4th & 1 Discussion

[kingkilla56]

I have seen coaches get ballsy on 4th a short on the opponents side of the field. I mean if Tom Antiquated Coughlin is doing it, then the rest of the league HAS to be doing it right?

But going for it on 4th and 1 deep into your own side the field is begging for trouble. I dont care how good your Oline and RBs are. If you fail to convert you are playing catch up for no good reason.

But there are many situations where going for it on 4th a short are the right choices, and I think NFL coaches are fine at seeing and going for them.

[ggsimmonds]

4th down within the opponents 5 yard line I would go for it 95% of the time.

Around midfield though I would be more conservative and kick it more often than not

[dsallupinyaarea]

Punting on 4th & 1 is bunting in baseball. In very specific high leverage spots it's justifiable but 99% of the time you're hurting your long term point expectancy for very little short term gain.

But, like others have said, it's the easy decision so NFL coaches will continue to lean that way.

[Skyboxer]

Ravens sure would loved to have had the 3pt's today instead of the failed 4th down and -1 inside the 5.

Of course that early in the game... the whole complection would change ... so who knows what would have happened.

[jasontoddwhitt]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/up...pgtype=article

According to this article, a coach should go for it on 4th and 1 no matter what. The argument being... "Near your own goal line, going for it on fourth-and-1 is better than punting: You’ll probably make the first down; if you don’t, your opponent will have good field position, but a punt would have given your opponent pretty good field position anyway."

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by jasontoddwhitt

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/up...pgtype=article According to this article, a coach should go for it on 4th and 1 no matter what. The argument being... "Near your own goal line, going for it on fourth-and-1 is better than punting: You’ll probably make the first down; if you don’t, your opponent will have good field position, but a punt would have given your opponent pretty good field position anyway."

You buying that logic?

Good field position at my own 1 vs good field position at my 40? These people are nuts. It also seems like people think defenses are going to sit in the same cover 2 or cover 3 nickel on a 4th and 1 play. Any argument worth a damn should not include "You'll probably make the first down."

Sorry reading through and find this quote pretty funny considering...

Quote:

But a key and often overlooked consideration is that, despite the high accuracy of today’s kickers, field goals are not automatic. Coaches often behave as if they were.

But you should go for it every time on 4th and 1 because you'll probably get the 1st down? Really???

[Feared]

Quote: Originally Posted by jasontoddwhitt

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/up...pgtype=article According to this article, a coach should go for it on 4th and 1 no matter what. The argument being... "Near your own goal line, going for it on fourth-and-1 is better than punting: You’ll probably make the first down; if you don’t, your opponent will have good field position, but a punt would have given your opponent pretty good field position anyway."

This doesn't make sense at all.

Pinning your opponent inside their own 5, especially at Home where your Crowd noise should really impact their play calling, and snap cadence. Isn't a good strategy?

I've seen games change momentum off of a Safety, or Turnover from a backed up Offensive if you needlessly give the ball away at Midfield that's 20 yards and instant FG range for most teams with their kickers. Where as 90+ yard drives are very, very rare in the NFL; even with elite QBs.

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Feared

This doesn't make sense at all. Pinning your opponent inside their own 5, especially at Home where your Crowd noise should really impact their play calling, and snap cadence. Isn't a good strategy? I've seen games change momentum off of a Safety, if you needlessly give the ball away at Midfield that's 20 yards and instant FG range for most teams with their kickers. Where as 90+ yard drives are very, very rare in the NFL; even with elite QBs.

I don't agree with the point of that article but the part of the post you bolded that you said doesn't make sense actually does to a degree and didn't have anything to do with punting from midfield.

It said that if you are backed up in a short to go situation you actually might as well go for it because either way you are going to get either a first down or give it to them around midfield which to your point is 20 yards away from field goal range.

My counter to that point however is that you are more likely to be giving up a touchdown versus a field goal if you don't make it.