I have a few questions about football (the American variety, that is.)
Hypothetical situation: Suppose that the offensive team scores a touchdown, but durring the play, the clock runs out to end the game. The scoring team is down one or two points. Are they entitled to the point after (or two-point conversion) despite the fact that the clock has expired?
What is the purpose of the man-in-motion?
What is the difference between a strong safety and a free safety?
Yes they can kick a field goal or go for the two-point conversion Whether or not time has expired on the play (many a gambler has been foiled by this)
The man in motion serves at least tow purposes: he keeps the defense guessing as to a. where the man is going and b. what the play is. So e.g. the defense wonders is he going out for a pass or is he going to cut in and help block or is it some kind of trick? He must be accounted for by the defense
Sometimes there is not much difference --it largely depends on the type of defense that is being played
http://www.post-gazette.com/steelers/20030304snoter0304p7.asp
Traditionally though: The STRONG safety plays opposite the strong side of the offense (where most of the offensive players are lined up on the field), supports the run and covers the tight end. The FREE safety is the deep man who doesn’t have a specific responsibility in man coverage, and rotates to where he thinks the play is going.
I would add that the extra point is only guaranteed in pro football. It is always played out even if it wouldn’t change the outcome of the game.
In college football, it is only played if it affects the ulitmate outcome. I.e., if a team is down by 20 points and scores a touchdown as time runs out, the game is over.
In football strong side is the side the tight end lines up on.
A reciever may also go into motion if the quarterback calls an audible, ie. if he doesn’t like what the defense is doing and wants to change plays. Motion may be part of a playbook play, or it may simply be because the quarterback wants the reciever somewhere else.
Generally the strong safety will line up on the left (from the offensive point of view)… he doesn’t line up on the strong side (unless its the left).
The free safety covers a reciever (or doubles the coverage in a 2-reciever set). The strong safety covers a zone, or occasionally blitzes. (the free safety rarely blitzes)
2.) So the offense, especially the QB, can see if the defense is playing zone or man defense. If a defender moves when the man-in-motion does, it’s man, most likely.
If you want a really good example of what a free safety does- find a tape of the Superbowl and watch Dexter Jackson. Not a great player, but he played a great game.
The strong safety actually does line up on the strong side (tight end side if the offense is in a one TE set), rather than the left side. Generally the strong safety is a more adept tackler, like an extra linebacker. A lot of teams like to play their strong safety all the way up “in the box” near the line of scrimmage to play run support.
Also, a free safety will blitz just like a strong safety will, depending on the system and the players. Take a team like the Eagles, who have a defense coordinator who loves all kinds of exotic blitzes from all angles. Brian Dawkins is probably the best and most frequent blitzer in the Eagles secondary (cornerbacks and safeties, that is). Other teams play a more conservative style, so the free safety just plays back in center field more often as a safety valve (hence the name).
IIRC this is not true in overtime. First team to score any points wins so you take your six for the touchdown and leave the field…game over.
OT but an interesting point of trivia:
I used to think football scoring was screwy…three points for this, six points for that, etc. Somone pointed out to me, upon mentioning it, that there is not a score you can think of that can’t be achieved via some combination of scoring possibilities…any number combo is possible at the end of the game (except 0-0 in the playoffs or Superbowl). Neat huh!? (Don’t nitpick that there isn’t enough time to possibly come-up with a score of 1,362,743,265 - 7…you can use football scoring to get that number is the point).
I guess I should say more specifically that no tie-score whatsoever is allowed in playoffs or the Superbowl.
Not true. The absolute minimum score for a game with a winner is 2-0, since a safety is worth two points and is the event with the lowest score that can be achieved without a touchdown. Therefore, a 1-0 game is impossible.
Also, since a field goal is worth three points, two of them are worth a touchdown. I’ve always assumed that that was the reason for the scoring being the way it is.
Close but the answer is a trick. If a team forfeits a game the forfeiting team loses and the score is recorded as 1-0. Sneaky, I know, but still possible.
BTW – The 1-0 score possibility can usually be used to trick people on a bet into buying you a beer.
That’s pretty slick. 
Of course, 1-0 is possible in the good ol’ Canadian Football League…I’m sure it happened a few times in the old days, though I can’t find a record of it.
I don’t remember the exact details, but I had a relative simple programming problem at a college programming contest about that. I think we had to find the minimum number of scoring activities to reach a specific score. Or maybe we had to find all unique combinations that added up to the specified score.
Since you can score 2 or 3 (and 6, 7, or 8), you can add up to any number (except 1 of course).
Michael Coley
[edited to remove advertising links]
OK, so 1-0 is possible as an official score, given forfeits,
BUT 1-1 isn’t.
Ha!
2-1 will also never happen.
What about 3-1?
1-0 and 0-1 are the only valid scores where one side scores “1”.
1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, etc. are all impossible.