex Schramm, had the first red lines painted next to the 20 yard lines. The purpose was to give TV viewers a better indication of where the ball was spotted on the field and that a team was getting close to their opponents goal line. He chose red for the color. Had he chose blue, I guess we'd be calling that area of the field, the blue zone.

The NFL doesn't keep any official stats in reference to the red zone. However, some sports websites and football statistics data bases do. TV announcers and football analysts often refer to the red zone when discussing a teams success or failure at scoring after getting the ball inside the opponents 20 yard line. I guess ESPN keeps a separate line for that in their box score.

Where you score from doesn't matter as far as points go. TD = 6 FG= 3 PAT = 1 Saftey = 2

no scoring in the red zone means you got any type of score when you get the ball into the twenty