Has anyone ever heard a coach give a legit reason why they do this? It NEVER works.

it does work, prevents you from winning

it all goes back to 1975

coaches are terrified of getting beat deep in single coverage...

and don't trust the safety to arrive in time to help

God it drives me crazy when teams do this. When Minnesota went up by 3 with 49 seconds left yesterday, it should have been over. When they came out in the prevent D, it was a certainty that Buffalo would at least tie it up. They were able to pass the ball for 20 yards at a time because Minnesota didn't try to stop them. It's ridiculous to play defense that way with the game on the line.

Maybe they should hire a married woman bc their Prevent the D is flawless

tell that to my wife's boyfriend

So it only works against your own teams offense

They need to at least protect the sidelines. Drives me crazy watching offenses just drive down the field in 10 yard increments using out-of-bounds. You can go a long ways in <1 minute taking like 6 seconds off the clock each play.