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BGonline.org Forums
NFL coaches are bad at endgame strategy!
Posted By: Joe Russell
Date: Monday, 30 November 2009, at 12:22 p.m.
It happened again. Situation: Pittsburgh 17, Baltimore 17; 4th quarter; 1:51 left on the clock; 1st and 10 for Pittsburgh on their own 25; Pitt. has two time outs, the Ravens 1. Plays: 1st down-incomplete pass; 2nd down-incomplete pass. Steelers found themselves in a pickle on 3rd down. If they pass again and it is incomplete, or worse, they get sacked, Ravens get the ball back with 1:30 to go and may be only about 30 yards or less from field goal range. If they run they have little chance of a first down but force Baltimore to use their time-out, avoid a sack, and are likely to avoid a potential turnover. They ran for 3 yards, punted, and are lucky that the Ravens missed a long field goal in the waning seconds.
I think the Steelers should have run on 1st down and let the clock run down to a minute or so before running their second play. On their second play they can run again or try a short, safe pass that has a high completion rate. If that play succeeds in getting a first down or near it, they can decide to call a time-out. If it fails to gain many yards they can let the clock run. If the Ravens call a time-out, the Steelers can run the ball on third down and basically kill the clock, or be punting with a few seconds left. Employing this strategy would have basically left them as the only team that could score in regulation. I think it was even more important to do so because of their inexperienced QB, Dixon.
Week after week team mismanage the clock at the end of each half allowing scoring opportunities for the other team when none should exist.
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