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This is the sort of broken thinking that prevents NFL coaches from trying this. AFAIK the main reason NFL coaches don't try stuff that's too unusual is that al
by ubernostrum 13y ago
This is the sort of broken thinking that prevents NFL coaches from trying this.
AFAIK the main reason NFL coaches don't try stuff that's too unusual is that although it makes a good trick a time or two, this is... well, professional football. Defenses will adjust.
Right now I'd suspect a lot of the success of going for it on 4th down, or going for two-point conversions, comes from the fact that opposing defenses aren't expecting it. But the minute you become known as "the coach who always goes for it", well, they're going to defend it (and in fact they'll have an easier time defending it since they know you're not going to try anything else).
- selectodude 13y agoSo they would approach is like they already do for downs 1 through 3? It's not a trick, it's using all four downs to your advantage, vs wasting a down giving the ball away.
- ubernostrum 13y agoIt's not a trick It is an unusual deviation from the normal sequence of play-calling, and the advantage is that much of the time opposing defenses aren't prepared for it. They have plays set up for when they need to make a stop -- particularly at the goal line -- but they're not used to using them in this situation and it is, I suspect, almost entirely the novelty of being forced to run the "must stop this one play" defense that makes it a successful tactic. Which in turn implies that if people start doing it all the time, defenses will simply adjust, become accustomed to making a dozen or so fourth-down stops per game, and that will be the end of this "Opposing Defensive Coordinators HATE him -- learn this one weird trick" story.