1st down w/45 seconds to go, why didn't we try to get closer?

[Joker]

I did not hear one fan in my section agree with taking the knee...to a person it was "WTF is McDaniels doing here?"...that Cardinals D was gassed...anybody could see it....take a knee??...run the damn ball for chrissakes...the Pats were gashing them...that being said, Ghost does not make that FG from 5 yards with the snap and place on that kick...the ball was leaning FORWARD for crying out loud.

Of course, as bitter as we all feel, this IS only game two...if this was late November I'd be worried about the direction and philosophy of this offense....but game two?...they laid an egg...it happens...I just hope McD gets the hint from all the fans and plays the game to dominate...not this sit back and wait for good things to happen crap.

 

[The Gr8est]

So, any chance Lonie Paxton gets a call from the Pats this week? Danny Aiken has been shaky lately.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The decision to sit on the ball was BB's, not McDaniels. BB screwed the pooch. That's the sort of atrocious decisionmaking that gets coaches fired if it happens at the end of the year with playoffs on the line.

Did he say so or are you just basing that on HC's tend to make those calls. I really think he's given Josh relative autonomy, and not just on game day. And it would take a couple of years of atrocious decisionmaking before they'd even toy with that kind of though here.

Pioli on the other hand...is skating on thin ice. Although the Hunt's improved finances will probably save him one more time, but RAC and Matt and staff and the offense will likely be gone after this season.

Chiefs will never win big with Pioli in charge - KansasCity.com

 

[jbb9s]

I did not hear one fan in my section agree with taking the knee...to a person it was "WTF is McDaniels doing here?"...

the decision to take a knee, TO, and send out the FG unit is a head coaches call, not OC.

 

[Tunescribe]

I did not hear one fan in my section agree with taking the knee...to a person it was "WTF is McDaniels doing here?"...that Cardinals D was gassed...anybody could see it....take a knee??...run the damn ball for chrissakes...the Pats were gashing them...that being said, Ghost does not make that FG from 5 yards with the snap and place on that kick...the ball was leaning FORWARD for crying out loud.

Of course, as bitter as we all feel, this IS only game two...if this was late November I'd be worried about the direction and philosophy of this offense....but game two?...they laid an egg...it happens...I just hope McD gets the hint from all the fans and plays the game to dominate...not this sit back and wait for good things to happen crap.

Yup, they weren't close enough for that strategy and Gronk's false start was a killer. The defense gave the offense an absolute gift and they squandered it with a little help from the amateur refs.

 

[Observer]

I maintain that given the fear of losing further yards or turning the ball over, they decided to put the ball in the hands of the only guy that was consistent all game. It was not a terrible move but it didn't work out. Gost decided that he couldn't be the only one that didn't make a mistake all game. End of story.

 

[Deus Irae]

I maintain that given the fear of losing further yards or turning the ball over, they decided to put the ball in the hands of the only guy that was consistent all game. It was not a terrible move but it didn't work out. Gost decided that he couldn't be the only one that didn't make a mistake all game. End of story.

It was a terrible move, as history has borne out.

End of story.

 

[JFK]

BB decided to go for it on 4th and 2 because Brady is the man.
We had no reason not to try to get closer. BB thinks too much when the game is on the line with a few plays left. 40 yard game winning field goals are nerve wrecking. Ghost is not clutch but the coaches didn't help matters.

 

[jbb9s]

the chances of a turnover on any given play may be 2-4%. that is deflated in this situation when the coaches are presumably telling the ball carriers "cover it up, dont fight for extra yards" and the QB "don't take any chance".

Before you reply and say AZ just fumbled blah blah blah, I'll stop you and say I have to assume the Pats are better coached, better prepared and not as careless.

Its harder to quantify penalties since these replacement refs seem to be so unpredictable.

Adding all the negatives together are still far less than the delta % wise of missing a 45 yard kick versus 25 yard kick. Especially with the pressue.

Belichick and Ernie Adams have talked to statisticians about everything from their draft strategy to their aggressive 4th down conversion policy. Apparently BB talked once to the guy who developed the 2 pt conversion chart.

Dont see how BB blew this one.

 

[Observer]

BB decided to go for it on 4th and 2 because Brady is the man.
We had no reason not to try to get closer. BB thinks too much when the game is on the line with a few plays left. 40 yard game winning field goals are nerve wrecking. Ghost is not clutch but the coaches didn't help matters.

When the game is on the line, players have to make plays. Faulk should have caught it cleanly and gostkowski should have put it in. It is what they are expected to do.

 

[Joker]

Gost had nothing to do with the fail in that play...Aiken's snap was horrible..the ball was leaning forward when Gost went to kick it...I don't give a shyte if Adam Vinitieri in his prime is kicking that one from the two, the ball will be shanked...every single time

 

[Rob0729]

My first thought to this post was so how did that work out for us. But your points are reasonable as laid out. The problem lies in emotion of what your doing. What I mean is when your team knows your playing ***** ball it takes away your fire. Watch the 49ers play and you see ferocious agressiveness. I think we have the horses to be much more than take away this guy or that guy but we just wont cut em loose. I think even the D could have made more game changing plays early if allowed to gamble a little.

If the offense and the special teams did their job, the defensive game plan would have worked our spectacularly for us. The defense did more than their job to win this game, but it was the other aspects of the game that let the team down today,

As for the 49ers and their "fercious aggressiveness", the Pats are not the 49ers. Nor will they ever likely be. It also is not the only way to have a dominant defense.

The Pats successfully kept Kob off balance for most of the game and put a lot of pressure on him. Kolb only completed 55.6% of his passes for 140 yards and 1 TD (and the TD was on a two yard drive). The 49ers currently have 1 sack and 2 QB hits while the Pats had 1 sack and 4 QB hits. For all of the 49ers' aggressiveness, they haven't gotten to the QB anymore than the Pats did thus far in the game.

 

[crawhammer]

Brady was on a roll throughout the fourth quarter and we had the Arizona defense on its heels at that point, so simply put: BELICHICK CHOKED!

Between the mismanagement of the final minute, Edelman starting over Welker, and the overall piss poor coaching, this was a really horrible day for Belichick.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I was thinking the same thing as I watched the game. They went into a shell after the Gronkowski holding call (the right call was made). I guess since Gost has been knocking them through from long range since preseason the team figured it was a "gimme." I'm sure they'd do thing differently if given the chance . . . the whole hindsight thing.

 

[Big-T]

If the FG is made then nobody would be questioning the call, just like 4th & 2. But alas, it missed so now we get a week of moaning.

If you want to blame anyone - how about Gronk for 15 yards worth of penalties on the last drive (including negating the game winning TD) and dropping a 2 point conversion (albeit with Kerry Rhodes interfering all the way),

 

[UK_Pat37]

When you have faith in your kicker, why wouldn't you just set him up in the middle and let him kick? He kicked FGs of 46, 34, 51 and 53 yards prior....the logical thing to do was ensure he got the ball spotted in the middle of the field. Running a play wouldn't have guaranteed that.

 

[PatsBoy12]

If the FG is made then nobody would be questioning the call, just like 4th & 2. But alas, it missed so now we get a week of moaning.

If you want to blame anyone - how about Gronk for 15 yards worth of penalties on the last drive (including negating the game winning TD) and dropping a 2 point conversion (albeit with Kerry Rhodes interfering all the way),

But the kick was missed, making your point moot and somewhat irrelevant. I do get the point you're making, but I don't see why post something that even you obviously know is moot. It adds nothing to the thread, Big T.

I mean no disrespect to you or anyone else, but if the dissection of everything bothers a person, then just stay away from the board for a week. Nobody complained last week because the mood was positive all week long. I get that not all is lost after one week, but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't be upset with a loss. If you feel indifferent toward a loss (coming from the perspective of an ex-athlete), then it means you're not really invested. None of us play for the team, so we obviously can't be all in like the coaches and players; however, it doesn't mean we can't feel upset by the loss.

 

[PatsBoy12]

When you have faith in your kicker, why not just set him up in the middle and let him kick? He kicked FGs of 46, 34, 51 and 53 yards prior....the logical thing to do was ensure he got the ball spotted in the middle of the field. Running a play wouldn't have guaranteed that.

I've only watched the game once so far, but I'm pretty sure the Patriots attempted to do just that. I think there are a few things that are being overblown with this loss, and the whole "faith in the kicker" angle is one of them. Gost was having a heck of a game and he's been driving them down the middle from long distance all throughout the preseason and in this game. As you stated, he had drilled them from longer distance earlier in the game. He just hooked it. It's really that simple.

 

[Big-T]

But the kick was missed, making your point moot and somewhat irrelevant. I do get the point you're making, but I don't see why post something that even you obviously know is moot. It adds nothing to the thread, Big T.

I was just stating how peoples attitudes change depending on the outcome of 1 thing - sometimes it comes off and you're heralded, sometimes it doesn't and you spend the week taking flack for it, that's life.

I mean no disrespect to you or anyone else, but if the dissection of everything bothers a person, then just stay away from the board for a week. Nobody complained last week because the mood was positive all week long. I get that not all is lost after one week, but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't be upset with a loss. If you feel indifferent toward a loss (coming from the perspective of an ex-athlete), then it means you're not really invested. None of us play for the team, so we obviously can't be all in like the coaches and players; however, it doesn't mean we can't feel upset by the loss.

Yeah losing a game is bad, but it's only week 2 and it was an NFC opponent so in the grand scheme of things it isn't going to mean a lot and it wasn't as bad as the debacle against Cleveland the other year.

In the end, as bad as the Patriots were they were in a position to win the game and set it up for one of the only consistently good players to win the game for them.

 

[UK_Pat37]

I've only watched the game once so far, but I'm pretty sure the Patriots attempted to do just that. I think there are a few things that are being overblown with this loss, and the whole "faith in the kicker" angle is one of them. Gost was having a heck of a game and he's been driving them down the middle from long distance all throughout the preseason and in this game. As you stated, he had drilled them from longer distance earlier in the game. He just hooked it. It's really that simple.

That's what I'm saying....people questioned why the didn't run a play so I asked why you wouldn't want to set your kicker up in that situation.