A question for debate

[LeonDixson]

Is it usually a good idea to throw the ball short of the 1st down marker on 3rd down and rely on the receiver to pick up the extra yards? I'm not talking about screens. Further, I realize there are times you want to throw it short because of the way you are being defensed.

It's kind of a pet peeve of mine that we frequently rely on the receiver to pick up enough YAC to make the 1st down and it's not always long yardage either. IMO we do that too often. I'd just like to know what the rest of you think about it as a fairly frequent strategy.

ps it could just be my own warped perception that we do it all that often.
Nevertheless, talk about the strategy.

 

[Risen Star]

Often times that's the checkdown option for the QB but the average fan doesn't realize it and wrongly criticizes the coordinator for apparently calling "throw it to Witten short of the sticks on three".

You have to make the defense defend the whole field. With that includes running routes short of the marker on 3rd down.

 

[Aven8]

Just ask John Madden this question. It drove him crazy when wr's didn't get past the line, pre ball thrown. it drove me crazy also!

 

[rkell87]

also the defense posts up on that first down line and they arent going to let you past it unless they have to

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Often times that's the checkdown option for the QB but the average fan doesn't realize it and wrongly criticizes the coordinator for apparently calling "throw it to Witten short of the sticks on three".

You have to make the defense defend the whole field. With that includes running routes short of the marker on 3rd down.

also the defense posts up on that first down line and they arent going to let you past it unless they have to

Exactly. It's hard to complete a 3rd and 12 because the defense knows you're targeting that distance. So they sag off and let you complete the checkdown.

And the O takes that checkdown because it's still better to get nine yards on 3rd and 12 than throw an incompletion or, worse, take a sack. Field position is still huge, so you take those nine yards rather than forcing a ball into coverage or taking a sack.

 

[LeonDixson]

Exactly. It's hard to complete a 3rd and 12 because the defense knows you're targeting that distance. So they sag off and let you complete the checkdown.

And the O takes that checkdown because it's still better to get nine yards on 3rd and 12 than throw an incompletion or, worse, take a sack. Field position is still huge, so you take those nine yards rather than forcing a ball into coverage or taking a sack.

That would be an instance where I could totally agree with the strategy. But as I said in OP, it's not always 3rd and extra long. In the Denver game at about the 2:40 mark in the 4th, we have a 3rd and 8 (I know that's long) but the ball is thrown ONE yard beyond the line of scrimage and it looks like he was the primary receiver to me. Earlier in the game we had a 3rd and 6 and the ball was thrown only a couple of yards beyond the LOS. Of course Harris took it for a TD

I've seen instances where we need less than 5 yards and the ball is only thrown a yard or 2 beyond the LOS.

You guys make a good point about checkdowns.