The Play-Calling In the Last Three Minutes

[RySkins]

All you guys who think the Skins should have thrown on 3rd and 8 are crazy. Have you watched Jason Campbell late in games? How about late in yesterday's game. An incompletion, sack/fumble, or interception were more likely scenarios than a first down completion. I know this: I had no faith that a passing play would produce a good result.

Asking our defense to prevent a putrid offense from going 50 yards to get into FG range in less than a minute with no Time Outs should have been an easy task. How you let Trent Edwards complete a 35-yarder in that situation amazes me.

[chipwhich]

Whether you agree with the playcalling or not, your defense should be able to stop a rookie qb from going 50 yards downfield with less than a minute remaining and no timeouts.

1 minute 8 seconds.

It's a two minute drill....

The defense couldn't stop the rookie qb in the second half, why did you think they could with 1 minute left?

[skinfan2k]

When you only need a FG, 30 seconds off the clock is really nothing if you still have 1 min and change on the clock

[RySkins]

One more thought: the only coaches in the league who would have thrown a pass in that situation are the ones with Brady, Manning, and Farve as their quarterbacks. Joe Gibbs doesn't have one of those guys.

[Oldfan]

the o-line. it was pathetic.

As a playcaller, you stick with it even when it's not working?

[Oldfan]

One more thought: the only coaches in the league who would have thrown a pass in that situation are the ones with Brady, Manning, and Farve as their quarterbacks. Joe Gibbs doesn't have one of those guys.

You are over-simplifying.

The run wasn't there all day. A high-percentage pass for seven or eight yards on first down isn't a wild, silly risk.

[zallera]

Countless times this season we've put the defense on the field to loose the game rather than having the offense try to win it

The way I look at it, we put our defense on the field to win the game. I'm sure Gregg Williams, or any defensive coach or defensive unit worth its weight in gold, wouldn't have it any other way

[zallera]

You are over-simplifying.

The run wasn't there all day. A high-percentage pass for seven or eight yards on first down isn't a wild, silly risk.

If there were any high-percentage passes for 7-8 yards, offenses would never be stopped. We tried "high-percentage" slants multiple times yesterday and never connected.

[chipwhich]

One more thought: the only coaches in the league who would have thrown a pass in that situation are the ones with Brady, Manning, and Farve as their quarterbacks. Joe Gibbs doesn't have one of those guys.

Al Saunders wouldn't call the same garbage running plays that didn't work all day long that results in 25 carries for 50 yards.

I don't know a coach in the league that would call the same worthless play three times straight and not try anything else when it hasn't worked ALL DAY LONG.

[thehogs]

the commentary team had already worked out in their heads that the Bills would have something like 1:20 left when they got the ball back on that series even with a run play. There are so many things that go on with our team that people on the outside can see what is happening but our coaching staff seem to miss. We needed that play - 8 yards and we win, 5 yards on a run play when the run was never there?

Reading some of the stuff here, people defend Gibbs by saying how JC could fumble, throw an INT etc., which is a hell of a position to be in . An absolute ball breaker play needed to win the game and the coach doesnt trust the player to get the job done? that he might screw it up? come on. A rookie QB beat us this week and he went down town and found the play that was needed. Someone described it as a 'miraculous' pass in one reply. Nope, blown coverage is all it was and he made us pay. Last week, the Buccs, another rookie QB another defeat. OUR rookie QB?...well he might fumble you see, or throw an INT or.... :doh:

[zallera]

This game is about first downs, playing not to lose is what you do in high school. 1 FIRS DOWN AND WE WIN. END OF STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One sack by the defense and THE GAME IS OVER, END OF STORY!!!!!

[cakmoney61]

This is the reason why the offensive line lost the game. The blocking was terrible, especially when we needed it most. Portis getting stuffed was not because he's some awful runner...Adrian Peterson would have gotten 50 yards on 25 carries if his line blocked like that.[/QUOTE]

Come on now...Clinton Portis is no Adrian Peterson. Sometimes you have to make people miss. Barry Sanders made a career out of making people miss. Portis, on the other hand, needs great blocking to be successful.

[rollneid21]

Some of you people have no faith in JC. The kid is going to be a great qb. Running that ball in that last series is stupid. They had nothing going all day on the ground. Whats the difference between a two yard run and an incomplete pass? Obviously the 35 seconds off the clock didn't do a thing.

[Oldfan]

If there were any high-percentage passes for 7-8 yards, offenses would never be stopped. We tried "high-percentage" slants multiple times yesterday and never connected.

We complete 60% of all passes. Don't you think that the offense could come up with something better than runs which gained two yards or less ten out of 14 times on first down?

If not, why did they bother to show up?

[Oldfan]

The way I look at it, we put our defense on the field to win the game. I'm sure Gregg Williams, or any defensive coach or defensive unit worth its weight in gold, wouldn't have it any other way

Except that our defense isn't "worth its weight in gold." We've taken this same conservative approach repeatedly and it keeps failing.

[PierceType]

I would rather have watched us attempt a pass and complete it for the first down and win, dammit.

[cakmoney61]

Chip, keep in mind we were near midfield. A decent punt pins them inside their 10. They'd have to travel roughly 50-55 yards with less than a minute on the clock and no timeouts. That scenario favors the defense and the success rate for an offense is that situation isn't that high.

Granted, our two-minute drill hasn't been stellar this season. I get that and I believe it. But, again, at that point, it's managing the game and making it difficult for the opposition to be successful.

Stwasm

Game after game, the defense has shown that they play their worst football during late first-half and late-game situations.

What in the world has the defense done over the last 2 years to make you think yesterday's game would be any different? The defense never holds up in the clutch...never. I repeat...never.

The offense needed to do whatever it took to keep the defense off of the field. As usual, Gibbs coached scared and his and Greg Williams' porous defense gave it up again.

[llcamino]

I liked the play calling on that series I think we did a good job of forcing them to burn all their time outs. The 3rd down running play was the right call IMO.

So the ONLY way to get them to burn 3 timeouts was up the middle three times?

Maybe we should have lined up for a long field goal and forced them to use two consecutive TO's :doh:

[skinfan2k]

If we just want them to burn Timeouts, why not just kneel it then according to some of you? Play aggressive and smart. Time is not an issue for the other team why you only need a FG. If it were a TD lead then they played it right but FG you need to get a first down

[cakmoney61]

If we just want them to burn Timeouts, why not just kneel it then according to some of you? Play aggressive and smart. Time is not an issue for the other team why you only need a FG. If it were a TD lead then they played it right but FG you need to get a first down

In essence those three running plays were kneel-downs.

Gibbs is so scared of losing that he's scared to try to win.

[Bang]

We score one TD on three red zone trips in the first half and none of these threads get made.

How do we do that?

Get a big WR. Get a man who can jump, who can box out, who can run a fade. Our lack of a big man is killing us, and forcing us to settle for gield goals time and again.

They did the right thing running it at the end to milk the clock down. And they DID milk the clock down. we got a decent punt and pinned them back with under a minute to play

So, why do you not blitz a rookie QB? And I'm not talking about one linebacker, I'm talking about bring 6 or even 7 guys at the QB. It's 50 seconds left. They have the ball at their own 22 yard line. he's a ROOKIE with arguably only ONE viable receiver and a backup RB. Take a chance that he makes a protection mistake. Take a chance that we can actually GET to the QB.

We HAVE cover corners. Smoot was having a GREAT game yesterday. Can we STOP playing PREVENT defense and try to disrupt the quarterback JUST ONCE??

PLEASE?

~Bang

[stwasm]

tell me how you are going to run the ball to kill the clock when you can't get 2 yards a rush. with a first down we win the game! you're a joke if you think that was smart football

Some of you people have no faith in JC. The kid is going to be a great qb. Running that ball in that last series is stupid. They had nothing going all day on the ground. Whats the difference between a two yard run and an incomplete pass? Obviously the 35 seconds off the clock didn't do a thing.

So the ONLY way to get them to burn 3 timeouts was up the middle three times?

Maybe we should have lined up for a long field goal and forced them to use two consecutive TO's :doh:

Anyone who thinks that running the ball in that situation is "playing not to lose" instead of managing the game doesn't understand game management.

You can blame the offense for not executing and you can be upset that there wasn't a formation that would spread the defense out a little bit -- four wide receivers -- so that there wouldn't be as many men in the box to stop the run. But, in spite of the lack of confidence in the defense, at that point of the game, you have to force the Bills to use their timeouts and to run that clock to give them as little time as possible. The Patriots, Colts and Cowboys, in that situation, would be doing the exact same thing. While I'm not comparing our personnel to that of those teams, because we all know it's not close, from a strategic standpoint, you have a better chance of trying to run out the clock than you do of trying to put the ball up in the air, get it tipped to cause an interception or have the ball fall incomplete, stopping the clock.

[skinfan2k]

Stwasm, the game management is terrible in terms of that Gibbs is willing to give them the ball back with 1 min and change when they need only a FG. Yes the punt is bad but 60 yds at the end of game when Buffalo has been having all day to pass the football is just plain dumb

[llcamino]

We score one TD on three red zone trips in the first half and none of these threads get made.

How do we do that?

Get a big WR. Get a man who can jump, who can box out, who can run a fade. Our lack of a big man is killing us, and forcing us to settle for gield goals time and again.

I've been mulling this one over too and was considering a new thread. In essence, when we get in the redzone, particularly inside the 5, we are playing like a team with one leg cut off. IMO, there are about 5 "categories" of plays that are real scoring threats inside the 5.

1. Up the middle

2. RB around either tackle

3. Bootleg or play pass.

4. Corner fade, or Randy Moss' favorite push off play.

5. Receiver crossing back of endzone and leaping for a ball only he can catch. (T.O's favorite)

Granted this is VERY simplified. But my point is that we CAN'T run anything close to #4 or #5 off that list because we have jockeys for WR's. Defenses know it, and know that they only have to worry about 40% of the offensive possibilities from inside the 5 yd line. We know Gibbs would NEVER call a bootleg for Campbell, so that leaves up the middle or off tackle. Can you say 11 men stacking the line?

Granted the OL is hurting, which is actually all the more reason to need a tall receiver with hands. The OL doesn't have to protect for very long on the corner fade.

I'm curious to know what our TD % is with 1st and goal inside the 5.

[rollneid21]

stwasm-

clearly you are the one who doesn't understand the game. Running the ball for no yardage is not effective game management. The premise of running is control the clock. In order to do that you need to gain yards...move the ball down field. A screen pass or a slant pattern would have been a great play call on 3rd down in that last series. A first down and we win...period. Get a clue man, game management is contingent upon moving the ball DOWN THE FIELD. You can't run the ball for no gain and still "manage" the game.