Featured – Page 2

Vikings vs. Colts – Not once but twice Minnesota “D” gets burned.

First of all, I have to give credit to Colts QB Andrew Luck who looks like a seasoned veteran running the two minute (or in his case the :31 second) offense. But what on earth is the Vikings defense thinking? At the end of the first half, the Colts led 10-6 and had moved the ball from their 36 to the Vikings 30 with :14 left. With the Colts out of timeouts, either they are going to throw to the end zone or throw to the sidelines. Just keep them inbounds and the clock will run out. What happens? The Vikings allow a 30 yard touchdown pass. 17-6 Colts.

At the end of the game, the Vikings have just scored a TD with :31 left to tie the game at 20. Two 20 yard pass completions both followed by a Colts timeout, a 7 yard pass play with a 5 yard penalty on the Vikings, and a spike leads to the Colts kicking the game winning 53 yard FG with :08 left. And no, I don’t fault the Vikings offense for leaving :31 on the clock when they tied the score. That’s two weeks in a row the Vikings have been written up. Head Coach Leslie Frazier — you are on notice with WTFCoach!

Cardinals vs. Patriots – Two major mistakes create a dramatic ending.

We finally had a game with a major coaching error but not only did we get one, we got two! And I was very surprised that New England Head Coach Bill Belichick was one of the coaches who committed a mistake because he usually doesn’t think the same way as most NFL coaches which means he does the right thing.

The first mistake was made by Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt. The Cardinals were leading the Patriots 20-18. The Patriots had just used their last timeout and the Cardinals had 3rd and 13 at their own 35 yard line with 1:10 left in the game. Obviously, the Cardinals were not going to throw the ball. And the likelihood of executing a running play for 13 yards with the Patriots expecting a running play was very small. So why jeopardize a turnover with a running play? Why not play it safe and take a knee and let the clock run down to about :26 and then punt the ball. The Patriots would have had less than 20 seconds left and no timeouts to gain at least 40 yards to attempt a game winning field goal. So what happened? The Cardinals ran the ball with Ryan Williams who was tackled behind the line of scrimmage and fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Patriots at the 30 yard line. Uh oh.

But Coach Belichick let Coach Whisenhunt off the hook. The Patriots had 1:01 and no timeouts. The first play went for a touchdown but was nullified by a downfield holding penalty. After a 12 yard gain and another penalty, the Patriots had 1st and 15 from the Cardinals 23 yard line with :46. Instead of trying to gain some yards for a closer field goal attempt, Coach Belichick had quarterback Tom Brady basically take a knee to kill the clock and then spike the ball on the next play to set up the game winnning field goall attempt with :05 left. The 42 yard kick was not even close. Why do coaches think a field goal is almost automatic? I would never want to leave it to a kick greater than 30 yards yet time and time again, coaches would rather play it safe and not risk a turnover or penalty than try to make it a shorter kick. Sorry Coach Belichick, this doesn’t cut it in my book.

NFL Summary Week 1 – No end of game coaching mistakes.

With 15 NFL games completed in Week 1 and one to go, it’s been mostly an uneventful weekend. There was one player gaffe in the Jaguars/Vikings game that caused the overtime, but the remaining mistakes were made at the end of the first half. While more attention is focused on the end of the game, the end of the first half can be as critical especially when it causes a swing in momentum heading into the lockerroom. Part of the uneventful weekend was due to seven of the 15 games being decided by a two score margin or greater.

Jaguars vs. Vikings – The mistake in this game came with the Vikings leading 20-15. They had the ball 2nd down and 9 at their own 15 yard line with 1:46 left in the game and the Jaguars having one timeout remaining. On the play, the Vikings were called for an illegal cut block and the penalty automatically stopped the clock. The penalty was declined and after third down, the Jaguars used their last timeout to get the ball back at their own 24 yard line with 1:18 left in the game. There is no way the Jaguars drive 76 yards to get the go ahead TD with only 40 seconds left in the game which is what they would’ve had to do if the penalty hadn’t happened.

By the way in that game, it was amazing the Vikings were able to execute two plays in 10 seconds and move 32 yards to kick a game tying field goal and send it into overtime.

There were four end of the first half mistakes with the first three being what I’d term major and the last one just something to point out because it still worked in the Saints’ favor.

Eagles vs. Browns – The game was tied 3-3 and Cleveland had 3rd down and 2 at their own 26 with one minute remaining in the half. Philly had one timeout left. Given how bad Cleveland’s offense had been, the likelihood of them scoring was small and running the ball to either get the first down or burn Philly’s last timeout would’ve been the smart play. Instead, an incomplete pass stopped the clock and the Eagles got the ball back at their own 26 yard line with 49 seconds left and still holding the one timeout. The Eagles then go 74 yards for the go ahead TD and use their one timeout along the way to help manage the clock. Without the timeout, a 3-3 or at worse 6-3 deficit would’ve been the situation for the Browns. They ended up losing 17-16.

49ers vs. Packers – The 49ers led 13-7 after kicking a field goal. On the ensuing possession, the Packers had 1st and 10 at their own 20 yard line with :55 left in the half. A penalty, incompletion, completed pass inbounds and a Packers called timeout left them with 3rd and 8 from their own 22 yard line with :39 left. I know the Packers have an explosive offense but deep in your own territory against the best defense in the NFC it might have been better to get to halftime and regroup since the Packers also would get the ball to start the second half. So, calling the timeout is questionable. Now on third down, since they called timeout, they were likely going to pass the ball to get the first down. But if they ran the ball, the 49ers would have to use their last timeout to stop the clock. Instead, the Packers threw an incomplete pass and punted. The 49ers got the ball with :18 left at their own 38 yard line and ran a quarterback draw for 17 yards with rookie Colin Kaepernick and then used their last timeout. After a couple of incomplete passes, David Akers kicked a NFL record tying 63 yard field goal and the 49ers took a two score lead to the lockerroom.

Rams vs. Lions – After a Rams touchdown gave them a 13-7 lead, the Lions had the ball 1st down and 10 at their own 24 yard line with 1:24 left in the half. They had all three timeouts left. On the first play, Matthew Stafford completed a 51 yard pass to Calvin Johnson to the Rams 25 yard line. But they didn’t call timeout and ended up running the next play with :43 left and it was a “wasted” play being a two yard run. Now they called a timeout. Two incomplete passes led to a field goal so at least they scored but they should’ve called timeout after that long completion to get the offense set. And they ended up taking two timeouts to lockerroom! Use them.

Redskins vs. Saints – Washington took over at their own 20 yard line after a Saints turnover with 1:46 left in the half. The Saints had all three timeouts left. The Redskins looked content to run out the clock with a first down run. The Saints didn’t call timeout. But after the Redskins ran the ball on both 2nd and 3rd down the Saints called timeout. Why not after 1st down? If your strategy is to stop the clock and get the ball back, why not give yourself 40 more seconds? The Saints probably wanted to make sure the Redskins weren’t going to throw the ball and score another TD on them! Anyway it worked out for the Saints as they blocked the punt for a TD.

The last things I wanted to mention are the two good things that happened at the end of the first half in two games. First, kudos to Andrew Luck for executing a drive from his own 22 yard line to the Bears 19 yard line in 33 seconds only for Adam Vinatieri to miss the 37 yard field goal which would’ve cut the Bears lead to 24-17. And great job by the Falcons to NOT call a timeout after they competed a 25 yard pass to the Chiefs 3 yard line with under two minutes left in the first half. They had plenty of time so there was no need to call timeout and potentially give the other team the ball back with enough time to score.

So that’s it for Week 1 (wait, Norv Turner still has to coach a game).

Cowboys vs. Giants – Good decisions can happen as well!

It is easy to always highlight the bad decisions made by coaches and players. They are incredibly frustrating to watch and are magnified when the team loses. However, there are instances of good decisions. And in fact, the Cowboys made two of them in the closing minutes of their game with the Giants.

The Cowboys had 3rd and 2 from their own 34 with 2:17 left in the game and the clock stopped after the last Giants timeout. On the third down play, DeMarco Murray ran the ball around the left end and after he had enough yardage for the first down but before his momentum carried him out of bounds, he dropped to the ground. Smart thinking by DeMarco on that play to not stop the clock.

That play was negated because of a holding penalty on the Cowboys so they now had 3rd and 10 from their 26 with 2:11 left. If they ran the ball, the clock would stop at that the 2 minute warning. And if they didn’t get a first down, the Giants would get the ball back with plenty of time left to tie the game. So by playing it safe and running the ball, they would only burn 11 seconds off the clock. Most coaches would play it safe and run the ball because that’s the prevailing philosophy of NFL coaches. But the Cowboys decided to try and ice the game and they threw the ball. They completed the pass for a first down. Game over. A great decision by the Jason Garrett.

Jaguars vs. Panthers – Where’s the defense?

The Panthers had an awful defensive sequence right before the end of the first half. The Panthers were ahead 5-3 and had just punted the ball to Jaguars who had 1st and 10 at their own 23 with :53. A first down run for 2 yards kept the clock rolling. The 2nd down play was snapped with :17 left and Maurice Jones-Drew ripped off a 39 yard run to the Panthers with :06 left after the Jaguars called timeout. I should also point out that there was a rainstorm going on and passing the ball at this point wasn’t an option, especially with the time left in the half, the field position, and the fact they ran the ball on 1st down and didn’t call timeout. So where was the defense? Then with :06 left and the Jaguars holding one timeout, they completed a long pass down the middle of the field around the 5 yard line. That’s ok so long as you tackle the receiver before he gets to the end zone because the clock had expired. Instead, they don’t and Jacksonville scores a TD. Just awful defense in the last 17 seconds.

Patriots vs. Bills – Nice job running out the clock.

The Bills and Patriots were tied 31-31 at the two minute warning. Buffalo had 1st and 10 at the Patriots 39 yard line. A short catch and long run by Fred Jackson was initially ruled a TD before being overturned and the ball placed at the 1 yard line. What a break for the Bills. If it had been a TD, the Patriots would have got the ball back with around 1:40 left in the game and two timeouts remaining. Instead, the Bills smartly took a knee on multiple plays to run the clock down to :03 before kicking the game winning FG as time expired. Once they got the break on the overturned call, they were smart to not score a TD and run out the clock. Nobody wants to see the ball in Tom Brady’s hand in that situation. Good job by Bills Head Coach Chan Gailey.

Week #2 – Loser of the Week

It was a pretty easy decision this week. 49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh is the loser of the week for not taking the 15 yard penalty to get a new set of downs with 11 minutes left in the game against the Cowboys. His decision did cost the 49ers the game as running at least 2 more minutes off the clock before kicking a FG (and who knows maybe they would’ve got a TD) gave the Cowboys enough time to come back and tie the game.

Eagles vs. Falcons – Why are you punting to DeSean Jackson?

The Falcons have the ball 1st and 10 at their own 22 yard line with 1:41 left in the game. The Eagles have one timeout left. The Falcons take a knee on three straight plays and the Eagles use their one timeout so there is :15 left in the game when the Falcons line up to punt. Now, first of all, they shouldn’t have taken a knee in this situation. Or at least, taken a knee after a few seconds of hanging in the backfield. But by running a play or delaying the knee, they could have used almost the entire game clock. But then when you have to punt the ball, punt in out-of-bounds! Why would you punt to one of the most dangerous punt returners in DeSean Jackson (remember Giants game last year)? Bad end of game execution by the Falcons even though it didn’t cost them.

Chargers vs. Patriots – Don’t let them get out-of-bounds.

New England has no timeouts left. They have the ball 1st and 10 at the Chargers 47 yard line after an interception with :09 left in the first half. To get in FG range, what are the Patriots going to have to do? Get out-of-bounds. Not only do the Patriots run complete one out pass, they complete TWO in EIGHT seconds to set up a 47 yard FG as the first half expires to take a 20-7 lead into the locker room. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Norv Turner coached team.

Ravens vs. Titans – Go for it.

The Ravens are trailing the Titans 23-10 with 7:03 left in the game and 4th and goal at the Titans 11. You have to go for it! The Ravens kick a FG which means they still need two scores to tie or win the game. So what happens? The Titans run off all but the last :26 of the game as they score a FG to clinch the game.