Timing the Game

I often wonder how they come up with some of these sports statistics. A study indicated that during a typical NFL game, the ball is only in play for 11 minutes. What happens during the other 49 minutes?

I find this fact to be credible when you think about it. They are only talking about the ball being in play. Once the ball is snapped, the play itself usually lasts less than ten seconds. If the average game has about 70-80 offensive plays, this number would seem correct.

More time is used on kick and punt returns, but incompleted passes stop the clock and don't take much time unless the quarterback is scrambling.

This number isn't that bad when you think of how much time the ball is actually in play during a baseball game.