Team A is leading by "T" touchdowns, with "M" minutes left in the game. With the game clock running, they either a) commit a delay of game penalty, or b) commit a false start with one second on the play clock.
What's the formula? Is there one?
I had this in a game last weekend - lead between 17 and 22 points, Team A milking it on every play, false start with 1 second on the play clock - and a veteran crewmate said five minutes was too early to start invoking 3-4-3 and start the clock on the snap. But he also said, if the team had waited one more second and taken the DOG, then starting on the snap *would* have been appropriate. My thinking is, what's the difference?
Had the false start occurred with 13 on the play clock, then okay, sure, wind the clock - but with just 1 second left, that's the same exact thing as a DOG. 3-4-3 should apply either to both, or to neither. At least that's my opinion... unless a big majority convinces me...
If you feel 5:00 is too early for 3-4-3 when the lead is 17-to-22 points, I can see that, but the tipping point can't be TOO far away. The game is still in reach with 5:00 left. Unlikely, but possible. But just one or two extra 25s on the play clock would be enough to tip it from "unlikely" to "no chance."
Also note that, if this had been a 4- or 5-score game, the trailing team probably would have WANTED the clock to run. If it's 35-0 and the leading team false-starts on first down at 2:01, I assume we're winding.
So I tend to doubt whether there's a master formula for this stuff. It seems like it would have to account for not just the game time and score differential but ALSO the time on the play clock when the DBF happens. Plus there could also be a minimum *or* a maximum lead.
