Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Ok, maybe I'm just a youth coach, but I've done it for about 10 years now, I've coached offense and defense, and been a coordinator on both sides of the ball, and I can absolutely say with certainty that some coaches outsmart themselves.
Coaches are fallible like players, and sometimes coaches go against conventional wisdom. Why not run the ball three times? Because maybe your thinking that New England is going to expect that and they're going to stack as many guys in the box as possible. Do I trust my running back to take a beating? Do I trust him to be able to get through 11 guys and not get the ball stripped. If they're expecting that, then why not throw it, I might catch them in a bad defense because they're playing with conventional wisdom.
When Pete Carroll caused for a pass in the superbowl, maybe its because in his mind he was absolutely sure that the defense he was facing would be playing run strong, so maybe I'll be unconventional.
At certain times you have to make unconventional calls, or gamble.
In this case, I'm sure in his mind he thought he would catch them in a run stop defense and be able to get a surer field goal position, or better yet, maybe we score a touchdown, and kill the comeback attempt and put it away.
If a coach isn't willing to gamble, be unpredictable at times, or go for broke then he might as well stick with coaching offensive linemen.
The problem is that if you look at his body of work this year, his instincts have been bang on right for most of the season, why would he go against them now?
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Nah, after that Julio catch and being in FG range, they were just going to kill the clock down from four to about two minutes with 3 run plays or short plays, and kick the 35 yard field goal to be ahead by 10. But then the sack, then the hold which stopped the clock, and the forced to try and get some yards back with a throw that also went incomplete.
Game plan was sound to take the clock down two more minutes and be ahead by 2 scores, but the sack was inexcusible and set the whole game plan off. The next play was a decent play to get back in comfortable range, but called back on the hold.
While I digress, for Pete Carroll, the call to pass was still ok, not because they were over thinking; they wasted two timeouts in the drive and only had one left. Trying a play that would stop the clock was fine....but it was the wrong area to throw it in with too much traffic/too much that could go wrong, as it should've been a fade to the back of the endzone.
Don't get me wrong, that will haunt Atlanta and Quinn and Ryan for a long time. I don't think that team gets back to this point right away, just like CAR didn't. A lot of things went right for them this year to add to their good play, but in the NFL there's a real fine line between having a good season and having a great one. For example, pardon the Seattle reference again, but if Seattle doesn't lose at home to ARI in Week 16 (or, the Rams week one - recall Seattle beat NE and ATL this year), then Atlanta is #4 seed, and has to play an extra game (Detroit) in the playoffs. Assuming they win, they then travel to Seattle for the divisional game vs the other way around, and the weather elements etc come into play.
Injury in one of those extra games, a long round trip flight etc etc may have taken a toll do that even if they beat Seattle, and maybe GB takes advantage of that next week and gets in there. Point is a lot of things can factor into success especially in the playoffs, at ATL is a a tougher division now especially with TB coming on, CAR probably better, and Brees still doing well.