Nah I have to disagree. If you know hes gonna go for it on 4th and short giving him another opportunity with 4 down territory and a team that can move the ball in large chunks is asinine. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
Bowles explicitly claimed in his press conference (twice) that 3rd and 12 is better for the defense than 4th and 2. I would love to know what the numbers actually are on that, particularly when Brady is the opposing QB.
Even without the hard numbers - which I too would love to know - common sense should tell him that giving ANY QB, but particularly TB, TWO chances is better odds for that QB than one chance! Sure, going 12 yards is theoretically harder than going 2 yards, but in reality it isn't much harder, and again for TB is almost a certainty. Also, how many long passes (over 10 yards) did the Jets allow today?
Accepting the penalty moved them back to the 34 yard line. That's a 51 yard FG attempt if you can break up that pass to Gronk. It's a punt if you come up with a sack. It can be debated but I think It was the right choice ... but our defense shit the bed once again. You can say no to 10 yards of field position, and then pray that they do you a big favor and kick the FG, OR ... You push them back, and follow it up by making a damn play on defense so it's a long FG attempt or a punt. That's what an elite defense does in that spot. This defense gives up a 34 yard TD pass.
But But that's the whole point...our defense ALWAYS shits the bed! It's entirely predictable. Plus, as said earlier, giving a QB, especially Brady, two chances to make something positive happen is worse than giving him only one.
Wake up, says the guy who apparently expected something different today. I actually woke up twenty minutes ago and could have told you the score without looking.
If our defense always shits the bed, then why would you ever think we could stop them from getting two yards? TOUCHE' !! Regardless ... they are a MUCH better team than we are, and they have a MUCH better coaching staff than we do. They make all the plays that this team never makes. If the situation was reversed, you can bet your life we'd find a way to come away with no points.
How many times do you see teams take penalties that would result in fourth down plays if they declined the penalty? Virtually never, because the circumstances have to be very specific. IMHO in this case those circumstances weren't in effect. If maybe you pushed them back out of field goal range with the penalty then you would have a point. However, I would have taken the 4th and two. If the Pat's ended up going for it on 4th and were successful I would say "oh well", but I would not have been mad at Bowles for another bad decision. Maybe Bowles was trying to "make up" for the time when he didn't take the penalty on second down earlier in the year vs. the Jaguars.
Good Lord, so you give them 2 downs instead of one. Really now? Is there any one left here that does not see TB for what he is. Massively over his head.
To answer your question, it's because where the Jets are concerned, skill and logic don't apply, so it all comes down to chance, and giving someone two chances to succeed gives them twice as much chance as one, regardless of the yardage.
It was absolutely the right call. When a coach has at his disposal a defense with the 6th overall pick leading a rabid pass rush and blowing up plays in the backfield and destroying O lineman on a regular basis, a LB crew providing blanket coverage on RB's and TE's, a shutdown corner that takes away an opponent's number one WR - you back them up. Oh, wait...
You decline the penalty and put the ball in Belichick's court. Make him decide what he's going to do. If he kicks the fg the Jets woulda been up 7-3, if he goes for it it's on the players to make the stop. Instead he opens himself up to criticism by overcomplicating the simple.
Personally I'm much more aggravated by never having any sense of urgency on offense, not being able to run one more play before the 2 minute warning, giving Kearse twice as many targets as Q, never stretching the field, never being able to generate pressure or force turnovers, etc... EDIT: case in point ... The horrendous Dolphins just hit a 75 yard pass play to Scrubby Scrubman to tie the game at the half, one play after the Colts completed an 80 yard drive to go up 14-7.
