Offside Number 76 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Option A: Go for it. 4th and 10. Pick up 10 yards and keep going, down by 3 with 2 time outs and 1:30 or so remaining. If you miss it assume the game is over as the Dolphins will almost certainly score the clinching TD. Option B: Safety. Try to recover onside kick and then score a TD with the 2 TOs and about 1:30 remaining. If you don't recover the kick, the game is essentially over (see the actual game film) as even without a first down the Dolphins run the clock down to 30 seconds and probably punt it down inside your 20 leaving you no timeouts and probably 4 plays to cover 80+ yards needing a TD. So which is more likely: pick up 10 yds and then drive 50 yds or so for a FG or recover an onside kick and then drive 70 yards or so for a TD? Seems pretty clear to me. Edit: Option C: Punt. Dolphins run the clock down to 30 seconds even without a first down and then punt you inside the 20 almost certainly meaning that the game is over. Makes the least sense, IMO. Onside kick? On a free kick after a safety? Or am I not getting it? Either way, the safety worked; the offense didn't on the last possession. It proved to be a smart call. Not sure what the argument is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincec Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 (edited) Also, you missed all the other things that can happen, if you opt for the safety and free kick. You can recover the kick, as you mentioned. The other team can fumble the return. They can fumble the subsequent snaps or handoffs, throw an INT, etc. They can fumble their punt snap, or shank the punt putting you in better field position. You can return their punt for an INT, or into great field position. And the Bills can stop Miami on their own 1 or Miami could fumble there and maybe the Bills even recover the fumble and take it back 99 yards for a TD, etc. but those types of things only happen against the Bills. Of the likely scenarios, going for it seemed the most logical to me in the sense that if you can make one play and pick it up on 4th down then you have a realistic chance to win (need 50 or so yards, 1:30, 2 TOs, 1st and 10). All of the other scenarios are pie in the sky, IMO. Onside kick? On a free kick after a safety? Or am I not getting it? Either way, the safety worked; the offense didn't on the last possession. It proved to be a smart call. Not sure what the argument is. Yes, you can onside kick after a safety. The Bills tried to do it according to Gailey. By "worked" do you mean that the best case scenario was to get the ball back on their own 20 with no timeouts and 30 seconds left needing to go 80 yards for a TD? That doesn't seem like much to hope for... Edited September 14, 2010 by vincec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy10 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 First of all "pick up 10 yards" when you are pinned at your goal line is a bit more complex than picking up 10 or 15 or maybe even 20 at midfield. An excellent point I think many are forgetting. Chan did the only thing he could do that guaranteed it stayed a one score game. End of story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_In_Norfolk Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 If you have the ball you try and keep it. Going for it was the only real option there, Imo That said, I also thing they should have kicked a field goal on the play where they scored the td. So, I don't know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offside Number 76 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Yes, you can onside kick after a safety. The Bills tried to do it according to Gailey. By "worked" do you mean that the best case scenario was to get the ball back on their own 20 with no timeouts and 30 seconds left needing to go 80 yards for a TD? That doesn't seem like much to hope for... You are right on the onside kick; it's such an obscure situation that I had forgotten the rule. By "worked," I mean exactly that. It was SOMETHING to hope for, rather than nothing. The O got the ball back, there actually were only 29 seconds left, and it was better than being down by six--or ten!--also with no timeouts left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampD Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 This entire argument is moot. If the Bills go for it, Trent checks down to the running back, throwing a pass 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage (which in this case is two yards deep in the end zone), who then gets tackled for a safety anyway. The only difference is that six seconds would have been run off instead of only one. Trent sucks. I still can't get over is eight yard pass with eight seconds left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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