Its rare that I feel that 90% of the people in the stands could have called a better play than the million dollar NFL coach. Today it happened more than a few times.
I don't entirely agree. I will say that not going for it on 3rd down with 10 seconds left in the half and a successful rythmic drive made me RAAAAAAGE! Like, wtf? Did Norv not KNOW it was only 3rd down because of the penalty and clock bullshit or what? I will also say that only an idiot would be willing to risk the whole game by running Sproles up the middle on a short fourth down. Could they not see the blitz? And why on earth would any intelligent avid observer, let alone the COACH, ever abandon the pass in such a situation? Yeah, blitz was all out and Rivers was going to get slammed (better Sproles gets slammed then, huh?) but I think we can all agree that a quick pass or a well-set-up screen would be more likely to succeed than sending the 5'6 scat back into a mass of purple jerseys on 4th on 2. If we made that, then I'd let it slide but we didn't. It failed because it sucked. It was a bad call and a wrong one. I disagree with Rivers, that play did indeed cost us the game. And now, someone is going to try to take Rivers' side and claim that red zone efficiency was terrible all night, and you bet it was, so it made more sense to change things up and it just didn't happen to work, what'dyaknow... To them, I say I disagree. If at first you don't succeed, go back to what worked at least once before and a screen passes at that spot on the field is a proven plan. As for "it worked against the Raiders" defense - BAL>>>>>>>OAK.
Field goal on third down was dumb move. I expected a quick slant to Gates on that fourth down. The very spot Lewis vacated.
Kicking on 3rd in that situation is actually an old staple of Norv's playbook. He did it several times when he was coaching the 'Skins. The 'strategic' aspect is that if you miss, you have a second shot to kick the field goal on 4th down. I think it's a total ***** move.
He has one of the most accurate kickers in the league and he chooses to settle for 3 points on a chip shot so he can have a 2nd chance. He has one of the most dangerous QBs in the league and he chooses to take the ball out of his hands with the game on the line.
But with 10 seconds and no timeouts even a blown snap means end of the half. If the second shot was Norv's logic, it was fatally flawed. That was a prime example of playing not to lose, and not surprisingly we lost anyway. Not saying that was the only reason, but it factored into things. Cue Herman Edwards now..."YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!"
I think if you miss the FG, you lose the ball. However, if there is a bad snap, and a kick never gets off, then you have another shot. I think he should have taken a shot at the endzone. Tough loss, Rivers was doing just fine, they should have left the last play of the game in his hands. A play action would have taken Ray Lewis out of that play. Fouts (Monday Morning QB)
Having Rivers constantly throw is going to lead to interceptions. Why can't our Offensive Guru establish a rushing game?
The Ravens haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher in over two years. There's no shame in not being able to establish a rushing game against them. (Not that it wouldn't have been nice to have done so despite that) Rivers throwing wasn't the problem, he had a career day. In fact, Rivers not throwing at the end of both halves was the problem.
Exactly, I thought I was the only one that would do that or saw it. UNTIL NORV TURNER (THE CANCER) IS GONE WE ARE FACED WITH MEDIOCRACY (sp) no matter how much talent we have. NSF
You're right, a missed FG is a missed FG regardless of down, once the ball crosses the line of scrimmage. In case of a block before 4th down, you can retry if you can recover the ball behind the line (or if the defenders touch the ball on their own side of the line after the block -- see Lett, Leon). Again though, if you read my previous post, there were 10 seconds left and we had no timeouts. A blown snap or any kind of miscue equals End of Half, No Points. Shot at the end zone was called for; if nothing is there, throw it into the seats and kick with 3 or so seconds left. As for the last piece re: play action, with no viable threat for a sustained running game a play action ain't gonna fool anyone. Go slant, hitch or some other quick hitting pass there. PR was killing them.
