Dead zone (gridiron football)

The dead zone (also known as four-down territory) refers to an area on the field of gridiron football where an offence is on their opponent's side of the field, but kicking a field goal would likely be unsuccessful and punting the ball would not dramatically change field position.[1] The dead zone may exist anywhere from the opponent's 33 to 43-yard line, where a field goal attempt would be between 50 and 60 yards and punting the ball would likely result in a touchback (the punt bounces into the opponent's end zone and they begin their drive on their own 20-yard line resulting in a net gain of 13-23 yards on the punt).

The Colorado Mesa Mavericks attempt a 54-yard field goal from the 37-yard line against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions in 2016. A field goal from that range has a low rate of success but was chosen over punting or going for a fourth down conversion.

The location and size of a football team's dead zone may vary, depending on the effective field goal range of the offensive team's kicker. A team's decision on fourth down in the dead zone whether to punt or attempt a field goal is also dependent on game score and time remaining.[2] Many teams that find themselves in the dead zone prefer trying to convert a short fourth down rather than risk a missed field goal or punting the ball for minimal gain.[2] However, as field goal kickers in the NFL have become increasingly accurate (especially from longer distances), the dead zone on an NFL football field has been moved back.[3] For instance, as recent as 2013 NFL kickers were successful on 67.13% of their field goal attempts 50 yards or longer (a 50-yard field goal attempt means the offence was at their opponent's 33-yard line when attempting the field goal).[3]