The dead zone (also known as four-down territory or no man's land) is an area on the field of
where an offense is on their opponent's side of the field, but kicking a
field goal
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
would likely be unsuccessful and
punting the ball would not dramatically change field position.
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
In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...
(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 location and size of a football team's dead zone may vary, depending on the effective
field goal range Field goal range is the part of the field in American football where there is a good chance that a field goal attempt will be successful.
A field goal is normally 17 yards (7 yards in Canadian football) longer than the distance of the line of scrim ...
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 the game score and time remaining.
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.
However, as field goal kickers in the
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
have become increasingly accurate (especially from longer distances), the dead zone on an NFL football field has been moved back.
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).
References
{{Gridiron football concepts
American football terminology
Canadian football terminology