What are the differences between canadian football and the nfl?

Question

please forgive my ignorance

my dad can pick up coverage of the cfl on his cable and he loves it

Answer 1

Canadian has a 110 yd field (US is 100)

Canadian has 3 downs (US has 4)

Canadian uses 12 men per side (US uses 11)

Canadian has a few other quirks wider field, no-yards on kicks, and a bigger end zone.  And then there's the rouge.

Answer 2

I'm surprised that no-one said that the official ball used in the CFL is bigger than the one used in the NFL.  Just as a matter of trivia, both CFL and NFL balls are the same size.  (The CFL ball was bigger up to about 8 yeas ago).  The only difference no is that the CFL ball has a white stripe around each end, while the NFL ball has none.

Answer 3

kingston sean has it right, give him the 10 points, i'm just taking two to say this to the above poster:

while we may not have a definitive fair catch rule, meaning we cant signal for fair catch while the ball is in the air, we do have "no yards" which allows a returner a bufferzone of 5 yards when they catch the ball on a punt or kick.

and basically a returner can catch the ball and take a knee if he so pleases... for example take what Albert Johnson III did in the Bomber v. Saskatchewan game last Sunday with like 6 seconds left in the game.

these two are basically the equivalent of the fair catch in the No Fun League.

Answer 4

They have 2 extra breaks for sandwiches

Answer 5

kingstonsean seems to have mostly nailed it.  But he forgot that Canadian Football doesn't have a fair catch rule.

Answer 6

Rules aside, the one big thing that I notice if just the general flavour of it all. In the NFL, it is like a chess game. Each drive pits the coach vs the other coach in a game of "guess what the other is going to do". If the offensive side's coach guess correctly, they score. If the definsive coach guess correctly, they don't.

The CFL is more akin to almost rugby. Since it is only three downs, you don't have time to run short yardage plays for three yards on every set of downs. Rather you get two cracks at 10 yards, and if you fail, then you punting. The athleticism of the players comes more into play as every play is an attempt for big runs on the outside or great passes and catches. The part about punting is that it isn't a "dang, what a let down, we have to kick" like it is in the NFL. Punting is very strategic. With the bigger field, and no "Fair Catch" rule, punting and special teams are very critical to the game. If you are able to punt the ball, and tackle the other returner right away, you got the other team in bad fielding position. Like rugby, position on the field is more critical than who has the ball.

I have heard of stories about teams sending their punter back to receive the ball so they could punt it right back during the same play!

Answer 7

The football field is much bigger (120 yards)in canadian football and they have more players out on the field.

Answer 8

The field is wider and longer between the goal lines, and the end zones are deeper.  The field is 110 yards long by 65 yards wide vs 100x50 in the US.  The larger field makes it possible to run a larger variety of plays. The Canadian end zones are 20 yards deep vs 10 yards in the US so there are more plays that can be run in the end zones.  Out passes to the opposite side of the field and passes to the corners can seem like long bombs.  There are 12 men on the field per team in Canada, 11 in the US.  Canadian pass receivers only need to get one foot down in bounds, like US college ball.  Offensive backs (half backs, full backs, slot backs) can be in forward motion before the ball is snapped.  This means that slot backs will hit the line of scrimmage at the moment that the ball is snapped, which gives them a jump on the defense.  There are only three downs in Canadian Football, which makes for more passing.  There are only 20 seconds on the play clock, so things happen much faster.  Scoring: the Canadian field has the goal posts on the goal lines.  A field goal from 50 yards is not unusual.  A missed field goal, or a punt, that is downed in the end zone results in a single point (called a rouge) scored for the kicking team.

I'm not sure what side I'm on in the fair catch/no yards argument.  Incessant no yards penalties (TiCats????) against guys that are backing up are just plain stupid, but the fair catch is boring.

Answer 9

there is no difference its all the same.