What is a two minute drill?

A two minute drill is the hurry-up way a football offense plays the final minutes of a half, when it needs to score and the clock is working against it. Every call has two jobs at once: gain yards and save seconds.¹

01The short answer

The two minute drill is a high-pressure, fast-paced strategy built around clock management. The offense tries to fit as many plays as possible into the time left before a half or the game ends.¹ To do that, it manages substitutions, timeouts and clock-stopping plays, and it hurries between snaps.

Either team can run one at the end of the first half. At the end of a game, only a team that is tied or behind has a reason to. The drill is most famous in exactly that spot: the final drive of a team that is tied or trailing by one score.¹

02Why it is called the two minute drill

The name comes from the point in the game when it is usually run, often after the two-minute warning.¹ In the NFL, the two-minute warning is called when two minutes remain in the second and fourth quarters, and the clock always stops for it, even if the play would otherwise let it run.²

The warning started as a practical checkpoint. In the early NFL the official time was kept on the field by an official, not on the stadium clock, so the officials told both teams when the half was nearly over.² Today the clock is on every scoreboard, but the warning stuck, and the stretch between it and the end of the half is known as the two-minute drill.²

03When teams use it

A two minute drill fits a narrow window. With a lot more time left, an offense can still play its normal game. With a lot less, there is little left to try beyond a Hail Mary or a hook and lateral.¹

The drill can also change shape as it goes. Once an offense is close to scoring, it may slow down and run time off the clock instead, so the other team does not get time for a two minute drill of its own.¹

04The tools of the drill

Play calling in a two minute drill favours plays that either gain a lot of yards or stop the clock.¹ The usual tools:

• Pass instead of run. An incomplete pass stops the clock; a run that stays in bounds does not.¹
• Throw to the sideline. A receiver near the sideline can step out of bounds after the catch, which also stops the clock.¹
• Spike the ball. The quarterback throws the ball straight into the ground to stop the clock, giving up a down to do it.¹
• Timeouts. Used, together with spikes and quick snaps, after plays that leave the clock running, to lose as little time as possible.¹
• Hurry up. When a play ends with the clock running, the offense skips or shortens the huddle and snaps again quickly.¹

Rules differ by level. In college football a first down used to stop the clock briefly; since the 2023 season the clock keeps running after a first down except in the last two minutes of each half.¹

05Two minute drill vs. hurry-up and no-huddle

The terms overlap but are not the same. A hurry-up offense avoids delays between plays. A no-huddle offense skips the huddle so the defense has less time to substitute and communicate, and it can be used at any point in a game. A two minute drill is a clock-management plan for the end of a half: it may limit huddles too, but it also leans on plays that stop the clock.¹

The no-huddle as an everyday offense has its own history. The 1988 Cincinnati Bengals under Sam Wyche were the first team to use a version of it as their normal approach, and the Buffalo Bills’ “K-Gun” under Marv Levy and Ted Marchibroda made it famous in the 1990s.¹

06Famous two minute drills

Johnny Unitas, 1958 NFL Championship Game

On December 28, 1958, at Yankee Stadium, Johnny Unitas led the Baltimore Colts on a drive in the last two minutes against the New York Giants that ended with a 20-yard field goal with seven seconds left, tying the game 17–17. The Colts won 23–17 in sudden-death overtime. That drive is often cited as the first two-minute drill.³

Joe Montana, Super Bowl XXIII

On January 22, 1989, the San Francisco 49ers trailed the Cincinnati Bengals 16–13 and started at their own 8-yard line with 3:10 left. Montana led an 11-play, 92-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left, for a 20–16 win.⁴ It began with more than two minutes on the clock, but it is the classic picture of a last-minute drive.

Tom Brady, Super Bowl XXXVI

On February 3, 2002, the New England Patriots got the ball tied 17–17 with 1:30 left and no timeouts against the St. Louis Rams. Brady completed short passes that got out of bounds, spiked the ball with seven seconds left, and Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired: nine plays, 53 yards, 20–17.⁵

Eli Manning, Super Bowl XLII

On February 3, 2008, the New York Giants trailed the unbeaten New England Patriots 14–10 and took over at their own 17 with 2:39 left and all three timeouts. The 12-play, 83-yard drive included David Tyree’s 32-yard catch pinned against his helmet on third-and-5 and a 12-yard catch that went out of bounds to stop the clock, and it ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left. The Giants won 17–14.⁶

07Run one yourself

The Final Drive is a free two minute drill game built on that last-drive situation. You coach a fictional team down 20–24, at your own 25, with 2:00 and two timeouts. A field goal will not do it; only a touchdown wins.

The same tools are there. Sideline passes often stop the clock, incompletions stop it, timeouts and spikes stop it, and a running clock costs 8 seconds to line up the next snap. Every call is graded as you make it, and a new daily drive gives everyone the same start each day. The full rules are on how the game works.

08Two minute drill FAQ