I re-watched the end of the Vikings game and realized Saleh actually messed this up BIG time. As a reminder: Our field goal kicker, Greg the leg had previously made a 60+ yd. We had all THREE timeouts at the 4th and goal @ 1:46pm (2nd to last Jets possession) Minny only had 1 timeout Jets passing attack was moving the ball AT WILL Scoring @ 1:50 forces to get a 2pt conversion to make a 3-point game or else Vikings have plenty of time to score a gaming winning FG with 1 TO left. In fact, the proper call to make the game very predictable from that point was: Instead Run the ball on the 3rd and goal @ 1:50 (the Wilson slip play) forcing the Vikings to use their last timeout Just go ahead Kick the FG making the game 27-25. Now, Vikings will get the ball back with 1:30 left on the clock with no timeouts and Jets with all timeouts. This is a predictable scenario for the Jets defense – OUR STRENGTH. Vikings will almost have to run the ball 3 times and punt it back to us to burn our timeouts leaving us with probably 1:15 or so left in the game. Now, we're playing for a FG kick to win the game. This is kind of Dungy or Coughlin-esque maneuver but with a good defense and 3 TOs, plus a turf, indoor field – this is proper approach and makes the game fairly predictable, with only 3 pts to win.
All they would have to do is pick up 1 first down. Saleh woulda been ran out of town if he kicked a field goal there and the Jets never got the ball back. that would have been a career defining mistake. Like Morningweg kicking off in overtime level bad They managed the game well down the stretch, the players just didn't execute
I don't agree that Saleh "messed this up BIG time". First, any time you can score the go ahead points, especially a TD, you should do it. The fact that the Jets failed to score the TD doesn't prove the strategy wrong, only the play calling and execution. And by your own words you note that the Jets defense is - "OUR STRENGTH" - so taking the lead, kicking the ensuing KO deep had a high probability of preventing them from scoring. OTOH, while kicking a FG would've gotten them within another FG of winning, there was no guarantee they'd even get within 60 yards to try one. Not to mention, what if the Vikings actually kicked their own FG after beating "OUR STRENGTH"? And finally, let's say the Jets "D" held and MW got them to the 60 yard distance, this is by no means a "chip shot", even for Zuerlein. Maybe he makes it, maybe he doesn't, but add it all up and there are a LOT if "IFs" involved in your certain recipe for victory. I'll stick with Saleh's plan, but I hope they learned how to execute it better in the future.
In hindsight this could have worked if everything happened precisely as it turned out. Remember had the Jets kicked the first FG to pull to within 2 I’m going to guess the Vikings would not have run 3 straight running plays. At that point a first down would have been a virtual necessity for the Vikings being if they were forced to punt (as they were) the Jets would have already been in borderline FG range. Being up by 5 points the Vikings had more leeway to keep the ball on the ground, hope to break a long run, and allow the Jets to burn off their TOs. But also as already suggested I don’t see Saleh making a move like that. As Nagle points out the media would of been all over him in the end if they lost.
Saleh's plan was 100% the correct one. In this scenario, we're not only asking our defense to keep the from scoring, we're asking them to keep Minnesota from getting a first down. A much tougher task than gaining 1 yard should be. Saleh's plan was absolutely the correct one. It was executed poorly by his OC and the players on the field.
Absolutely. In today’s NFL you play to win. With the ball on the 2 yard line with 1:45 to play down by 5 points an NFL team isn’t sending the FG team out there….they would be laughing stocks. Teams in the playoff hunt go for the win - the correct call. Unfortunately lousy execution.
Definitely a Saleh error, but not at the end, error occurred in 2nd quarter just before halftime. Saleh elected to go for it on 4th down and about 2 from near midfield. Vikes held, gained a few more yards and kicked a FG. Had Saleh elected to punt, the Vikes would have had to drive the entire field to score with under 2 minutes to go instead of giving them a short field and 3 almost certain points. Take away those three points and the Jets win the game on a FG.
I’m sorry I thought it was the right move. Only person who messed up as a coach that day was air Lafluer and the dumb short down pass plays. Watch it again, he’s the reason we went down that much and then had to play hero ball and MW played a damn good game considering
Just saying we need to convert a 2pt or very likely their come back to score a FG to win anyway. I’m not sold Correct!
It's really not this complicated. If the players execute the play, we win. Several opportunities for that to be the case, It just didn't happen. Both teams played well. Play calling was fine. Time management was fine. We just dropped the ball. Figuratively and literally.
Eh, I actually understood going for it there just before halftime. Saleh was hoping for a spark of some sort in the 1st half.
I'm glad OP made this post because I had the same thought process following the game. In hindsight, it would have been an extremely conservative call kicking the field goal from the 1 yard line after already having kicked 5 field goals up until that point.
It's an interesting thought experiment. But never would have been tried in the game. Two tries to score from the 1 yd line for the lead? Problem was the offense & play calling not the decision to try to score a td.
Good write up @BrooklynJetsFan, but when you have 2nd and Goal at the 1, you just score a touchdown. 3 QB sneaks would even do it. The play calling and execution of the plays called killed the team. I don't blame Saleh at all. I don't know what analytics would say, but I bet it would say to go for it on 4th and goal at the 1 too. We saw how the game ended, so you could say the Jets could have kicked 2 field goals and won 28-27, but we don't know how the kickoff would have been after the first field goal to make it 27-25. The Vikings may have gotten good field position. They might have scored. They would have more breathing room to get a first down. Maybe the Jets would have onside kicked it and recovered. Too difficult to assume it would play out like the actual game did with so many variables.
If the play calling and the execution were faulty how is it that Saleh gets a pass? Doesn't the buck stop with him for all that?
How about just not going for it on 4th down in your own territory to end the half, and force them to use the whole field to prevent them from kicking that FG?
