A safety occurs when an attacking player is knocked down with the ball or bounced off the end zone. In contrast, touchback occurs when an offensive player loses the ball causing it to go out of bounds in the defensive team’s end area.

The touchback on offense seems pretty weird and can hurt a team’s drive. It is usually the wing + offense that leads to an offense touchback. They can also happen when players try to dive and end up losing control of the ball. A touchback is given if the ball rolls out of the end zone.

If a player on the kicking team makes contact with the football, while they are in contact with the end zone, a touchback will be ruled. Touchbacks can happen on offensive possessions as well. They occur when the offensive team turns the ball over to the defense in the end zone.

If the offense is marching downfield and trying to score, but turns the ball over in the opponent's end zone, a touchback will be called. There are three ways that this can occur. First, the quarterback throws an interception that is caught by a defender in their own end zone. The defender would then take a knee to signify he wants a touchback.