[quote name='n8rockerasu']Well, that's kind of where an "enforced logic" comes in. I feel like we have to restrict a lot of stuff so people don't "play like a video game", and actually use football logic. In real life, the reason for running the ball is to chew clock. Coaches don't risk a pass because it could either A) lead to a turnover or B) result in an incompletion which stops the clock. If you're up by 21 in the 4th quarter, you should be trying to do everything you can to keep that clock moving....and at that point, punting isn't the worst thing in the world should it happen.
I don't know why a lot of people seem to have trouble grasping it, but if you kill some clock with a 21 point lead in the 4th, and are forced to punt...and then your opponent comes down the field and scores a TD to cut your lead to 14...start running your offense again. The idea of chewing the clock doesn't mean that you have to let your opponent come back and tie the game or something.
Obviously, it starts to become a gray area, but to me, a comfortable lead is 3 scores. Two scores can happen pretty quickly (TD + onside kick). So, to me it wouldn't be reasonable to get upset at somebody for throwing the ball (on any down) with a 2 score lead. I guess the idea there is that you're still trying to score to put the game away. And with a 3 score lead...you're trying to preserve the lead and get the game over with (not saying you can't do that with less than a 3 score lead...you've just got a much smaller margin for error).
And as always...in the 3rd quarter, there is no expectation. The variable factor here is time. If there's time to come back, you should keep playing your game. But once you get to a comfortable spot in the 4th quarter where you can whittle down the clock and dictate the end of the game, that's all you should be trying to do.[/QUOTE]
Relevant.
this shit.
