Bills Fan since '64 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Fourth and 10 at the KC 15, we're down 4 points, 2:32 left in the game, Buffalo has all of its timeouts remaining. Go for it? Are you kidding? If you take the FG and get a stop, you only need to get to the 35 or so for a chance at a game-winning FG with the wind at your back. I haven't seen anything on this in the news coverage, but that may have been the worst game management decision since we punted from the 32 against the Patriots a few years back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sojourner Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 It had me stumped also. Our D was playing lights out (aside from the 4th down play and the Alex Smith option) and would more than likely have stopped the Chiefs - There's no way they try and just kill the game, given the fact they would have only been up by one you force their hand more and press them into having to score at least a FG. What concerns me more is that if Marrone had decided it was four down time - which you would have to assume - why was the play calling endzone or nothing? I mean, you would think it was goal to go. For crying out loud, 3rd and 10... Chiefs D assumed we were going to kick a FG if 3rd down failed, evident by the fact they only rushed 3 on 3rd down. I mean for crying out loud... A HB draw or the infamous shotgun hand off up the middle would have made the 4th down way more manageable. Frustrating decisions by a head coach who seems over his head when it comes to game ending decisions more often than not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truth on hold Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Go for TD no question. We saw what happened when bills got ball back after KC punt. No time except for silly razzle dazzle play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkx2 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Ya mean like the defense stopped them on third and 8 on the Chiefs last drive? Oh wait. they didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince88 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 And if we didn't get the stop then the complaint would have been "we were right there. Truth in the matter is you don't throw 4 times in a row when you have 4 minutes and are running like Boobie and Bryce were running. Would have kept the ball on the ground. We would be talking about giving Boobie all the snaps today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sojourner Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Ya mean like the defense stopped them on third and 8 on the Chiefs last drive? Oh wait. they didn't. That's right, the game will always pan out the way it does regardless of what happens. Sure, they wouldn't have, if in your realm the exact plays were called by both teams and the same outcome on each... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I can see both sides of the argument of going for it vs. kicking the FG. The biggest problem I have is throwing to the end zone on each of the four downs instead of throwing in the field of play or running the ball. IMO, they should have focused on getting another 1st down before worrying about getting a TD in that scenario. It's a damn shame that Orton missed the wide open Hogan on 3rd and 10 so that this wouldn't have been a topic for discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Could not agree more, OP. Play the percentages and take the 3 points, pin the Chiefs at the 20 and put your D on the field with 3 TOs + the 2 minute warning. Get the ball back and then kick another 3 and win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Soloman Wilcots said the exact same thing during the broadcast. With the way the Bills' defense was playing all game long, it would have been a good play to kick the FG there given the down and distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003Contenders Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) Yea, despite everything else that went wrong in the game, it really did come down to colossal blundering on that sequence of plays -- all 4 downs. Orton probably threw his 4 worst passes of the day on those consecutive plays. There really seemed to be no plan or strategy from a play-calling perspective there. It was almost like each pas was a wing and a prayer. There was over 3:00 to go (and they had all their timeouts) when they got down there around the 15, and I still do not understand why they were playing in desperation fashion like there was under 30 seconds to go and no timeouts. It was in their best interest for a variety of reasons to take their time, eat the clock, mix in some running plays, etc. If the strategy was to conserve time in the event that they didn't score a TD -- then they should have kicked the field goal. Just poorly handled by Marrone/Hackett/Orton. Edited November 10, 2014 by 2003Contenders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkAF43 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I can see both sides of the argument of going for it vs. kicking the FG. The biggest problem I have is throwing to the end zone on each of the four downs instead of throwing in the field of play or running the ball. IMO, they should have focused on getting another 1st down before worrying about getting a TD in that scenario. It's a damn shame that Orton missed the wide open Hogan on 3rd and 10 so that this wouldn't have been a topic for discussion. I just finished this discussion with a co-worker. KC wasn't going to allow themselves to get beat in the end zone, you had all the time in the world to gain 10 yards and mix up your playbook. In that situation Hackett and Marrone need to be held to the fire for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Why didn't they throw it underneath the coverage? Get the first down at the 5 and then go from there? It was like they thought it was 4th and goal. Did Doug forget what down and distance it was again? It was bizarre how they kept throwing it in the end zone when all they needed was the 10 yards for the first down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PearlHowardman Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 And had Kyle Orton made one of the four passes the Bills would have scored a TD. And everyone here would have been saying how brilliant and gutsy the Bills coaching staff is for doing that! And that the Bills finally found their franchise QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey D Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 And had Kyle Orton made one of the four passes the Bills would have scored a TD. And everyone here would have been saying how brilliant and gutsy the Bills coaching staff is for doing that! And that the Bills finally found their franchise QB. And Hogan was wide open for a TD on third down. Was not even a hard throw and Orton missed it badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRM33064 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) There's an objective (or very close to objective) answer to this that one of the analytics sites will likely post at some point soon. My sense is that it actually was the correct move to pursue a TD there instead of attempting a FG, kicking off, relying on another defensive stop, counting on the offense to get into FG position again and then successfully executing another FG. The caveat would be in the "pursuit" of the TD; that is, it didn't have to be 4 stabs at the endzone when getting another 1st down was possible, but the play was in fact there had the pass been on target. Edited November 10, 2014 by MRM33064 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 And Hogan was wide open for a TD on third down. Was not even a hard throw and Orton missed it badly. Orton was terrible at the worst times yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justnzane Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Instead of having 4th and 10 at the 15, they could have ran a different formation other than empty backfield and probably ran the ball twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Fourth and 10 at the KC 15, we're down 4 points, 2:32 left in the game, Buffalo has all of its timeouts remaining. Go for it? Are you kidding? If you take the FG and get a stop, you only need to get to the 35 or so for a chance at a game-winning FG with the wind at your back. I haven't seen anything on this in the news coverage, but that may have been the worst game management decision since we punted from the 32 against the Patriots a few years back. I can only assume you were not paying attention, or had the Bills +1.5, because the decision you are advocating for would in all likelihood have led to a 1 point loss. Kicking a FG only helps if the defense prevent the Chiefs from getting a first down, which it proved unable to do. What makes you think the Bills would have forced a 3 and out following a kickoff, when they failed to do so after turning it over on downs? Marrone made a lot of decisions yesterday that were awful, but you are picking on one of the few sound ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Orton was terrible at the worst times yesterday. It's why he's the best qb that no one wants. He's good but isn't great. An elite backup or low tier starter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsoldier54 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 That's right, the game will always pan out the way it does regardless of what happens. Sure, they wouldn't have, if in your realm the exact plays were called by both teams and the same outcome on each... You're right, no way to know for sure because it didn't happen. We didn't kick the field goal and we didn't stop them on 3rd and 8 to get the ball back sooner. We lost the game and we lost it on stupid mistakes. The fumbles, the missed throws in the red zone and yes the play calling and decision making. It was one big "Aw ****" kind of day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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