12-03-2019, 01:33 AM
Denver Broncos StatsWhen should you kick a field goal Derek Wolfe Jersey , punt or go for it on 4th down in plus territory?New,154commentsA deep dive into the analytics that should underlie head coaching decisions at critical points - by field position. MDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:When should you kick a field goal, punt or go for it on 4th down in plus territory?TwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailPhoto by Alika Jenner/Getty ImagesLet’s start this by assuming that we have at least an average field goal kicker and an average punter. I’m going to let you be the head coach. It’s the 2nd quarter at sea level, the score is tied at 7 and you have the ball 4th and 4 from your opponent’s 38 with 11 minutes to play in the quarter. There is no wind. A field goal try from this spot would be a 55 yard try. The league was 10 of 17 from 55 yards in 2018 - 58.8%. 25 different place kickers, including Brandon McManus, attempted at least one kick from 55 yards away or longer in 2018. Overall the league was 26 of 43 on FG attempts from 55 or longer (60.4%). So let’s break this down into four partsWhat are the chances of hitting a FG from this distance?What are your opponents chances of scoring if you turn the ball over on a missed FG from this distance?What are your chances of converting on 4th and 4?What are the odds of pinning your opponent deep if you punt from here?Chances of hitting the field goalThe accuracy of NFL placekickers has been steadily improving year over year during the history of the league. The accuracy of a 50 yard FG attempt in 2010 is comparable to the league-wide accuracy of a 40 yard FG attempt in 1990. On a more granular level, there is an inflection point (change in accuracy) somewhere around 56 or 57 yards if you look at the data from this century. So in our hypothetical situation with our average NFL place kicker, we have about a 50% chance (from this century’s data) or a ~60% chance if you go by last year’s data of hitting a FG from this spot. Opponent’s Chances of Scoring Starting drive at own 45. According to the statheads who have crunched the data, the chances of scoring either a FG or a TD on drive that you start at your own 45 are 44%. So if we have a 60% chance of getting three points and the opponent has a 44% chance of getting at least three points, We are still coming out ahead. The 44% chance of scoring is 18% chance of a FG and a 26% chance of a TD, based solely on starting field position. So you are betting 2:1 Chris Harris Jersey , that the next time you get the ball on offense you will have a lead. However, if you move that ball back to the 40 (making the kick a 57 yard FG attempt), you have reached the break even point. Your chances of hitting the FG drop to 46.3% (this century) and your opponents chances of scoring points starting a drive from their 47 go up to 47%. Also keep in mind that if you give up a TD on the ensuing drive you are down six (probably seven) instead of up three - a ten point swing. Some NFL head coaches pay attention to data like this. In 2018 there were 17 attempts from 55 yards, 11 attempts from 56 yards, 5 attempts from 57 yards and only one attempt from 58 yards. Full disclosure there were 10 attempts of 59 or longer in 2018 (five were good, including one from 63 by Graham Gano). Why not just go for it?On 4th down tries NOT in the 4th quarter or OT (desperation time), teams converted at a rate of 64.7% overall, but the vast majority of those tries were on 4th and 3 or fewer yards needed. In 2018 there were only 30 attempts in the first three quarters of the game on 4th and medium (4-6 yards needed) compared to 206 attempts on 4th and 0-3 yards. Interestingly, teams converted on 56.7% of their tries on 4th and medium in the first three quarters of the game in 2018 (17/30). If we remove the six fake punts, we find that teams we successful on 14 of 24 (58%) 4th and medium attempts in the first three quarters of the game. Oddly enough, that is almost the exact same success rate as a 2018 FG attempt from 55 yards. So why don’t you just go for it? The lure of that three points are hard to resist. Conventional wisdom says try the FG or punt. Going for is seen as too risky (for some odd reason) so most coaches don’t do it in this type of situation despite the data. Should you punt?Barring a blocked punt or a punt return TD (which both rarely happen in the modern NFL) Emmanuel Sanders Jersey , the worst case scenario is a touchback in which case you gain 18 yards of field position. If you are confident that your punter can force the opponent to start their drive inside the 10, their chances of scoring on that drive go down to 20% or below. That means that you have a high probability of getting the ball back still tied at 7, but most likely you will have lost some field position in the process. This century there have been 9068 regular season drives that have started inside your own 10. 55.3% of those ended in punts12.3% ended in touchdowns (for the offense)13.4% ended in turnovers7.5% ended in field goals This century the average drive that started inside your own 10 gained 32.6 yards on 5.9 plays. So while the defense has ~70% chance of getting the ball back without giving up points, you passed on a 50-60% of getting three points to get that 70% chance of getting the ball back still tied (or with a safety which happens on 2.4% of drives begun inside offense’ 10 - up two).So maybe the calculus has a lot more to do with you confidence in your punter’s ability to pin the opponent inside the 10. The best punter in the league at pinning opponents inside the 10 in 2018 was former Bronco Brett Kern of the Titans. He punted 74 times and 20 of those were downed inside the 10 with only three touchbacks. The average NFL punter, however, was not that good/lucky in 2018. There were 80 punts in edge field goal range (+40 or closer) in 2018. Fourteen ended in touchbacks (17.5%) and 37 (46.3%) resulted in the opponent starting their drive inside their 10. So what call would you make now that you have seen the data? DENVER (AP) — Marlin Briscoe had to demand a tryout to be considered at quarterback when he was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 1968. He ended up becoming the first black quarterback to start in the American Football League.Briscoe says he sees parallels with his experiences in how black athletes are treated 50 years later.His groundbreaking accomplishments were somewhat lost in the shuffle in 1968, one of the most transformative years in U.S. history. Civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated that year. There were civil rights riots and numerous protests of the Vietnam War. Less than two weeks after Briscoe’s first start, U.S. track and field stars Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists on the medal stand at the Olympics to protest America’s social injustices.But Briscoe’s legacy resonates among his contemporaries 50 years later, hitting on race as well as the pressures athletes face in pro sports.Here are two stories from The Associated Press as they appeared in newspapers when Briscoe played in his first game and when he made his first start. Note that the first story misspells Mike Taliaferro’s and Gino Cappelletti’s last names, and the second story misspells kicker Bob Howfield’s last name.