Feature Enhancement: Time Calculator

The Time Calculator is a tool that will estimate the time remaining in a game that a trailing defense can expect to get the ball back if they force a stop. It considers the current time and timeouts remaining while factoring in stoppage from the two minute warning and change of possession.

The previous version of the Time Calculator could only base its estimate beginning with the time of the first down snap of a series. For the vast majority of situations that's ok, because offenses will typically only run plays that avoid stopping the clock--runs that stay in bounds. But sometimes there is a stoppage, due to either an incomplete pass,a runner going out of bounds, penalty, or other reason.

The old calculator could account for an unexpected stoppage if you add a notional timeout to the game state. For example, say the defense began the series with 1 timeout, then used it following 1st down, and there was an unexpected stoppage after second down. This scenario would be no different than if the defense began the series with 2 timeouts rather than their actual 1.

Still, it would be easier and more straightforward to make the calculator work for any down. Now you can enter the time at the snap of any down in a series along with the number of timeouts remaining, and the calculator will estimate the time after the change of possession.

All the other options remain the same: the average duration of each play, the game-clock duration between plays, and whether the defense would prefer to trade away some time on the clock to preserve a timeout for use on offense.

Try it out. The Advanced NFL Stats Time Calculator.

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2 Responses to “Feature Enhancement: Time Calculator”

  1. Joe C. says:

    Brian,

    I actually just used this now when San Francisco got the ball with 1:09 left in the game and Atlanta had two timeouts. Atlanta got the ball back with six seconds left just like the calculator said.

    PS: I took a screen shot

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/97208691/Time%20Calculator.png

    Great work, man. Thanks again,

    Joe C.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Not related to this post specifically, but you were referenced at Grantland:

    http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/48030/there-is-no-red-zone-the-nfls-scoring-myth

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