One of the really interesting parts of CFL play is the unlimited motion in the offensive backfield prior to the snap.
The offence may line up with a typical 4 receiver and 2 back set up. By the time the ball is snapped, all 4 receivers and one back have gathered on one side of the field. The chaos this causes as the defensive backfield adjusts opens up a number of options for the offence.
It’s much more exciting than watching an NFL offence with just one receiver in motion prior to the snap.
Also, the goal posts are on the goal line in Canadian football, which essentially gives the offense another 10 yards in which a field goal is a viable choice.
In the NFL, placekickers had gotten so accurate over the past few decades that the league’s rulesmakers have taken some conscious choices to attempt to actually de-emphasize the field goal (the most notable of which was the institution of the “K-Ball”…special, never-before-used footballs which must be used on kicking plays, rather than the broken-in balls which kickers formerly were able to use).
what is a touchback? I would agree with Gorsnak that the CFL doesn’t use that term; are you meaning a rouge?
Getting back to the OP, another major difference in the kicking game that comes up occasionally is on field goals, late in the game, when the score is close.
As others have commented, if a team kicks for a field goal and it goes wide, the kicking team still scores a point, unless the receiving team runs the ball out of end zone. That’s called a rouge, or single. (The kicking team can also score a rouge if the ball is punted into the endzone and not run out.)
Normally, if the receiving team wants to get the ball out, they’ll run it out, but if it’s late in the game and the score is close, they’ll position their own punter in the endzone. If the ball goes wide, the punter will try to field the ball and kick it back out, to prevent the rouge and to keep the other team from getting good field position.
I think it was RickJay who commented once that the CFL has retained more of its rugby roots than the NFL has, and this type of play illustrates that.
American football term, for when a team recovers the ball in its own endzone, and elects to not try to run it out. They get possession of the ball at the 20 yard line.
It happens most often on kickoffs and punts, but can also happen on an interception or fumble recovery.
On a missed field goal (at least in the NFL), the defensive team gets possession of the ball at the 20, or at the spot of the kick, whichever is more advantageous.
Another interesting difference I learned tonight. CFL teams only have 1 time-out per half, instead of the 3 (!) in the NFL, so whether or not you win a challenge doesn’t take away your time out. Your second challenge does, though - if you lose it, you lose the time-out, but you don’t get to challenge a third time even if you were right on one unless you won the first two. The Montreal Alouettes got dinged for 5 yards for that in the first half tonight!
Through the miracle of the internet, all the CFL games are now available for streaming by TSN. The Friday night games are streamed live, and all the others are available shortly after the game is over.
Bonus point - once the games are archived, they’re shown without commercials! So you can watch a full game in just over an hour.
Go to TSN Schedule for info.