eli5 why do football coaches call timeouts at the end of a quarter

Question

I understand the basics of football.

Just want to learn more about timeouts specifically.

In: 7

Answer 1

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.