Jerry Jones: Spike Was Bad Call***merged***

[Venger]

No, you don't try to draw them offsides, that takes time, WAY too much time, that is insane. I also don't spike it, we got set quickly enough, and we were moving. You don't slow your roll there. I did not like the spike one bit, I'd rather have taken a few seconds to run a play, but I'd *really* have liked for there to have been a plan to keep the ball moving BEFORE that play...

 

[wormser]

I don't get all the hoopla with the spike.

We needed that time to give us an opportunity to get in the end zone.

We had been shredding their defense that whole quarter, so I think they were very confident in being able to get the TD.

Clock the ball, save the TO, and go win the game. Unfortunately, the pass on 3rd down was batted down. Otherwise, it was an easy reception and we would have used our final timeout from about the 20 yard line with THREE shots to the end zone to win it.

That's why it's annoying that all the talking heads criticize the spike. It was definitely the correct play, given the circumstances.

Hindsight.

Agree. The problem was taking Zeke out of the backfield on the 3rd down play. Hand him the ball, get the first down then take your timeout. At that point the clock means nothing. Your either kicking a field goal with no time left or winning the game with a TD. With the way the defense was gassed they probably win. The team played their heart out. The coaches failed them.

 

[waldoputty]

And whinge all you like about Garrett, but he's Jerry's pet cat and he's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Still I'm sure Jerry would welcome your input if you were to send it to him.

Garrett is the pet cat because Jones gets to play and interfere.
But Jones wants the Superbowl more.
I am sure if it is clear Garrett is not the way, he would be offered a different position upstairs.

Well it is likely that PR people from the organization monitors the boards.
So the more complaining, the more they think the fans are upset - for what that is worth.

 

[Eric_Boyer]

Agree. The problem was taking Zeke out of the backfield on the 3rd down play. Hand him the ball, get the first down then take your timeout. At that point the clock means nothing. Your either kicking a field goal with no time left or winning the game with a TD. With the way the defense was gassed they probably win. The team played their heart out. The coaches failed them.

spiking the ball to save a timeout, then calling a running play?

that would indicate a complete lack of consistency or situational awareness. the minute we gave away a down to save 12-15 seconds, running plays were out the window.

 

[Cowboy4ever]

Jerry was a national champion winning offensive lineman at Arkansas...so tell me again how he's a non-football guy?

I was being sarcastic, every time people don't like what Jerry says, he's an idiot,, everytime a player don't work out or someone is drafted they don't like, he is not a football guy,, but when he says something they agree with, he is a genius... can't have it both ways. I personally think Jerry has done a great job the last 10 years or so. the first 10, not so much.

 

[waldoputty]

I was being sarcastic, every time people don't like what Jerry says, he's an idiot,, everytime a player don't work out or someone is drafted they don't like, he is not a football guy,, but when he says something they agree with, he is a genius... can't have it both ways. I personally think Jerry has done a great job the last 10 years or so. the first 10, not so much.

I agree. He seems to have learn quite a bit from mistakes.

 

[IrishAnto]

Garrett is the pet cat because Jones gets to play and interfere.
But Jones wants the Superbowl more.
I am sure if it is clear Garrett is not the way, he would be offered a different position upstairs.

Well it is likely that PR people from the organization monitors the boards.
So the more complaining, the more they think the fans are upset - for what that is worth.

Jerry has invested too much time and energy in Garrett to let him go any time soon.

And as you point out Jerry likes to interfere too much for any self respecting HC to accept that.

So he fire's Garrett and he'll replace him with someone like Wade Phillips.

And round and round we go.

 

[Cowboy4ever]

I don't have a problem with the Spike.. I was calling for it when it happened. Absolutely the correct thing to do on many levels. Now, if I have Romo in the game, Rodgers, Big Ben, Matt Ryan, etc,, I don't spike it there. But we had a rookie.. I would have spiked it for no other reason to call him over and remind him of things. We are in a great spot, we have plenty of time, don't rush throws.. remind the team of X in the huddle, etc. But I also want to save that last timeout as long as possible. The priorities were:
1> Get in FG range
2> Get the First down
3> Score a TD
4> Burn time off the clock.

Just because the worst case played out, I won't use the result to bash the decision. It was the right decision.

 

[Plankton]

Spiking the ball only became an issue when the next two plays resulted in clock stoppages.

Complaining about it is grasping at straws.

 

[sean10mm]

The spike is an edge case where maybe it's good and maybe it's bad based on how the next play turns out, which they couldn't know beforehand. It's not really a decision worth going nuts over either way.

 

[Eric_Boyer]

Spiking the ball only became an issue when the next two plays resulted in clock stoppages.

Complaining about it is grasping at straws.

the risk reward was 12-15 seconds of clock time but giving away a down.
so the real issue was not converting the first down. the saved clock time was no use to us without getting a first.

 

[waldoputty]

Jerry has invested too much time and energy in Garrett to let him go any time soon.

And as you point out Jerry likes to interfere too much for any self respecting HC to accept that.

So he fire's Garrett and he'll replace him with someone like Wade Phillips.

And round and round we go.

Right, the Cowboys are Jerry/Stephen's toy - he bought the team and they can do whatever they want with it.
Those are the privileges of a being a billionaire.
If you cannot stand that, you may as well find another team, because that is not going to change.

There is probably no need to fire Garret because Garrett would probably accept a time management person - which others have pointed out that other teams have.
So Jerry/Stephen can institute the change to get a time management person and patch that weakness.
Hopefully, they can fix the problem regarding using plays that are too one-dimensional and stop Marinelli's silly substitution obsession.

These problems tied one of our hands behind our back.
Even though we have superior talent and health, it was too much to overcome.
This mentality traces back to the 90's team where we were the goliath that other teams were able to game to gain an advantage.
To Jimmy's credit, he fixed problems after being gamed or other weakness exposed.
If Garrett cannot fix these problem, someone just needs to fix it for him.

If Heath did not failed in knocking Rodgers out of the game with that blind side shot, we would have won also.
I am quite disappointed in his failure.

 

[AzorAhai]

Spiking the ball with a TO in your pocket was not a smart play. You stay in the hurry up until they stop you and when you need to stop the clock, you do it with the TO. You are managing more than one thing at that point. Trying to get in FG range, trying to score a TD, trying to leave Rodgers with no time and trying to manage the clock the best way to do all 3. Failing to score a TD is the only one of those things that is understandable from where they were when they spiked the ball. It was a mistake and not only because they didn't pick up the 1st down.


The worst thing about that series of events is the tipped pass. Dez would have been one on one with Dix to see who wants it more. Easy first down at minimum and the go ahead TD at best.

 

[Zordon]

Hand the ball off to your ace and hope he breaks one. He would have gotten at least 6-7 yds.

Garrett is sooo conservative. He rarely looks to take advantage of the defense when they're on their heels. Heck, it took him several years to finally implement some version of the hurry up into our offensive game plan and I wouldn't be surprised if it was Romo's idea.

 

[Eric_Boyer]

Hand the ball off to your ace and hope he breaks one. He would have gotten at least 6-7 yds.

after spiking the ball to save a timeout you are running the ball?

stay the hell away from the sidelines you have no clue!

 

[Eric_Boyer]

Spiking the ball with a TO in your pocket was not a smart play. You stay in the hurry up until they stop you and when you need to stop the clock, you do it with the TO. You are managing more than one thing at that point. Trying to get in FG range, trying to score a TD, trying to leave Rodgers with no time and trying to manage the clock the best way to do all 3. Failing to score a TD is the only one of those things that is understandable from where they were when they spiked the ball. It was a mistake and not only because they didn't pick up the 1st down.


The worst thing about that series of events is the tipped pass. Dez would have been one on one with Dix to see who wants it more. Easy first down at minimum and the go ahead TD at best.

yes, it was. saving the timeout keeps the entire field in play. the second we used the last timeout, our play calling gets far more restrictive.

 

[Zordon]

after spiking the ball to save a timeout you are running the ball?

stay the hell away from the sidelines you have no clue!

Wow, you didn't read the OP correctly. He's asking what would we have done instead of spiking the ball.

 

[Eric_Boyer]

Wow, you didn't read the OP correctly. He's asking what would we have done instead of spiking the ball.

running a play without taking a timeout or spiking the ball means playing for a tie.

we couldn't stop Rodgers when he only had 22 seconds and had to work the sidelines. I'm not playing to not lose and go to overtime where he has all the time and the entrie field to work his magic. that is for losers.

your ideas suck ***. stay away from the sidelines. thanks. bye

 

[wormser]

spiking the ball to save a timeout, then calling a running play?

that would indicate a complete lack of consistency or situational awareness. the minute we gave away a down to save 12-15 seconds, running plays were out the window.

why was running out the window? They ran a quick slant to Dez that would have been a first down and he would likely have been tackled in bounds as his guy was right on him. You hand the ball off you take away the chance of bad things happening like getting intercepted or batted down. Zeke was gashing them. The coaches failed to keep it simple.

 

[Diogenes]

EXACTLY!

Mistakes on that drive

1. Spiking ball
2. Not running Zeke (I swear I had a vision of him getting to end zone - winning the game)
2a. Play calling
3. Kicking Field Goal

Absolutely and the game/time management at the end of the first half was equally awful. That has been a pattern here. JG is ultimately responsible for these issues. Some fans lack some basic understanding when they say "Garrett doesn't call the plays." Do these people really not know that JG is (or should be) in constant communication with his coordinators? Take the end of the first half for example. When we have the ball 1st and 10 from the 15 with almost 2 minutes on the clock it is absolutely Garrett's responsibility to tell the OC that we need to run some clock in that situation and to remind the OC that we can still get a first down without needing to go for a touchdown. Same deal with the spike at the end of the game.