I see. In the scenarios where he's more decisive and gets the ball out sooner, there's a window to complete it and gain 5-7 yards. In those, it would be a minor spark, though I'm sure he'd still hear it in the film room. My main problem was the length of the flip. Most laterals, although rare, are on interceptions where a defensive player is returning the ball and has a teammate clearly behind him, in close proximity with no opponents around him. But given how far he would have had to throw the ball to get it to Cumberland, the amount of Eagles around the play and the fact that he was being tackled (which disrupts his throwing motion) I think it's too low percentage of a pass to attempt, no matter what happens in the other simulations. If Cumberland is right there then it's more passable.
Exactly, he was trying to hit a 5-run homer. Spur-of-the-moment, boneheaded decision ('NFL Bloopers'). He knows he screwed up, time to move on. Better Decker as the #2 paired with Brandon Marshall instead of last year when he was the #1 (paired with David Nelson).
It was ONE play. It's like the butt fumble. We're the Jets so it gets played over and over, for infinity.... NEXT.
I think in that scenario it hits the defenders head or is fumbled in some fashion 100 times because there were 3 defenders there...
That's exactly like the Super Bowl, even if Wilson throws the TD pass and they win the game it was a dumb call given the circumstances of the game. You hand off to your best player and hope he does what he should do.
You don't expect that kind of play from a guy who's been in the league as long as Marshall.The only time you do that is when there's no time on the clock and your trying for a miracle or trying to convert a 4th down to keep the drive alive for the win
Two rules about handling football: 1. Don't do anything that you will regret later. 2. Anything that can go wrong WILL, at the worst possible moment.
Seriously Mods, make the change. We clearly need to step up our rugby game. Maybe cut Quigley and Cumby and bring back Ben Graham and Hayden Smith?
to be honest, as boeheaded as that play was, i though the play where marshall dropped/tipped one right in his hands that ended up getting picked off hurt us alot more.
The real problem is clearly that he tried to lateral TO CUMBERLAND. I would rather see him attempt to lateral it to Quigley or Folk, or one of the coaches, or a janitor, or an imaginary friend.
Discussing laterals and the situation in general, I think you raise some good questions and make some fair points. I didn't see the game, but just watched the replay of the aborted pitch and it was a horrible decision, notwithstanding your points. The reason I think it was so bad is that he was already going down, was off balance, wasn't squared up with Cumberland, there was a defender coming from behind him, and it would have been to Cumberland. Like some other posters pointed out, Cumberland is not the right guy to be lateraling to even if Marshall wasn't going down, off balance and not squared up to Cumberland. I'm not gonna kill him for trying to get something going, but it was a bad decision.
Your thesis is flawed. Even if that flip had somehow made it to Jeff "Stone Hands" Cumberland who ran it all the way in for a TD, was that a decisive play? It's only7 points and there is plenty of time left in the game. Let's say the Jets go on and win. Can you say with certainty that the flip was the cause? Conversely, it is also true that the Jets were losing by plenty and so handing the ball to the other team at that point was not decisive in and of itself. So, that early in the game I prefer to look at the play itself rather than the outcome on the game per se. Nothing harms a team as much as a turnover in that scenario. There are very few things in the game that have as much impact on winning & losing as turnovers. So, don't commit them. Also, is Cumberland calling for the lateral? Is he even expecting it or would the ball bounce off him? Remember, this is a _live ball_ at that point. It was a stupid play, no matter how you look at it. If it had succeeded, it would have been dumb luck. As it stood, it was just dumb.
