Great Time Management Article

[HotInHere]

Courtesy of the Buffalo News. This is an excellent, in-depth breakdown of the underrated skill of time management for NFL coaches.

[JohnBKistler]

The Bills already had taken two timeouts, one with 8:48 left in the third quarter to avoid a delay-of-game penalty and the other 44 seconds into the fourth quarter because the defense had only 10 players on the field at the start of a possession.

I can understand taking a TO when you only have 10 men on the field - the risk of busted coverage and an easy score by the opponent is too great. But it really irks me when TO are taken (wasted) relatively early in the second half to avoid a 5-yard delay of game penalty...especially when it is 1st or 2nd down. I can maybe understand if it is 3-and-manageable and you are trying to avoid a 3rd and long...but even then, I think if it is relatively early in the second half, a 5-yard penalty is not worth a TO that could very well become crucial in the last few minutes of the game.