This is a better way to look at 9 minute quarters. Think of the game in storytelling terms because sports games are dramas with chapters (quarters/innings/rounds) and acts within the quarters, (commercial breaks,
Injury timeouts)

1st quarter:

Has three acts.
Each three minute block is an act.
Three acts accumulate 30 plays.
If you skip cutscenes, you get 3 plays a minute. But if there’s no stoppage of play—penalty, injury timeout, or...

tommycoa