alabamagrizzly
Well-known member
All in all, by the numbers, the attempt on 4th down to continue the drive is an effective plan. Over 50% of our attempts were successful, all of which except one were attempted on the opposition side of the 50. If successful, nearly 70% of our extended drives put points on the board. Yes, we were 14/18 on FG's but after the second game, we didn't make a kick outside the 21 yard line. Obviously if we punt, we get 0 points so it makes since to give us an opportunity in certain situations. Now some will argue that maybe we give up more points on failures. Not so. of our 51 punts, the defense stopped the opposition from scoring 75% of the time. If we attempted a 4th down conversion, successful or not, the opposition didn't score on their ensuing drive 81% of the time. If you only take into account our 4th down failed attempts, the D held 69%, just under the rate as if we had punted anyway. Therefore, it just makes sense to try in certain situations. The only complaint I have and probably the number one issue is the damn QB dive formation. Every time we lined up in that formation, we ran the same play. One could argue that you should be able to get one yard but when 11 guys know exactly what hole the ball is going in, it can get difficult.