Redefining Football Coaching

"no one has a play for 3rd & forever"

In American Football, the team with possession of the ball (the "Offense", or "OFF") has the opportunity to score points by moving the spot of possession (the "Line of Scrimmage", or "LOS") toward the end zone one play at a time (the collection of plays is called a "Drive"). During each drive, the OFF has 4 chances ("Downs") to move the LOS 10 yards before the other team gets the chance to score points. 

On 3rd down, if the OFF needs to gain more than about 12 yards, announcers, coaches, fans, and/or players might affectionately refer to this situation as "3rd Down and Forever to Go". Because the stakes are high (on the verge of losing the opportunity to score and giving the opponent the opportunity to score) and the obstacle is significant (the OFF only got farther from the goal in its first 2 attempts in this sequence), announcers will often cynically state that no one has a play for 3rd & Forever because there's no chance of succeeding anyway.