Flag football is like no other sport. The mental side of the game is as important as the physical. Calling a good game, reading a defense, when to commit or not commit a penalty, when to accept or decline one,etc. can be the difference in a game.
Flag football is situational. Bill Belichick runs his practices going through situation after situation. There are five things that make that situation, they are; down, distance, field position, score, and clock. Score and clock are only relative together and more so at the end of a half.
So, when should you go for it on fourth down? Well, that, like all things in flag football, is situational. Most people make that decision if they think they can make it and that question should actually have nothing to do with it. Going for it on fourth down is a risk-reward analysis. If you do not make it, what do you lose? If you make it, what do you gain? It is that simple. Field position has the most to do with this decision since what you are risking and what you might gain is drastically affected by your position on the field. Score many times dictates if you have to go for it. Toward the end of the game if you are losing you have to use every down available to try and score regardless of the field position.
So, let’s say you are on your fifteen and it’s forth and inches should you go for it? Let’s not worry about score or clock, it’s tied early on. If you go for it and don’t get it, you give the ball to the opponent in scoring position. If you get it, well you still have a lot of real estate before scoring. The risk is giving up a touchdown. The reward is still pretty crappy field position. The risk is too high for the small reward. Don’t go for it. But it’s only inches! Never think about that because, as a great flag football player and teammate of mine said, bad things happen on a flag football field. Look at the risk not the percentage chance of the risk.
Now let’s say you are on their twenty-five same scenario, fourth and inches, tied early on. If you make it you continue your drive. Another four downs toward the end zone, good but not great reward. If you don’t make it they get the ball on their side of the field on the twenty five. Now that is very low risk. Also factor in your kicking game. Our kicker is putting that in the end zone, and it comes out to the twenty so our team would be losing five yards. Absolutely go for it. A chance to score versus five yards, decision made.
So, in the future ask yourself what down get if we go for it versus what do we lose if we don’t make it and don’t worry about the distance you have to go because I’ve seen fourth and twenty completed and fourth and inches stopped.