Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaosTheory
Frank said he debated the call. He went with the odds that the defense, who was stout most of the day, would keep them out of the endzone with a long field. I can't see criticizing that call.
I mean, look at what it came down to... Heinicke basically throws a hail-mary type pass from midfield. Gilmore, one the best CB's ever, still gets himself into great position. But then McLaurin makes a fucking unbelievable play going over the top just to get simultaneous possession, and then finishes the unbelievable play by tearing the ball away from Gilmore. What are the odds?
(by the way, none of that matters if we don't fumble twice in the RZ)
But imagine if we turn the ball over right there at our 34 and they still eat the clock and score. The man would be crucified.
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o
If we had turned the ball over on downs there with 2:35 left to play, we still would have had 2 additional chances to win the game.
Also, whether or not one will potentially get crucified for a call should not factor into a coach's tough decisions, such as that one. I was one of the few who agreed with Bill Belichick for going for it on 4th down and 2 against the Colts in their nationally-televised game in 2009. If he had punted the ball, he would have been giving the Colts the ball back with enough time to score the winning touchdown and drain the clock. As it turned out, he gave his team 2 chances to win (going for it and getting the first down, and keeping the Colts out of the end zone on a short field should they fail to get the first down.) And frankly, the Patriots got the first down, but the refs made a bad call on the spot of the ball.
https://www.jt-sw.com/football/boxes...2009-10-ne-ind
Finally, and perhaps most significantly, it was
4th and inches, not 4th and 2, or even 4th down and a full yard. If a team cannot get one foot on 4th down, regardless of where they are in the field, then they have no one to blame but themselves for losing the game. As I said, they would have had 3 chances to win the game had they gone for it ...... and frankly, there is no good reason why they shouldn't/couldn't have capitalized on their very first of those 3 chances by getting a first down on 4th and inches.
o