Possession (sports) opportunity to score. In bat-and-ball games including baseball and cricket, the ball is controlled by the fielding team, which are on defense. In several sports, possession is exchanged after the offensive team scores, or when the defensive team physically takes control of a "live" (in play) ball through a fumble, interception, or steal. In gridiron football, possession is additionally controlled through a series of allotted plays called downs, over which the offensive team must move the ball a certain distance down the field, or lose possession. Possession at the start of a game, or in a neutral restart, may be
Comparison of American and Canadian football to require that it legally start a new play before the play clock expires, and can award possession to the defending team if another time count is committed. Moreover, in any quarter, when the game clock expires while the ball is dead in Canadian football, a final play must by run with "zeros on the clock" before the quarter ends, whereas in American football the expiration of time while the ball is dead immediately ends the quarter (including overtime periods in such cases where those periods are timed) - in American football, it is common (or even, arguably, expected) for