1st & 10

by Herndon Hasty on 09/09/2009 at 6:30 pm in Commentary, Within Range

Picture this: You’re calling a huddle. It’s the 4th quarter, you’re on the opponent’s 40 yard line with 20 seconds left to play on a first down. You’ve got one time out left, and the other team’s out. The running game’s been less than stellar, but their defensive line is worn out, and your rookie slot receiver’s been hot for the last two passes, having just come off a catch-and-run for 30 yards to get you where you are right now. Communications with the booth are down, so it’s your call what the play is.

What do you do?

Most people would say go with what’s been working, and keep the ball in the air as there’s a better chance of doing more with just a little time. Keep feeding it to the rookie, and make sure he gets out of bounds if he doesn’t make it to the end zone.

They would be wrong in this situation.

Some of the gutsier people would say that you’ve got the defense on their heels – fake a pass and have your running back shoot outside to either the endzone or the sideline.

They would be wrong, too.

In fact, even with all the complexities of the game and all the possibilities, there’s only one right answer to this dilemma…and that’s to take a knee and end the game.

You see, even with all the other information that you got about the situation the most critical piece was missing: That you’re up 20-10. That long pass was just meant to get you the last first down you needed to end the game.

Knowing the right measures to keep an eye on is vastly more important than having a huge number of facts at your fingertips, whether it’s in football, online marketing efforts or life. Sure, a lot of the details can really spice up the game / presentation / water cooler talk, and can be great for strategies the next game / campaign / trip to the grocery store, but never lose sight of the bottom line. Find the metrics that need to be accomplished, weigh what remains to be done with time and resources, and only then determine your next move.