The chances of a deep ball INT being returned for a TD almost approaches zero. A rather large number of them are made as the defender is going down. I wouldn’t give it two seconds thought. It’s the chance if a sack that would bother me.
But trying to burn 13 seconds? I could see burning 6 seconds that way but not 13.
No, not with 13 seconds. When we started this discussion it was said that there were only 8 seconds. When it was pointed out that this was incorrect, I said that any pass play to kill the clock would have been impossible.
You’re absolutely right on that point.
This might work even better in basketball-got the ball with six seconds, and say someone like Shaq has it. Instead of letting himself be fouled he can just lob it high in the air (taking care to avoid hitting the scoreboard, natch). I gather this would be considered a truly bush league move in hoops tho, and anyone who did it in a crucial game would undoubtedly become a laughingstock.
Football already has the victory formation. If deliberately falling down to burn the clock isn’t considered a pussy move, nothing will be.
But they don’t always get there in time. And good punt returns disproportionately come when the guy fielding the punt has a chance to get moving before the coverage gets to him.
The important difference is that (unless the QB screws up badly) the team throwing the chuck will always have some guys right near the ball when it’s catchable. It should almost never be the case that a defender gets to make a clean INT and get up to speed before he can be grabbed.