Dawg4Life
12-30-2013, 06:50 PM
I have been watching football like a crazy person for the last 30 years. For the life of me, I cannot understand stopping/starting the clock late in games with respect to out of bounds and penalty situations. Years ago when a person went out of bounds, the damn clock stopped. Now it has to do with "forward progress." So please explain this scenario: OM has a ball carrier knocked out of bounds with 3:21 left on the clock. It brings up 3rd and 3. After a few seconds the clock starts back (WTH?). The game clock (25 seconds) will force play to begin on or before 2:49. OM snaps the ball with exactly 3:00 left to play. A flag is thrown for a false start, which is a dead ball foul. The clock, because the play is allowed to run for 4 seconds, now sits at 2:56. HERE is where it gets more interesting. The clock starts to run BEFORE the ball is snapped on 3rd and 8. So OM benefits from the clock running after a flag was thrown on them. With the play clock, the ball doesn't have to be snapped prior to 2:31. So let me reiterate this...OM runs out of bounds with 3:21...one penalty later they benefit from an additional 25 seconds running off of the clock and is allowed to snap the ball on or about 2:31 left on the clock.
My question is this: When running out the clock, why not always jump offsides at the last minute? You'll benefit from the additional runoff plus the delay in the start of the play till the whistle blows. Oh and by the way, OM got another penalty after that 3rd and 8 which allowed another second to run off of the clock. I'm sure I'm being a dumbass but this has to change. Imagine running out of bounds, having 2 false starts and getting one minute to run off of the clock! Fire away...
My question is this: When running out the clock, why not always jump offsides at the last minute? You'll benefit from the additional runoff plus the delay in the start of the play till the whistle blows. Oh and by the way, OM got another penalty after that 3rd and 8 which allowed another second to run off of the clock. I'm sure I'm being a dumbass but this has to change. Imagine running out of bounds, having 2 false starts and getting one minute to run off of the clock! Fire away...