Monday, February 6, 2012

A New(?) Football Strategy

Did anyone notice the third to last play in last night's Super Bowl? About 17 seconds left, if I recall, the Patriot's needing 56 yards for a TD, a long incomplete pass, and the Giants are flagged for twelve men on the field. Eight of the 17 seconds run off the clock during the play, five yard penalty.

Looks like a pretty good deal to me. Why not put twenty men on the field? Short of invoking the "palpably unfair act rule" (OK, try 13 men on the field), giving up five yards to run precious seconds off the clock seems to make sense.

Remember, intentional penalties are well within the rules (e.g., delay of game).

Actually, if you want my honest opinion, the NFL (and NCAA, too) may need to consider a quick rule change to close this loophole.

On the other hand, I wouldn't expect this strategy to make a huge impact. Doing it too soon will override turnovers (or turnovers on downs) and keep the drive moving. I don't know -- maybe we just leave things the way they are and just see what happens for while.