day no. 15,196: punting away the final opportunity to draw blood

Ecclesiastes 3:1
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven

There is a time to punt and a time to go for it on fourth. Conventional wisdom, however, rarely sees the season for the latter. It simply assumes the season of safely punting away your final opportunity to draw blood. 

Refuse the temptation to punt.  Punting confuses the game of scoring points for one of playing field position. It turns a mean into an end. It places the focus on making it harder for the enemy to score rather than making it easier for you to score.

Field position is a tactic, not a goal.
The goal is to win the game. 

You cannot win if you don't score points. Playing for field position is weaksauce. It attemps to win by inflicting a thousand cuts, which is an understandable option if all you have is a tiny dagger. After all, you play the hand you've been dealt. But it's one thing to fight with what you have and quite another to prefer a dagger to a broad sword.