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American Football is a game played with 11 players on offense competing against 11 players on defense, with a sequence of plays executed as one team attempts to outscore the other, but each discrete play reflects actions on the field by players and off the field by coaches. For example, what is the best spot on the field to complete a pass and not get it intercepted? How do quarterbacks differ with respect to their release points? When should you ice the kicker? These are the questions that we are trying to answer on this special football-themed episode of Stats+Stories.  Mike Lopez serves as Senior Director of data and analytics at the National Football League, and he's held this position since August of 2018, after previously serving as director in the same department. Before this role, Mike worked at Skidmore College as a lecturer, research associate and as an assistant professor. Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez is pursuing a PhD in business analytics from the University of Cincinnati, with a research focus on discrete data analysis and statistical methodology. Ryan Elmore is an associate professor in the Department of Business Information and Analytics at the University of Denver's Daniel College of Business. His research interests include statistics and sports, non-parametric statistical methods, and energy-efficient high-performance computing. He currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports. Background in Sports Analytics 2:00 Evolution of Football Data 5:23 2024 Kickoff Rule Changes 8:36 Next Generation Stats and Data Collection 15:28 In-Game Analytics and Coaching Decisions 20:35 Fourth Down Strategy Revolution 24:23 Future of Player Evaluation 27:20 Replay Process Efficiency 28:30 Ryan Elmore and Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez Interview Starts 31:50 Inspiration for the Research 33:23 Play-by-Play Data 37:53 Defining Iced Kicks & Matching Approach 40:33 Causal Inference & “Parallel Universes” Idea 45:05 Strategic Use of Timeouts & Other Situations 51:03 Future Research Directions 57:25