4TH DOWN RULE

Yo bros...it has been brought to my attention from 5 different people so far this season...I don't think guys are fully understanding the rules on when it is ok to go for it on 4th down. The rule states:

If u are inside your 40 yard line and its 4th and 1 or greater - U MUST PUNT THE BALL... UNLEES you are behind in the last 6 minutes of the game - the punt restriction is lifted...

Now I was always under the belief that you had to punt anytime you were OUTSIDE of your OPPONENTS 40 YARD LINE (meaning 40+ yards away from your team scoring a touchdown)...I guess this is not true. I want to apologize to anyone who I recently misinformed about this rule and that it is indeed INSIDE YOUR 40 YARD LINE...not your OPPONENTS 40 YARD LINE. But I don't necessarlily agree that the ruling is true SIM football. Does anyone else have any views on this ruling? I normally always punt out of respect for my opponent if I'm stopped outside of my opponents 40 yard line...unless I'm losing and it's the 4th quarter. Also, does this mean that you can go for it on 4th down anytime you are outside of your 40 yard line no matter how many yards it is to a first down? I wanna hear your thoughts on this rule bros!

If I'm past my own 40 I decide to punt based on a mix of real football and madden football logic. Score, remaining time, how well I'm playing on D, and distance to the 1st down all come into account. Usually if it's more than 4th and 2 but between 40 yd lines I'll punt bc I like to try and pin them back. But if I'm down more than a score or don't think I can stop them (I suck at d) I'll usually go for it. Never on 4th and long unless I absolutely have to

I think the your 40 yard line part is probably fine its the "AND its 4th and 1 or greater" part that needs visiting. That part of the sentence means that I can start on my own 1 yard line get 9 yards so I am one my own 10 yard line on 4th and 1 and following the letter of the rule I can go for it from my own 10.

2 changes would be to completely eliminate the second part of the rule, meaning if your are not past your own 40 you must punt. I don't agree with moving it to your opponents 40 but maybe move it to the 50 yard line eliminating the conflict possibility of an extra long field goal try if you were on your opponents 40 yard line.

Also changing the 6 minute part to 4th quarter would clean it up a little bit

I think it could definitely be tweaked to make it more realistic, maybe by putting an upper limit on the yards-to-firstdown where you can still go for it? Something like, between the 40's you must punt on anything longer than 4th and 4? To me, in true SIM football we would have to punt all the way up until we reach the opponents 40 or 45, at which point I can see justifying going for it in certain situations. I personally almost always go for it in that area, because with the way the kicking was I couldn't count on pinning them deep with a coffin corner, and to me it is worth sacrificing the 20 yards of field position for the chance to keep the drive alive in most cases. Obviously, with the new update kicking has become a joke, so I will probably be punting more in these situations, if I have been playing well on defense.

Other than that, should we maybe have a rule about kicking field goals versus going for it when you are inside the opponent's 30? In SIM football teams would take the field goal 9 times out of 10, but it seems like with the way the rules are people are going for it a lot more than they should be in these areas. What if you had to kick on anything greater than 4th and 2, unless you are more than 11 points behind (a fieldgoal plus a TD with a 2-point conversion)?

Surf I agree with that completely, kicking is now nerfed so we should have to punt up to the opponents 40 unless trailing in the 4th. Also field goals should now be mandatory under those same circumstances. Then again it does work out if they go for it and you stop them (not like I ever do though lol)

some1 said they can go for it on 4th and 1 inside their own ten?

how do you figure.. Its if you get past your own 40 as in the 41 yard line up and it is 4th and inches you may go 4 it... that's it

4th and 1 or greater you punt..so 4th and 1 by the letter of the law means punt..

No, the rule says you must punt if you are inside your own 40 and its greater than 4th and 1. We are talking about changing that.

johny read the sentence in the rule real slow and remember all your English classes you had to take in your first 12 years of education.

but if you still don't see it read my post and the part of the rule that I quote and notice the word I put in all capitals, and notice that word is not in all capitals in the rule.

The use of the word AND implies both things have to happen before you have to do the third thing.

Im not saying that I personally would go for it but if the situation were to occur and somebody did do go for it on their own 10 TECHNICALLY they would not be breaking the rule.

for the record - tried to change the punt rule at the beginning of the year - THE GOVERNING COUNCIL VETOWED HE CHANGE...

the current rule is in place to force people to PUNT IIN THEIR OWN END - i consider my own 40 - to my opponents 40 MIDFIELD - (and although 99% of the time on my side of the field i would punt - as i get closer to my opponents 40 - i am more likey to take on a 4th down gamble....) - the rule was made not to interject my philosphy into the game - some guys see MIDFIELD as a total grey area - and SOME guys would be able to justify 4th down gamble at midfield from time to time- and still be within SIM play...

The other part of the rule reffers to DOWN AND DISTANCE... its made that way to give guys the option to go for it on 4th down - ANYWHERE ON THE FIELD - IF ITS 4TH AND INCHES - again noty always advisible in my opinion - but could be JUSTIFIED WITH THE RIGH PERSONEL AND AGAINST THE RIGHT TEAM... this why thje rule was worded in this fashion...

If u want to propose an ammendment to the rule - The Giverning Council welcomes all suggestion on rules - pls put a motiopn forward - we will debate the merrits of the suggestion and rule on it in our next meeting...