Zorn's Clock Management or Mismangement

[skinsbosoxheels]

I want to know why he called that time out in the first place!! If you fail on 4th down you still have 3 time outs to work with and can get the ball back...

The play wasn't even that great after he spent the time out.

EXACTLY...run hurry up...fail on 4th and you have 1 minute left and 3 timeouts and they are on their own 2 yard line..3 dives and a punt...this mismanagement of time or lack of a hurry up offense goes all the way back to week 1 agaist Giants when Skins were still huddling with 2 minutes left in game and down 9 points:doh:

[Samuels]

EXACTLY...run hurry up...fail on 4th and you have 1 minute left and 3 timeouts and they are on their own 2 yard line..3 dives and a punt...this mismanagement of time or lack of a hurry up offense goes all the way back to week 1 agaist Giants when Skins were still huddling with 2 minutes left in game and down 9 points:doh:

Been saying the same thing this whole thread. By calling a TO you basically only gave us 1 shot at winning and thats converting on 4th down, if JC does'nt get in they are gonna run the clock out regardless of when he called it.

By just calling the 4th down play we had a chance with 3 TO's to make them punt from the endzone if it failed on 4th down probably getting the ball back in great field postion with 40-45 seconds left.

If JC did'nt score the game was over by calling a Timeout don't matter if it was with 1 minute or with 30 seconds left you don't waste a timeout you have a play ready its called being prepared.

[Louie 14]

Not only he takes bad timeouts, but worst, his play calling is atrocious.

[SkinsWizCubsDukes]

It is simple. We let the 49ers win.

Zorn told Snyder that he would prove that he could win the game, but then decide to lose it in the final minutes. I am dead serious, it is the only logic behind why anyone would have called that timeout with that much time on the play clock.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

And if you don't make it, the game is over. At least with 1:06 and two time outs, you force the other team to actually run plays deep in their own end zone. That at least gives a chance to force a turnover.

Again, I would expect our defense to be able to stop the 49ers with a minute left.

Two timeouts don't help you there.

Either run a play right away and save the three TOs to stop the clock and hope to get a punt with, like, 20 seconds.

Or run the clock down and call the TO.

Zorn missed it in both directions.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

OK, what are the odds that if he did run the clock down and there was a defensive holding in the endzone on that play giving us only a few seconds when we had 1st & goal, the exact same folks would be complaining that Zorn was an idiot for letting the clock run down?

Just asking...

He would have 30 seconds and two timeouts in that spot. You can run ANYTHING you want right there.

Anyway, I don't entirely blame Zorn for his problems in these situations. He is trying to do too many things that he has no experience in. He's trying to come up with a 4th Down call while managing the game, and I think he is overwhelmed.

[Oldfan]

Zorn's clock mis-management worries me because it displays lack of preparation. These issues can be decided long before the game is played and assistance on the calls delegated to someone like Chris Meidt.

Blache is far too passive with his defense when trying to protect a narrow lead. I think he cost us two games this year and nearly lost the first Dallas game too.

[Rufus T Firefly]

And if you don't make it, the game is over. At least with 1:06 and two time outs, you force the other team to actually run plays deep in their own end zone. That at least gives a chance to force a turnover.

Again, I would expect our defense to be able to stop the 49ers with a minute left.

If that's what he's thinking, you would literally be better off taking 30 seconds to get the play in and holding the timeout.

You'll get the ball back with more time left by giving it to the opponent with :35 left and having 3 timeouts than you would giving it to them with 1:05 and having 2 TOs.

And yeah, you would hope the D stops them. But pretending giving them the ball with a minute left vs. half a minute is doesn't make any difference because "hopefully the defense will stop them" is ridiculously foolish thinking. If he declined a 15 yard penalty before a game ending FG attempt, would you say "it doesn't matter, because our kicker should be able to kick a 45 yarder anyway", or would you actually wonder why he turned down the extra 15 yards? A mistake is a mistake, and the TO was obviously one the moment he made it.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

And yeah, you would hope the D stops them. But pretending giving them the ball with a minute left vs. half a minute is doesn't make any difference because "hopefully the defense will stop them" is ridiculously foolish thinking. If he declined a 15 yard penalty before a game ending FG attempt, would you say "it doesn't matter, because our kicker should be able to kick a 45 yarder anyway", or would you actually wonder why he turned down the extra 15 yards? A mistake is a mistake, and the TO was obviously one the moment he made it.

There was some justification of Gibbs' double TO last year along the same lines.

[Mooka]

Game came down to the last second and we essentially had 2 TO's left on the board.

Not good management.

[fjblair]

If the defense did their job on SF last drive I'm sure Zorn would have blown up the game in overtime anyway. Right?