Holding the ball, the lead, and a first down late in the game, your team wants to run out the clock and end the game. How much time can they safely run off without giving the ball back to the opposing team?
In the NFL, timing rules ensure that exactly 40 seconds elapse between plays, so a team with a first down just inside the two-minute warning can kneel three times to end the game without needing a fourth down snap, if the defense is out of timeouts. This assumes the offense uses the entire 40 second play clock between snaps (reasonable since a delay of game penalty is basically harmless), but it also assumes the kneel plays themselves take no time at all, so the two assumptions tend to average out. If the defense does have a timeout or the first down snap occurs just before the two minute warning, then the challenge for the offense is a little tougher, and the time taken by the plays themselves becomes important.
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