OT: When to go for 2

[DemsMyBoys]

Of all the things that happened yesterday, Whiz going for the TD rather than the FG pissed me off the most.

Me too. This team isn't good enough for that kind of playing. In this situation you ALWAYS take the points.

 

[DoTheDew]

I actually think it's more logical to go for the 2 earlier unless it can be proven that the odds of converting it increase later in the game. The reason being that if you are going to fail the attempt (greater than 50% odds that you will) you need to know that you'll need the third score. If you go for the XP and get the ball back with say, 3 minutes down 8 points, you will run your offense as if you only need to get to the end zone once. You will probably use up a lot more time than if you were down 9.

So lets say you get down there, get the TD go for 2 and fail on the second attempt so you're down 28-29 and you just used up most of the game clock. Now you have to on-side, convert, and throw a hail mary. Had you gone for 2 on the earlier attempt, you'd have run the previous drive in a "one-minute" offense. Every pass would have been to the sidelines or end zone. If you did score, you'd almost certainly have more time for the third possession.

 

[gusmahler]

So lets say you get down there, get the TD go for 2 and fail on the second attempt so you're down 28-29 and you just used up most of the game clock. Now you have to on-side, convert, and throw a hail mary. Had you gone for 2 on the earlier attempt, you'd have run the previous drive in a "one-minute" offense. Every pass would have been to the sidelines or end zone. If you did score, you'd almost certainly have more time for the third possession.

Exactly. You could see it in yesterday's San Diego game. They were down 8. Yet they were acting very nonchalant with less than 2 minutes left. Going to the line slowly. Not going out of bounds. They were clearly aiming to leave the clock down near zero if they scored. Problem is, they had no guarantee of getting the 2. If they failed, they would have been screwed.

The point was moot because San Diego didn't score. But the fact remains that teams continually act like 8 points is a one score game when it's not. Better to make it a 9 point game or a 7 point game earlier and act accordingly.