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Updated: Sep/24/2007 08:36 PM
Situational coaching gets my blood boiling
Just three weeks into the regular season and my pet peeve is already showing up in a big way.
Situational coaching stinks.
In the past two weeks, I've seen bad spikes, poor clock management and dumb coaches -- you know who you are -- going for it on fourth down deep in your own territory. It has to stop, I say.
In the St. Louis Rams loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2, the Rams had the ball late in the game with a first down at the 49ers 45 with 1:15 left as they scrambled to get a potential game-winning field goal.
So on first down, the Rams spiked the ball. Bad move. They had plenty of time and the wasted down became costly when Marc Bulger was sacked on the next play and a 14-yard pass to Isaac Bruce didn't get a first down. That forced a 56-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins that was short. Game over.
The snap for the Wilkins kick came with 1:04 left in the game. So the down was more important than the clock. At least Rams coach Scott Linehan admitted he made a mistake after the game.
We saw more of the coaching mess-ups this week.
The Jaguars actually spiked the ball on a third-down play from the Denver 1 at the end of the half of their game against the Broncos, even though they had a time out. That forced a field-goal try instead of a touchdown.
They took the timeout home with them.
The Commanders totally botched their end-of-the-game series in their loss to the New York Giants. Trailing by seven, Jason Campbell hit Antwaan Randle El for 20 yards to put the ball on the Giants with a minute left. The Commanders raced to the line to spike the ball, rather than getting to the line and running a play -- which they should have had in their plan.
On third down, they threw an incomplete pass and then were stuffed on two runs to end the game. They had time for another play.
The down was more important than the time. That brings us to Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. With 4:19 left in the game, trailing 20-14 and facing a fourth-and-5 from his own 9, he opted to go for the first down, which he didn't make.
The Broncos didn't have any timeouts, but they should have punted. If they force the Jaguars to punt, they get the ball back with two minutes left.
Instead, Shanahan opted to put his team's chances on one play. Don't ever put it on one play. Give your team a chance.
The genius blew it.
But he is not alone in these situational blunders. The NFL is full of them.
Quick hits
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] The Cowboys offensive line is enormous, but more than that it is good. They're physical and they wear teams down. They did struggle some with the Bears blitz, but in the fourth quarter those big bodies were wearing down the Chicago defense. I love that group.
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] It's hard to believe the Rams are struggling like they are on offense. Marc Bulger is way too jumpy in the pocket. A lot of that has to do with the bad offensive line play. With Orlando Pace and guard Richie Incognito out with injuries, the line is playing poorly. They also lost guard Mark Setterstrom against Tampa Bay and center Brett Romberg isn't to be confused for a Pro Bowl talent. With poor protection, the routes aren't getting the time they need down the field to develop. A lot of people will say Bulger got the fat contract this off-season and therefore he's content. Don't believe that. Nobody could succeed behind that line.
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] Keep an eye on the DeAngelo Hall-Bob Petrino situation in Atlanta. The incident from Sunday's game isn't the first between the two. Petrino doesn't like Hall at all and grew tired of his antics shortly after taking over as the coach. Petrino is a no-nonsense guy who doesn't take kindly to the hot-dogging ways of Hall. On Sunday, Hall lost control on the field leading to the Panthers' tying touchdown. There is a chance Petrino could suspend Hall. Under the previous regime, Hall got away with all kinds of things. He constantly parked in a handicap space, even though he was told to stop. Nobody did a thing for a long, long time. Hall's a good player, but he has to remember nobody is bigger than the coach.
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] The Cowboys came up with a secret to containing Devin Hester. It's called tackling. They swarmed Hester on both punts and kickoffs Sunday night. Return men are fun, but whatever they get is gravy. You can't rely on them to get you to a Super Bowl every year.
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen may have some off-the-field issues, which is why he missed the team's first three games while serving a league-imposed suspension, but he's a heck of a player. He had two sacks against the Vikings in the second half of the Chiefs' victory Sunday. Allen can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. If he didn't have the issues, he'd be a lock to get a mega-deal from either the Chiefs or somebody else. As it is, he's a risk somebody might think worth taking.
LINK
Situational coaching gets my blood boiling
Just three weeks into the regular season and my pet peeve is already showing up in a big way.
Situational coaching stinks.
In the past two weeks, I've seen bad spikes, poor clock management and dumb coaches -- you know who you are -- going for it on fourth down deep in your own territory. It has to stop, I say.
In the St. Louis Rams loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2, the Rams had the ball late in the game with a first down at the 49ers 45 with 1:15 left as they scrambled to get a potential game-winning field goal.
So on first down, the Rams spiked the ball. Bad move. They had plenty of time and the wasted down became costly when Marc Bulger was sacked on the next play and a 14-yard pass to Isaac Bruce didn't get a first down. That forced a 56-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins that was short. Game over.
The snap for the Wilkins kick came with 1:04 left in the game. So the down was more important than the clock. At least Rams coach Scott Linehan admitted he made a mistake after the game.
We saw more of the coaching mess-ups this week.
The Jaguars actually spiked the ball on a third-down play from the Denver 1 at the end of the half of their game against the Broncos, even though they had a time out. That forced a field-goal try instead of a touchdown.
They took the timeout home with them.
The Commanders totally botched their end-of-the-game series in their loss to the New York Giants. Trailing by seven, Jason Campbell hit Antwaan Randle El for 20 yards to put the ball on the Giants with a minute left. The Commanders raced to the line to spike the ball, rather than getting to the line and running a play -- which they should have had in their plan.
On third down, they threw an incomplete pass and then were stuffed on two runs to end the game. They had time for another play.
The down was more important than the time. That brings us to Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. With 4:19 left in the game, trailing 20-14 and facing a fourth-and-5 from his own 9, he opted to go for the first down, which he didn't make.
The Broncos didn't have any timeouts, but they should have punted. If they force the Jaguars to punt, they get the ball back with two minutes left.
Instead, Shanahan opted to put his team's chances on one play. Don't ever put it on one play. Give your team a chance.
The genius blew it.
But he is not alone in these situational blunders. The NFL is full of them.
Quick hits
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] The Cowboys offensive line is enormous, but more than that it is good. They're physical and they wear teams down. They did struggle some with the Bears blitz, but in the fourth quarter those big bodies were wearing down the Chicago defense. I love that group.
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] It's hard to believe the Rams are struggling like they are on offense. Marc Bulger is way too jumpy in the pocket. A lot of that has to do with the bad offensive line play. With Orlando Pace and guard Richie Incognito out with injuries, the line is playing poorly. They also lost guard Mark Setterstrom against Tampa Bay and center Brett Romberg isn't to be confused for a Pro Bowl talent. With poor protection, the routes aren't getting the time they need down the field to develop. A lot of people will say Bulger got the fat contract this off-season and therefore he's content. Don't believe that. Nobody could succeed behind that line.
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] Keep an eye on the DeAngelo Hall-Bob Petrino situation in Atlanta. The incident from Sunday's game isn't the first between the two. Petrino doesn't like Hall at all and grew tired of his antics shortly after taking over as the coach. Petrino is a no-nonsense guy who doesn't take kindly to the hot-dogging ways of Hall. On Sunday, Hall lost control on the field leading to the Panthers' tying touchdown. There is a chance Petrino could suspend Hall. Under the previous regime, Hall got away with all kinds of things. He constantly parked in a handicap space, even though he was told to stop. Nobody did a thing for a long, long time. Hall's a good player, but he has to remember nobody is bigger than the coach.
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] The Cowboys came up with a secret to containing Devin Hester. It's called tackling. They swarmed Hester on both punts and kickoffs Sunday night. Return men are fun, but whatever they get is gravy. You can't rely on them to get you to a Super Bowl every year.
[SIZE=+1]•[/SIZE] Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen may have some off-the-field issues, which is why he missed the team's first three games while serving a league-imposed suspension, but he's a heck of a player. He had two sacks against the Vikings in the second half of the Chiefs' victory Sunday. Allen can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. If he didn't have the issues, he'd be a lock to get a mega-deal from either the Chiefs or somebody else. As it is, he's a risk somebody might think worth taking.
LINK
