Down by 1, and Garrett goes for the FG?

[TwoCentPlain]

Anyone else question this?

And what does this say about Garrett as a head coach? Not much imo.

Cowboys had first and goal inside the one and couldn't punch it in. Not a good sign for Garrett and his playcalling.

And Garrett didn't have the cajones to go for it on 4th down. Why kick a Fg there? The team is 3-8. You have nothing to lose by going for it. And if you don't get the TD, you at least have them pinned inside their one with 3 minutes left. Stop them and you get the ball back in good field position and kick a FG to win it at the end. And do you think going up by two points with 3 minutes left, that the defense was likely to hold Manning? At the time, I wouldn't have bet on the defense stopping Manning from at least a FG ( However, the defense did hold twice in OT)

Of course, Garrett got lucky with the Colt penalty.

 

[theogt]

I was pretty upset about it ... until we got the leverage call, then it was GENIUS!

You have to laugh at the idea that we could have prevented Manning from scoring at least a FG in his last drive.

 

[joseephuss]

They made the FG, which gave Dallas the lead. Things could have gone differently from that point and Dallas could have still won. If Indy drives down and scores a TD as fast as they did, Dallas could have gotten the ball back with close to 2 minutes on the clock possibly. It was a good choice for Garrett. You don't make decisions based on the attitude to you have nothing to lose. There is always something to lose. Credibility. The confidence of those around you. You play football.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

I was upset too, but I also wasn't sure we'd get the first down. For that matter, I wasn't sure that Buehler would make the chip shot. But a penalty on the Colts and VOILA! TD to Witten, 2-pointer to Roy. That was sweet.

 

[DallasDomination]

Should of gone for it on 4rth down...

 

[peplaw06]

How many timeouts did we have... I was thinking at the time that we had to kick the FG. It's better IMO to put the points on the board and get the lead at least than to miss the 4th and be down without the ball.

 

[Doomsday101]

Anyone else question this?

And what does this say about Garrett as a head coach? Not much imo.

Cowboys had first and goal inside the one and couldn't punch it in. Not a good sign for Garrett and his playcalling.

And Garrett didn't have the cajones to go for it on 4th down. Why kick a Fg there? The team is 3-8. You have nothing to lose by going for it. And if you don't get the TD, you at least have them pinned inside their one with 3 minutes left. Stop them and you get the ball back in good field position and kick a FG to win it at the end. And do you think going up by two points with 3 minutes left, that the defense was likely to hold Manning? At the time, I wouldn't have bet on the defense stopping Manning from at least a FG ( However, the defense did hold twice in OT)

Of course, Garrett got lucky with the Colt penalty.

Because you don't turn down points to take the lead. You are right this team is 3-8 but he is coaching to win these games.

 

[HoosierCowboy]

Take the FG--no doubt--he'd be an idiot if he went for it and failed--

 

[RoyTheHammer]

I've questioned Garrett's call not to try and get into FG position at the end of the game because no matter if Peyton threw 3 picks earlier, he just drove down the field and scored on you.. and had racked up 350 yards on us already, and bottom line.. he's Peyton Manning. He's a machine under pressure and can strike at any time regardless of the 3 picks he threw already.


However, i don't understand how you can be upset that on 4th down Garrett chose to take the lead. Really?

You say our defense couldn't possibly stop Manning.. but if we don't even have the lead it doesn't matter anyway.

 

[AdamJT13]

You've got to get the lead first, then you worry about protecting it.

How dumb would he look if he went for it, didn't get it, then the Colts ran out the final 3:30 or got a first down and gave us back the ball without enough time to do anything? At least when you have the lead, you're forcing the Colts to do more than get one first down.

Given a chance to take the field goal off the board and get three more cracks at a touchdown was correct, as well, given the possibility of the Colts winning with a field goal if we led 30-28.

I think Garrett clearly made the correct decisions. Not scoring the touchdown the first time is a problem, though.

 

[rynochop]

It still boggles my mind that Garrett refuses to call a QB sneak in short yardage situations.

 

[joseephuss]

It still boggles my mind that Garrett refuses to call a QB sneak in short yardage situations.

If it were inches away, then I could see where a QB sneak would be a good option. They were a little further on each play. The play calls themselves weren't bad. The execution was poor. On each play, someone missed a block or Felix or Tashard slipped just enough to slow their momentum toward the goal line.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Garrett would have been butchered on this very forum if he had opted to go for the touchdown and failed. Butchered.

 

[theogt]

How dumb would he look if he went for it, didn't get it, then the Colts ran out the final 3:30 or got a first down and gave us back the ball without enough time to do anything? At least when you have the lead, you're forcing the Colts to do more than get one first down.

Not as dumb as if you kick the field goal and they drive down and score without giving you any opportunity whatsoever.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Should of gone for it on 4rth down...

And give up points and the lead on the road? Yeh okay.

 

[Number82]

And give up points and the lead on the road? Yeh okay.

Exactly. It was the right call. Especially considering we couldn't move the ball on 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. AND after we got a "do-over" with the leverage call, we couldn't move the ball until 3rd down on the Witten TD.

 

[Picksix]

Anyone else question this?

And what does this say about Garrett as a head coach? Not much imo.

Cowboys had first and goal inside the one and couldn't punch it in. Not a good sign for Garrett and his playcalling.

And Garrett didn't have the cajones to go for it on 4th down. Why kick a Fg there? The team is 3-8. You have nothing to lose by going for it. And if you don't get the TD, you at least have them pinned inside their one with 3 minutes left. Stop them and you get the ball back in good field position and kick a FG to win it at the end. And do you think going up by two points with 3 minutes left, that the defense was likely to hold Manning? At the time, I wouldn't have bet on the defense stopping Manning from at least a FG ( However, the defense did hold twice in OT)

Of course, Garrett got lucky with the Colt penalty.

You make a lot very questionable assertions and assumptions here. You say the fact that they couldn't punch it in is a product of playcalling. I say it's because our OL can't block well line in short yardage situations. We ran two inside runs, and a slant to Austin. Miles was open out of his break, and the DE knocked it down. So what play should they have run, and how can you be sure that play would have worked better? And after failing 3 times to get a couple yards, you think they should have gone for it on 4th? That doesn't make sense.

Then, you suggest that, if we fail on 4th down, they have the ball inside their own 1. True, probably. Now you're assuming we can stop them in time to get the ball back with the opportunity to score again. Then, you're assuming we could have actually scored, when you just criticized Garrett's play calling.

I don't think we would have held the Colts from getting a FG in that situation, but when you have a chance to take the lead, late in the 4th, you CAN'T pass that up. Can you imagine the firestorm, had we gone for it and failed, then not gotten the ball back?

This thread just smacks of blind Garrett hate. I hope I'm wrong, for your sake, because he will be our next HC. Hate all you want. Question all you want. It won't change anything.

The coach that needs to go is the DC.

 

[ShiningStar]

do they ask you if you "won the game" or "how you won the game?"

A win is a win is a win. At the end of the day the W stands, doesnt matter how you get it.

 

[RoyTheHammer]

do they ask you if you "won the game" or "how you won the game?"

A win is a win is a win. At the end of the day the W stands, doesnt matter how you get it.

Are you talking about fans or coaches? :laugh2:


Because im pretty sure coaches focus on "how" the game was won or lost.

 

[Doomsday101]

do they ask you if you "won the game" or "how you won the game?"

A win is a win is a win. At the end of the day the W stands, doesnt matter how you get it.

and few W's are easy to get. Look around the league at how close so many games are each week.