This is about American football. Each team has 4 attempts (called "downs") to move the ball at least 10 yards towards their goal. If they are successful they get another 4 downs. If not, the other team gets the ball.

In the description above, something happened and the ball had rolled backwards. The team was at the 4th down and still had 11 yards to cover to get another 1st down. It was not a good position for them.