going for it on 4th (1 Viewer)

[The Gray Hood]

during 2007 there was much wailing and whining by fans around the league as pats would occasionally try to convert 4th downs, and more recently belichick caught national interest with that crazyass call going for it on his own 25 (or whatever it was).

does it pay to go for it on 4th?

there's that one high school coach who doesn't ever punt, but I doubt we'll be seeing that in the nfl anytime soon.

meanwhile, here are a few stats from weei's nuggetpalooza...........

http://nuggetpalooza.weei.com/sports/bosto...-nuggetpalooza/

- The Patriots went 3 for 3 on 4th down last week, the 10th time that they have had 3 such conversions in a game since 2000. It gave them 64 conversions on 4th down since 2005 (in 86 tries; 74.4%). Here are the top five teams in 4th down successes since 2005:

64 - New England Patriots

47 - Jacksonville Jaguars

45 - St. Louis Rams

45 - Houston Texans

44 - Kansas City Chiefs

And the top five in 4th down success percentage in that span:

74.4% - New England Patriots

62.5% - Houston Texans

61.5% - San Diego Chargers

60.9% - Baltimore Ravens

59.5% - Kansas City Chiefs

One last 4th down conversion percentage note: During that same span, the Baltimore Ravens have allowed just 36.8% conversions on 4th down since 2005 (25 out of 68), the lowest percentage in the NFL.

 

[stuckinthemuck]

Advanced NFL Stats has a four part series that answers your question well. Here's part one: http://www.advancednflstats.com/2009/09/4t...udy-part-1.html

 

[tomarken]

If I were a coach I'd go for it on 4th and 1 or 4th and 2 anytime I was past my own 20. If I can't pick up 1-2 yards four times out of five I don't deserve to be an NFL coach.