PatsFan37
2nd Team Getting Their First Start
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2004
- Messages
- 1,603
- Reaction score
- 168
Okay, so I'm bored enough to read Dr. Z's column. He has this football teaser:
I think you could have started on your own 4, gotten to 4th-and-1 on the 13 yard line, and taken a 5-yard penalty to put you back at your own 8, still on 4th down.
What do you think? Am I right? Do I need to stop wasting my time reading Dr. Z's columns? All of the above?
Let's set aside that this arrogant sportswriter hands what he thinks is a trick question to three great coaches (or says he does, I'm assuming it's pure fiction that he actually asked them). Instead, consider his assertion that you can't have a 4th-and-1 on your own eight. Why not?Here's the football teaser. You've got a minute to play. You're down by six. You're out of timeouts. It's 4th-and-1 on your own 8-yard line. What do you call? I asked many football coaches this question. Walsh said a power sweep that would get you out of bounds and stop the clock. Shula said, what the hell, go deep. Bear Bryant said he'd call two plays, a sneak for the first down, then a deep pass. And so forth. Now make your own decision before you read any farther.
Got your play? The answer is that you CAN'T HAVE a 4th-and-1 on your own eight. It would mean that you started on the minus-one. Think it through. Walsh was quite annoyed when I told him. "I didn't know it was a damn trick question?" he said. He found out. Mitch Cosentino got it right, though.
I think you could have started on your own 4, gotten to 4th-and-1 on the 13 yard line, and taken a 5-yard penalty to put you back at your own 8, still on 4th down.
What do you think? Am I right? Do I need to stop wasting my time reading Dr. Z's columns? All of the above?