The Definitive Online Sports Stylebook

The Ben Watanabe Sports Stylebook

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football downs and yardage

Use digits when referring to yardage gained/lost and yard lines.

Examples:

He carried the ball 14 yards to the 8-yard line.
The completion picked up 6 yards to the Atlanta 42.
A 17-yard catch-and-run set up a first-and-10 play at their own 38-yard line.
Joe Burrow passed for 378 yards and two touchdowns, while gaining 7 yards on the ground.

Spell out downs in all instances: Josh Allen’s scramble made it first-and-goal from the 4-yard line; A screen pass to A.J. Brown set up the Eagles with a manageable third down play.