Last Field Goal of the Game

[TheLynchTrain]

Ok - great game by the bills yesterday. I'm not here to bash the bills or Jauron or "temper enthusiasm" like I heard in a few other posts. I'm not second guessing coaching or playcall - I want to see what people think about Jauron's game managment strategy in dealing with the fourth quarter field goal.

 

Now the bills were up by one point with less than 30 seconds left in the game - on the 27 yard line. At this point, I'm thinking - with 29 seconds left, we should go for it here. Granted, it was 17 yards, but we probably could have managed a dump off to a running back, picked up 8-10 yards. Jacksonville would get the ball back on the 20-25 yard line with 20 seconds left and have to drive almost 50 yards to have a shot at a 40-45 yard field goal.

 

Now we all know what happened - Lindell came in and boomed a 43 yarder and the rest is history. His field goal put us up by 4 points - forcing JVILLE to score a touchdown if they wanted the win. My concern was WHAT IF he missed? I'm not the most ardent supporter of Lindell (I know I probably should be) but his notable and untimely misses early in his career have forever scarred me (see week 16 against Pitt -Bledsoe's last year). If he missed, JVILLE gets the ball back on the 35. I think either decision would have been good, but I guess kicking the field goal (and knowing it went in in hindsight) was a better choice.

 

It is good to note that the Cheatriots**** had a similar decision to make with 1:56 left on the Jets 29, leading 19-10, with a 4th and 3. Cassel went for it and hit Welker on a slant - game over after a kneel. Obviously these were different circumstances - they had a 9 point lead, more time on the clock, and obviously only 3 yards to make. You could almost argue that the Pats* would have been better off to kick the field goal and be done with it. The Jets would have then needed 2 TD scores. But Bellicheat was probably scared of a block, or he maybe wanted to shove it down the Jets throat even more.

 

Either way, we won the game and I'm proud that Lindell made the kick.

[BeastMode54]

Lindell is a solid field goal kicker, and you always take the points

[ricojes]

Ok - great game by the bills yesterday. I'm not here to bash the bills or Jauron or "temper enthusiasm" like I heard in a few other posts. I'm not second guessing coaching or playcall - I want to see what people think about Jauron's game managment strategy in dealing with the fourth quarter field goal.

 

Now the bills were up by one point with less than 30 seconds left in the game - on the 27 yard line. At this point, I'm thinking - with 29 seconds left, we should go for it here. Granted, it was 17 yards, but we probably could have managed a dump off to a running back, picked up 8-10 yards. Jacksonville would get the ball back on the 20-25 yard line with 20 seconds left and have to drive almost 50 yards to have a shot at a 40-45 yard field goal.

 

Now we all know what happened - Lindell came in and boomed a 43 yarder and the rest is history. His field goal put us up by 4 points - forcing JVILLE to score a touchdown if they wanted the win. My concern was WHAT IF he missed? I'm not the most ardent supporter of Lindell (I know I probably should be) but his notable and untimely misses early in his career have forever scarred me (see week 16 against Pitt -Bledsoe's last year). If he missed, JVILLE gets the ball back on the 35. I think either decision would have been good, but I guess kicking the field goal (and knowing it went in in hindsight) was a better choice.

 

It is good to note that the Cheatriots**** had a similar decision to make with 1:56 left on the Jets 29, leading 19-10, with a 4th and 3. Cassel went for it and hit Welker on a slant - game over after a kneel. Obviously these were different circumstances - they had a 9 point lead, more time on the clock, and obviously only 3 yards to make. You could almost argue that the Pats* would have been better off to kick the field goal and be done with it. The Jets would have then needed 2 TD scores. But Bellicheat was probably scared of a block, or he maybe wanted to shove it down the Jets throat even more.

 

Either way, we won the game and I'm proud that Lindell made the kick.

You play to win, you can't play scared. have faith in your kicker and make your opponents score a TD with little time on the clock. Look what the Bills did against Washington last year with little time on the clock. One long pass is all it takes to get into FG range. It was coaching 101, play to win...

[Captain Hindsight]

Ok - great game by the bills yesterday. I'm not here to bash the bills or Jauron or "temper enthusiasm" like I heard in a few other posts. I'm not second guessing coaching or playcall - I want to see what people think about Jauron's game managment strategy in dealing with the fourth quarter field goal.

 

Now the bills were up by one point with less than 30 seconds left in the game - on the 27 yard line. At this point, I'm thinking - with 29 seconds left, we should go for it here. Granted, it was 17 yards, but we probably could have managed a dump off to a running back, picked up 8-10 yards. Jacksonville would get the ball back on the 20-25 yard line with 20 seconds left and have to drive almost 50 yards to have a shot at a 40-45 yard field goal.

 

Now we all know what happened - Lindell came in and boomed a 43 yarder and the rest is history. His field goal put us up by 4 points - forcing JVILLE to score a touchdown if they wanted the win. My concern was WHAT IF he missed? I'm not the most ardent supporter of Lindell (I know I probably should be) but his notable and untimely misses early in his career have forever scarred me (see week 16 against Pitt -Bledsoe's last year). If he missed, JVILLE gets the ball back on the 35. I think either decision would have been good, but I guess kicking the field goal (and knowing it went in in hindsight) was a better choice.

So you want the Bills to not trust their kicker who is one of the best in the business so that we can go for it possibly fumble the ball throw an INT ect?

 

Bills made the right move easy, if you cant trust your kicker in those conditions, you either need a new kicker or be up by more than a td to begin with

[AlbanyBill]

The FG made it so the Jags would have to march all the way and score a TD. FG was the right choice.

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

So you want the Bills to not trust their kicker who is one of the best in the business so that we can go for it possibly fumble the ball throw an INT ect?

 

Bills made the right move easy, if you cant trust your kicker in those conditions, you either need a new kicker or be up by more than a td to begin with

 

Exactly right... especially since it was 4th and a bunch... 4th and 1, maybe you consider going for it, but on the whole the kick was the right call.

[Billadelphia]

I'd take the kick every time given the circumstances. Lindell had his rough time, but has been lights out from under 50yds since. This was a 45yd field goal and it put a go-ahead field goal out of the game plan for the Jags with 30 secs left.

[thebug]

Ok - great game by the bills yesterday. I'm not here to bash the bills or Jauron or "temper enthusiasm" like I heard in a few other posts. I'm not second guessing coaching or playcall - I want to see what people think about Jauron's game managment strategy in dealing with the fourth quarter field goal.

 

Now the bills were up by one point with less than 30 seconds left in the game - on the 27 yard line. At this point, I'm thinking - with 29 seconds left, we should go for it here. Granted, it was 17 yards, but we probably could have managed a dump off to a running back, picked up 8-10 yards. Jacksonville would get the ball back on the 20-25 yard line with 20 seconds left and have to drive almost 50 yards to have a shot at a 40-45 yard field goal.

 

Now we all know what happened - Lindell came in and boomed a 43 yarder and the rest is history. His field goal put us up by 4 points - forcing JVILLE to score a touchdown if they wanted the win. My concern was WHAT IF he missed? I'm not the most ardent supporter of Lindell (I know I probably should be) but his notable and untimely misses early in his career have forever scarred me (see week 16 against Pitt -Bledsoe's last year). If he missed, JVILLE gets the ball back on the 35. I think either decision would have been good, but I guess kicking the field goal (and knowing it went in in hindsight) was a better choice.

 

It is good to note that the Cheatriots**** had a similar decision to make with 1:56 left on the Jets 29, leading 19-10, with a 4th and 3. Cassel went for it and hit Welker on a slant - game over after a kneel. Obviously these were different circumstances - they had a 9 point lead, more time on the clock, and obviously only 3 yards to make. You could almost argue that the Pats* would have been better off to kick the field goal and be done with it. The Jets would have then needed 2 TD scores. But Bellicheat was probably scared of a block, or he maybe wanted to shove it down the Jets throat even more.

 

Either way, we won the game and I'm proud that Lindell made the kick.

 

 

Good post, reasonable question, but I think it was the right call. Like others have said you can't play scared and god know we have seen enough of that over the past bunch of years.

 

 

GO BILLS!

[nucci]

I think the main thing is forcing the other team to score a TD instead of a FG. Seems kickers now can hit from beyond 50 much easier.

[UnionAMG]

Right call based on the situation...

 

THE BETTER QUESTION: what was the 2nd down play call on that drive with a playaction rollout by Edwards?

 

Was that another short yardage playaction pass (like the one that worked successfully just before that), or was it a naked bootleg? In either situation, I think it was a poor call that added 10 yards to the field goal attempt. NExt time in that situation, I hope the Bills run it 3 times up the middle with Lynch. If he gets the 1st the game is over, if he doesnt we kick a 34 yarder instead of the 44 yarder, with the same amount of time on the clock. I was scratching my head over that call.

 

Any ideas? Not to nitpick, bc the rest of the game was called beautifully... just wondering.

[SwampD]

The difference is, if the Pats* dont make the first, there was not enough time for the Jets to score twice to take the lead. If the Bills didn't make the first, there was enough time for the Jags to win it with a short field(FG).

[Captain Hindsight]

Right call based on the situation...

 

THE BETTER QUESTION: what was the 2nd down play call on that drive with a playaction rollout by Edwards?

 

Was that another short yardage playaction pass (like the one that worked successfully just before that), or was it a naked bootleg? In either situation, I think it was a poor call that added 10 yards to the field goal attempt. NExt time in that situation, I hope the Bills run it 3 times up the middle with Lynch. If he gets the 1st the game is over, if he doesnt we kick a 34 yarder instead of the 44 yarder, with the same amount of time on the clock. I was scratching my head over that call.

 

Any ideas? Not to nitpick, bc the rest of the game was called beautifully... just wondering.

I figured that was an attempt to catch them off guard and possibly score a TD to make it even more out of reach as soon s they caught on trent did the right thing and went down

[Numark]

I would have been fine with either decision to be honest. Nothing wrong with either choice.

 

I personally believe you get your points when you can in that situation, but I see the other point of view.

[Guest dog14787]

I think the main thing is forcing the other team to score a TD instead of a FG. Seems kickers now can hit from beyond 50 much easier.

 

Exactly

 

I thought we may have been a little to conservative at the end of the first half, other than that though from a coaching standpoint, I was very happy with the way the game was coached.

[CircleTheWagons]

THE BETTER QUESTION: what was the 2nd down play call on that drive with a playaction rollout by Edwards?

 

Was that another short yardage playaction pass (like the one that worked successfully just before that), or was it a naked bootleg?

Jauron said at the end of his post-game interview that it was a naked bootleg.

[devldog131]

Exactly right... especially since it was 4th and a bunch... 4th and 1, maybe you consider going for it, but on the whole the kick was the right call.

 

 

Even on 4th & 1 you kick the field goal. The field goal and kick off burn just as much time off of the clock, but now they have to march not to the 30 or 35 for a field goal, thay have to march to the endzone in order to win the game.

 

The decision was correct, and in that situation, the decision is always correct.

[Mickey]

We ran the clock down before making the kick. If that had been a play instead of a kick and we didn't get the 17 yards, then the clock would have stopped on the change of poss. Thus, we would only have run an extra 5 seconds or so of clock and they would only have needed a FG. All that would take is one or two long completions.

[Bmwolf21]

You want to see bad clock and scoreboard management, see the Browns and Romeo Crennel. They have made every possible bad decision this year, and it isn't a new problem for the Brownies.

[San-O]

Right call based on the situation...

 

THE BETTER QUESTION: what was the 2nd down play call on that drive with a playaction rollout by Edwards?

 

Was that another short yardage playaction pass (like the one that worked successfully just before that), or was it a naked bootleg? In either situation, I think it was a poor call that added 10 yards to the field goal attempt. NExt time in that situation, I hope the Bills run it 3 times up the middle with Lynch. If he gets the 1st the game is over, if he doesnt we kick a 34 yarder instead of the 44 yarder, with the same amount of time on the clock. I was scratching my head over that call.

 

Any ideas? Not to nitpick, bc the rest of the game was called beautifully... just wondering.

 

Right.

 

That's what I'm getting at.

 

Designed rollout, bootleg, whatever. Took virtually no time off the clock, and almost took them OUT of field goal range.

 

Another poster stated D.J. said after the game that was the strategy: If you want to spend clock, run a sweep or something

outside. Anything but take a sack for a loss. Just my opinion.

[colin]

they are pretty sick on d, and were fairly fresh as they had the 3rd period off, so we went with our sick kicker.

 

good call imo.