Teams don’t punt anymore?

[stinkfish]

Is it just me, or are teams going for it a lot more on 4 and short this season than ever before?

[Dave Gray]

They are.  They are finally figuring out what some of us have known for a decade.

[Pappy13]

The question is, has it helped them win? I think that's much more debateable. How many times have you seen a team go for it on 4th down, convert and still get nothing out of the drive and punt anyway? How many times have teams not gotten the 1st down? Cost Green Bay a FG trying to go for it with a fake punt in their own territory. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think it makes more sense if you have a good offense as opposed to a good defense. If your defense is better than your offense, I think punting and playing for field position is the better option still.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The question is, has it helped them win? I think that's much more debateable. How many times have you seen a team go for it on 4th down, convert and still get nothing out of the drive and punt anyway? How many times have teams not gotten the 1st down? Cost Green Bay a FG trying to go for it with a fake punt in their own territory. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think it makes more sense if you have a good offense as opposed to a good defense. If your defense is better than your offense, I think punting and playing for field position is the better option still.

Statistically, it leads to more wins, but some games won't work out. 

[Pappy13]

Statistically, it leads to more wins, but some games won't work out.  

Is that just an assumption?

I don't think there's proof of that at least not for every team. In my opinion if your offense is much better than your defense than it's maybe a decent assumption but if your defense is about on par with your offense, I don't think it is and perhaps that's why the thinking has changed a bit. Offenses have become more important than defenses and it wasn't always like that.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Is that just an assumption?

I don't think there's proof of that at least not for every team. In my opinion if your offense is much better than your defense than it's maybe a decent assumption but if your defense is about on par with your offense, I don't think it is and perhaps that's why the thinking has changed a bit. Offenses have become more important than defenses and it wasn't always like that.

Some mathematician did a statistical analysis on punting vs going for it and concluded that teams punted way too often.