I understand the basics of football.
Just want to learn more about timeouts specifically.
In: 7
Strategy. Also can unsettle the other team and make them 2nd guess their plan. Also can interrupt momentum.
Can you have a moment to strategize with their team. Especially with the game coming in to an end it’s all the more pressure for them to make the best decisions so having a time out to think things through and also maybe get moments to rest and have a sip of water feels like a presentable idea
Generally coaches call timeouts at the end of the halves, not quarters. At the end of the first half the timeouts reset so they may as well use them (and unused timeouts are useless after the game ends.)
These timeouts give the coaches a chance to carefully choose their next play after getting a sneak peak at what the other team had planned. They can also be used to mess up the timing of the other team.
But most importantly, a timeout stops the game clock. A team that is winning and has the ball can waste time by letting the play clock and game clock run (games end after game clock time runs out.) A timeout stops the game clock, preventing the winning team with the ball from wasting time, so the losing team can try to have more time to score.
Conversely, the winning team who has the ball may let the game and play clock run as low as possible then call a time out at the last second. This lets the winning team waste as much time as possible, without taking too many penalties for delay of game. Even though they are winning and just trying to waste time to speed up the end of the game, the team probably doesn’t want penalties because if they can get a first down, they can waste even more time and probably just win the game outright.
Offense will call them because it stops the game clock so you have time to run more plays.
Defense might call them to prevent the offense from purposely running out the clock.
If the defense lines up and the offense’s coach doesn’t like what he sees, then a timeout gives him a chance to choose a different play. He can’t do this for every play because he only gets 3 timeouts, so he usually saves them for the end of a half.
It’s typically right before halftime because there will be a second half kickoff and the end of the game. The end of the first and third quarters the current team retains possession.
So with the pending change of possession/end of the game, teams need to manage the clock to score before the half ends. This can mean doing a few different things, for example incomplete passes, going out of bounds, and timeouts all stop the clock.
There’s also clock management stuff like not huddling and running a “hurry up” offense or intentionally spiking the ball to stop the clock (incomplete pass). If a team wants the clock to keep moving and there isn’t a lot of time left, they might snap the ball and immediately kneel down to keep the clock moving.
Let’s say its near the end of the 3rd quarter, the clock is ticking down, it doesn’t look like your team will be able to get the play off on time. You call a timeout with 1 second left.
Now it doesn’t matter if the next play takes 1 second or 100 seconds, you still get to run one play. Then the quarter will end. Play doesn’t stop in the middle just because the clock runs out. Same at the end of the half or even the end of the game. As long as the ball is considered “live” by the rules you keep playing.
Calling that timeout gives you one more play. That one more play might be the difference between scoring or not scoring, between winning or not winning. Especially if you are behind at that point you want as many opportunities to run plays as you can. Conversely if you are ahead you probably want to avoid stopping the clock or delaying things, because the sooner the game ends, the better your chance of winning.
You don’t see this towards the end of the 1st or 3rd quarters. In the case of the 2nd quarter, there is no continuation into the 3rd quarter. The 3rd quarter always begins with a kickoff regardless of how the second quarter ended. The end of the 4th quarter is the end of the game.
Coaches call timeouts towards the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters to stop the clock and preserve time. If the team calling the timeout has possession of the ball, they’re typically trying to preserve enough time to let them score before the end of the half. If they don’t have the ball, it’s typically because they expect the other team to score or punt, and they want time to answer with a score of their own.
They may also call timeout because they are unprepared for the next play. This can happen at any time. Another potential reason is to “ice the kicker”. If a team is attempting a field goal towards the end of the half, a team might call a timeout to try and “psyche” the kicker out and get them to miss.
Half of these answers are wrong. The answer at a high level is to stop the clock at the end of a half. It’s actually rare for timeouts to be used at the end of the first or third quarter.
A team has up to 3 timeouts per half, and they do not carry over. Time outs can be used to strategize, but they’re most often used to stop a running clock.
The team who did not receive the kickoff at the start of the game receives the kickoff at the start of the third quarter, regardless of where the ball was on the field when the teams went to half time. Teams use their timeouts for the end of the first half because they want to make sure they complete their drives before the end of the half.
But teams save their timeouts for the end of the 4th quarter even more often. This is because if you know you’re winning, you can run the ball to keep the clock ticking. The losing team saves their timeouts to stop the clock.
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