To 2 Point, Or Not to 2 Point...
It's not a question if you follow the chart!
I want to let you all in on a secret of the coaching world. Anything we can do as coaches to remove thinking from our day to day lives we will do. Automation and routine is the name of the game. So when you’re watching a game on Saturday and you see your Badgers go for a two point conversion late in a game when they are down, but don’t do it in a similar situation earlier in the game you might think that was an interesting decision. What was Coach Fickell’s thought process? It’s simple…trust the chart!
From Pop Warner to the NFL all of us coaches on our call sheets have a little chart in the corner that breaks down situations when and when to not go for 2. The name of the game is reward over risk. Will going for two and failing put us in a worse situation later in the game? Kick the extra point. Will going for two and failing skill keep us in a one score game, or within a field goal to win it? Go for 2.
So our two examples from Saturday.
Situation #1: We score to bring the score to 24-15. The chart says go for 1 and here’s why. If we go for 2 and fail now we are down by 9 and we have a 2 score game. Going for 1 brings the score to 24-16 and now we are at a 1 score game with a lot of time left on the clock. We don’t need to add late game stress now so take the extra point and your eight deficit.
Situation #2: Tanner Mordecai scrambles and hits Skyler Bell on a crossing route falling away to bring the score to 24-22. As it stands now we are in a situation where a field goal wins the game. Kicking the extra point and a field goal still wins the game, but going for 2 and getting it ties the game and we have a whole new ball game. Now is the time to go for 2 because it is basically a no lose situation given the amount of time left on the clock. We fail, but now a field goal would win it with over a quarter left to go.
So forget what you think the analytics are telling your favorite coach or his gut instincts it’s a handy dandy little chart that he has had his whole coaching career that guides him into making the right decision.