Why the hell wouldn’t the Chargers go for it on 4th down in OT?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

But maybe you are forgetting there is only 10 minutes in OT so if they go down and kick the FG there is probably not much time left.

Now you're relying on an extremely high level of execution from a rookie QB and an offense that hasn't really shown that degree of precision all game.

It's HARD to eat up clock. Especially if/when you get into FG range and the Chiefs still have 2 TOs to use.

Give Mahomes 2 minutes knowing he has all 4 downs to use and that's going to be plenty of time. Now it may well have taken the L off the board (KC's not gonna be able to kick a FG to tie, get a stop and get the ball back to score again), but I don't think it's reasonable to assume that they could've milked the clock enough to keep Mahomes from having a real good shot at salvaging the tie and even getting a couple of shots at the end zone for a W.

All the reasons people are giving to not punt the ball are also reasons why you don't want to be kicking FGs either. And they're even heightened by putting Mahomes in 'must have' 4-down territory.