Austin did the right thing

[kuyyo_morro]

He taking fair catch was the right thing. We had what about what 27 secs. No way a punt returner should eat up clock. Whatever clock Austin would have eaten up would have been an extra possession for the offense.

 

[ShiningStar]

i cant explain in detail and with pictures why this is wrong.

simply put he can run 5 seconds and eat 10 or 15 yards , that would have given the offense more confidence to get into the end zone. that much time off wont make a difference.

its like the other poster was saying you dont bleed the clock, you take the pointns when you can.

 

[Blackthorn]

He taking fair catch was the right thing. We had what about what 27 secs. No way a punt returner should eat up clock. Whatever clock Austin would have eaten up would have been an extra possession for the offense.

He should have not fair caught the ball. He could have gained 20 yards and he may could have scored. No way, should he have fair caught that ball. On the flip side, he could have fumbled, had a penalty or eaten up too much time. The reward in this situation is far greater than the risk. Austin should have fielded the ball regardless of what he was told on the sideline.

 

[Future]

What? No way. They wasted a ton of time just getting the yards that he could have gotten.

But the bigger problem is just the conservative, scared approach more than the seconds/minutes. If you don't want Tavon to take a shot at making a play late in the game like that, why is he on the roster? There are 20 guys who can go back there and fair catch.

And if the only option is to fair catch, WHY AREN'T YOU TRYING TO BLOCK THE PUNT? He doesn't need blockers to fair catch.

 

[MysteryIceGuro]

I'm confident we would have found a way to mess up even if we got down towards the 10-15 anyways so this punt return mess even doesn't matter anymore.

 

[Runwildboys]

He taking fair catch was the right thing. We had what about what 27 secs. No way a punt returner should eat up clock. Whatever clock Austin would have eaten up would have been an extra possession for the offense.

I disagree. The ensuing two plays took more time than running it 15 or 20 yards and OB would have taken.

 

[Doomsday]

i cant explain in detail and with pictures why this is wrong.

simply put he can run 5 seconds and eat 10 or 15 yards , that would have given the offense more confidence to get into the end zone. that much time off wont make a difference.

its like the other poster was saying you dont bleed the clock, you take the pointns when you can.

Exactly they wasted 3 times that throwing 3 yard out routes to accomplish the same thing Tavon would have accomplished allowing them to take 2 shots at the end zone.

 

[CWR]

He taking fair catch was the right thing. We had what about what 27 secs. No way a punt returner should eat up clock. Whatever clock Austin would have eaten up would have been an extra possession for the offense.

Think about the time we wasted getting in position to throw a hailmary. Hed have burned less than 10 seconds and gotten to their 40ish minimum.

It was a real bad decision.

We ended up with one chance at the end zone. Also bad play calls prior though tbf.

 

[HungryLion]

Tavon Austin with the ball already in his hands can gain yardage faster, than the offense can by snapping the ball, the receivers needing to run their routes and the QB needing to throw the ball, the ball get caught and then receiver to go out of bounds.

let’s also remember that on a pass play there is the risk of an incomplete pass which gains 0 yards and costs time. There is also the risk of the receiver being tackled in bounds which would basically end the game due to how little time
Was left.

meanwhile on a punt return, Austin could gain as much yardage as possible and then once tackled the clock immediately stops.

The fair catch was the wrong decision. Easily.

 

[SoupcanSam]

He taking fair catch was the right thing. We had what about what 27 secs. No way a punt returner should eat up clock. Whatever clock Austin would have eaten up would have been an extra possession for the offense.

Are you ok?

Have you fallin and hit your head?

 

[CWR]

I disagree. The ensuing two plays took more time than running it 15 or 20 yards and OB would have taken.

Plus it looked like he had the entire damn sideline. Hes plenty capable of going the distance.

 

[TheDude]

He taking fair catch was the right thing. We had what about what 27 secs. No way a punt returner should eat up clock. Whatever clock Austin would have eaten up would have been an extra possession for the offense.

Completely Wrong

I'll post this again from another thread

It just shows coaching, again, provides no advantage and is only a detriment to this team on game day.

Situational Football
0:24 seconds left, need a TD, getting the ball near midfield on a punt. The clock will stop on change of possession. No timeouts

A. You can set up for a block and let the Returner FC or perhaps get a cheap 5 and give himself up.
B. You can set up for a return and protect as MINN has no gunners due to max protect against the rush. Maybe get to the 35-40 yard line in 5-6 seconds at least
C. You can not rush and FC. Nullifying any potential plus play
.....And they chose C.

The returner can use the entire field for 5-6 seconds and max yardage. No matter what, any Offense has only two options
1. Throw 3 Hail Mary's
2. Work the sidelines quick to get OB as anything in bounds once the offense has the ball ends the game

Both carry low percentage of success. Most games that are in this situation, and try option 2, have to get more than 3-6 yards per play.


These are implications of a faulty decision tree and lack of awareness. you can tell nothing was discussed and no one was assertive of what to do.

This is not a one time occurrence, this is not an end of game only occurrence - though the Az, Baltimore, and this fiasco are just sunlight due the "last impression". It is ingrained in the DNA and that is why you usually see Dallas have success when they scrap playbooks and play backyard ball

 

[G2]

Not only did he have a clear field for a 1/4 mile, but he had blockers. When it comes to clock management, I have ZERO faith in coaching decisions. There had to have been a dozen head scratcher moments.

 

[starfan1]

he was brought here to be a gimmick guy and make game changing plays on special teams. If you arent going to allow him that chance even in that position then activate someone else hes wasted space. I think he could have taken it to the house or closer to end zone for sure

 

[Prime21]

He should have ran it back for a TD.

 

[TheDude]

Exactly they wasted 3 times that throwing 3 yard out routes to accomplish the same thing Tavon would have accomplished allowing them to take 2 shots at the end zone.

This is the exact point.

They gave up an opportunity to be left with 2 plays. 3yard sideline outs or Hail Mary's. you get to the 40-35 of MInn and you get maybe one more sideline play for 10-12 yards and then a much more makable 20-25 yard play to the end zone

 

[CWR]

Not only did he have a clear field for a 1/4 mile, but he had blockers. When it comes to clock management, I have ZERO faith in coaching decisions. There had to have been a dozen head scratcher moments.

It was literally one of the worst special teams decisions I've seen in my entire life. Lol

 

[Praxit]

..the right thing was to not give Zeke the ball on 2nd and 3rd N goal.

 

[MikeB80]

He taking fair catch was the right thing. We had what about what 27 secs. No way a punt returner should eat up clock. Whatever clock Austin would have eaten up would have been an extra possession for the offense.

Tell that to Desean Jackson.

 

[OmerV]

He taking fair catch was the right thing. We had what about what 27 secs. No way a punt returner should eat up clock. Whatever clock Austin would have eaten up would have been an extra possession for the offense.

Less than that. 24 seconds when the ball was snapped, so probably more like 18-20 left after the fair catch. But I think a run down the sidelines would have been worthwhile given the amount of running room he had, and the fact he could have stepped out of bounds at any point he felt he had no place to go. But hindsight thinking with the benefit if multiple replays makes it easier to say this. Austin didn't have those things.