Eli5 why in football do they always reference rest as beneficial to the defense?

Question

So watching college football today the announcers always make a statement like “That drive took 10 minutes so the defense got a good rest”. How is that rest only beneficial to the defense and not for the opposing offense?

In: 744

Answer 1

People have, rightly, pointed out that the defense exerts more energy than the offense. But a major piece that I don’t see being mentioned is that when players get tired, they sub out. That happens on offense and defense. But the one player who almost never comes out is the quarterback. The (usually) most important player. So that alone makes rest more important for the defense than the offense.