If you are down 4 scores, 24 points, and you have a 4th & 4, you take the field goal and cut it down to 3 scores. Its simple math and the football 101. You don't put the game on the line in the 3rd quarter. You can not expect to make three point conversions its like winning the lottery. The coach should always keep your team in the game as long as possible. Same thing as being down 15 points, you take the extra point for the first TD and try the 2 point conversion on the 2nd TD. Lenghten the game. I was a Mangini defender but that decision last night indicates to me he's no Bill Parcells when managinig the game who in my opinion is the best on field coach I have ever seen. Did anyone else flip put when he did this? And don't tell me it would not have mattered. That's not the point
I thought trying to get it to 16 that late was the right move, wasn't it the 4th quarter? That is, of course, with the assumption that your defense is going to keep it a two-score game which they couldn't. I was more curious why we threw the ball on the 2-point conversion when the penalties had moved the ball to less than half a yard from the goal line. Not that it mattered by then, but 2 points is 2 points.
It's debatable. You are already down by 3 scores at 24 . . . Considering the time left in the game I see why they went for it. Mangini can't win...he plays conservative and people are wishing that he played like he did in his 1st year as HC. He was super aggressive last night with the onsides kick and later going for it but at the end of the day he can't win unless his players perform. I think you have to try to get 8 points instead of 3 at that point of the game.
That 4/4 call could have gone either way--you have a good point but getting it down to 16 is a decent idea as well. Re the 2 pt conversion, it could go either way. Even at the 6 inch line, after everyones lined up, its really a yard. Don't mind the throw there. . Overall, no greivous play calling last night in my opinion. But obviously, Mang. is no Parcells.
Poor clock management and not knowing situations in the game blows my mind. I was more pissed about going for it on 4th down, and not knowing when to kick an extra point. I had a feeling that the way Jay kicks onsides, we could have gotten a few more last night.
I totally agree. On TV they said, it was the right move -- and it made no sense. You are not going to score three tds and three 2 pointers. Kick the FG there. Absolutely. There was about 20 minutes or a little more left at that point.
It was a desperate call. It showed mangini's inexperience. However, it was the only mistake I think EM made.
(i posted this in another thread and thought it would apply to this one too) i know the "what-ifs" and "should haves" don't mean jack shit, but i think we could have scored A LOT more points. 1. Right before half, Favre got sacked to put us out of field goal range. We ended up punting the ball away, thus getting no points. A FG would have been big there, giving us a little momentum going into halftime. 2. Our first, maybe 2nd drive of the second half. We were driving pretty well down the field and were stopped close to the red zone. We ended up going for it on 4th down instead of taking the FG. We were unsuccessful and came away with no points again. 3. We missed two 2PT conversion attempts. One was 1 foot from the endzone! 4. Clemmens threw an int at the end of the game in the red zone. Favre gets us a TD 75% of the time in that situation. Say we kick those 2 FGs, make 2 extra points instead of going for 2 twice, and get that TD at the end of the game. That's 15 more points! we would have only lost by 4 or so. Granted we had 4 turnovers, that's not bad.
Get your simple math straight...24 pts is a 3 score game. We were not in the second quarter where we would consider 4 possessions. It was the 4 quarter I believe and you have to be aggressive and confident about the team. Give them a chance and even if you miss a two pt conversion, you still would'nt have to score a TD to win the game. A simple FG would do it. None of that mattered anyways cuz Chargers would take the ball back and score regardlessly and it would still make it a 4 possession game.
This move happened with about 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. I was in favor of going for it, just because we were moving the ball, and we were close enough to the end zone where I wanted 7 points. I definitely see both sides of the argument, and this is one of those decisions that really could go either way, and I wouldn't have a problem with it.
