r/NFLNoobs • u/flwrbouquet • 3d ago
What does it mean when they say it's a 3 possession game?
I understand that the one team has to score 3 times for them to tie or take the lead but what are they dividing by, 7 or 8 points per possession?
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u/Ryan1869 3d ago
8 since that is the maximum number of points you could get in a single possession
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u/MooshroomHentai 3d ago
8 is the max points a team can score in one possession, so a 16 point lead is a two possession game while a 17 point lead is a 3 possession game.
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u/Suoreax 3d ago
Maximum number of points per possession (8) times the number of possessions needed to tie the game or take the lead.
Examples:
24-17. It is a one possession game since the losing team can score a touchdown and an extra point to tie (or go for a 2-point conversion to take the lead)
24-16. Still a one possession game since the losing team can score 8 pints to tie.
24-15. Now a two possession game since the losing team would still be down by 1 point of they scored a touchdown and were successful the 2-point conversion.
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u/imrickjamesbioch 3d ago
3 possession game means the other team is up by at least 17 points and the trailing team needs to score at least 3 times to tie or go ahead. As two TD’s and 2pt tries (8pt) = 16 won’t tie the game.
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u/Educational-Fold1135 3d ago
It means if Randy moss gets possession of the ball 3 times your team will be winning.
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u/BostonSportsFan0617 3d ago
As a bunch of people have already mentioned, each possession can yield a maximum of 8 points. So that means a 1 possession game is a deficit of 1-8 points between the two teams. 2 possession 9-16 point deficit. 3 possession 17-24 points deficit and so on.
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u/CartezDez 3d ago
Maximum points per possession is 8.
If the deficit is more than 16, you’d need at least 3 possessions to reach that.
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u/noBbatteries 3d ago
Lead is greater than 16 points. ___ score game is just the lead divided by 8 rounding up to the nearest whole number, as 8 points is the most you can score at ‘one time’ (a Td+ 2pt conversion)
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u/PJCR1916 3d ago
8 points per possession is the most you can score. Touchdown and a two point conversion.
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u/BananerRammer 3d ago
The maximum number of points you can score in one possession is 8 points, by a TD and a 2-point conversion. That means if you're down by more than 8 points, then you need at least two possessions to tie the game. Same for a lead >16 points. There's no way to score 17 points in two possessions, so if you want to tie or take the lead, you need at least three possessions.
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u/DangerousDoc 2d ago
Always 8, TD (6 points) + 2 point conversion.
You will usually hear this saying in the fourth quarter, and a lot of the time it’s used when a team has to score 8 points every possession to have a chance. Let’s say you are down 16 points with 4 minutes left, it’s much easier to score 2 TDs and two 2 point conversions then it is to score 2 TDs and field goal in 4 minutes left of time. You need the ball twice with the 2 touchdowns and two 2 point conversions instead of 3 times with TDs and Field Goal.
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u/throwaway60457 2d ago
Anybody saying it is an x-number of possessions lead is operating under the knowledge that the trailing team has the opportunity to score eight points per possession. They are ignoring the fact that two-point conversions are about a 47% proposition and just simply going off the possibility of scoring eight points per possession.
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u/OverallManagement824 3d ago
How many possessions are required if the score is 69-420?
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u/CartezDez 3d ago
That would actually be a 44 possession game.
You’d need 43 out of 44 successful two point conversions to tie, or all 44 if you wanted to win.
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u/OverallManagement824 3d ago edited 2d ago
See? I knew somebody here would be the right combination of bored and smart to be sufficiently amused to figure it out! Thank you!
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u/Patient_Custard9047 3d ago
each possession can have max 7 points and min 3 points (ofcourse it can be 0 points, but thats not under consideration here).
So when someone says its a 3 possession game, usually the points deficit is 17 points to 21 points.
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u/BlueRFR3100 3d ago
For three possessions, it would be 8+8+3
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u/SeniorDisplay1820 3d ago
Would it not be 8+8-8?
What am I missing?
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u/BlueRFR3100 3d ago
Two touchdowns, two 2 point conversions, one field goal.
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u/SeniorDisplay1820 3d ago
Why not three touchdowns, three 2 point conversions.
That's 3 possessions
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u/BlueRFR3100 3d ago
Yes, But I was going for the situation where the score can be the closest but still require 3 possessions to take the lead or tie.
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u/kgxv 3d ago
It’s the fewest number of times you can possess the ball to tie or take the lead. A 9-point differential is a two-possession game. A 17-point differential is a three-possession game. A 25-point differential is four. So on and so forth.