Either go for it or kick the 57 FGA. Our kicker was booting them out of the end zone and he's made a couple of 50 yarders recently with plenty of room to spare.
But punting the ball to get as little as 20 yards of extra field position is essentially a turnover.
Was a predictable and horrible decision given how our D was playing. If you want to win the game, you go for it there. Not great odds, but better than the odds of punting in that situation which made a Dallas win even more certain.
Contrast the guts of Jeff Fisher faking a punt against Seattle with the LEAD late in the 4th quarter in Rams territory knowing that his D could not stop Russell Wilson at that point. A great call.
Some day there will be a coach who will actually use statistical analysis in the NFL and behave more rationally. Will likely punt less than 50% than they do now - perhaps 75% less. That is one thing that Parcells was way ahead of his time on. But I will not hold my breath given how wed NFL coaches are to conventional wisdom.
Was a predictable and horrible decision given how our D was playing. If you want to win the game, you go for it there. Not great odds, but better than the odds of punting in that situation which made a Dallas win even more certain.
Contrast the guts of Jeff Fisher faking a punt against Seattle with the LEAD late in the 4th quarter in Rams territory knowing that his D could not stop Russell Wilson at that point. A great call.
Some day there will be a coach who will actually use statistical analysis in the NFL and behave more rationally. Will likely punt less than 50% than they do now - perhaps 75% less. That is one thing that Parcells was way ahead of his time on. But I will not hold my breath given how wed NFL coaches are to conventional wisdom.
On a similar note, should they have tried an onside kick after scoring to get within 7 points in the 4th quarter? That is usually not a percentage play with about 5 minutes left and 3 time outs, but the odds change when you know your defense is totally incapable of making a stop. Your chances of a recovery should also be better when the opposition is not expecting an onside kick.
Our Giants don't play good team football. Offense isn't likely to convert there so ideally you want to punt and pin the opposing team deep in their own territory. A good D holds em to three and out and you get the ball back.
But our special teams aren't good and our defense is soft in big situations.
Because that would have certainly led to a score. I understand his thought process and it's always easy to second guess. 4th and 10, you dnt go for it. Either kick the field goal or punt the ball.
But punting the ball to get as little as 20 yards of extra field position is essentially a turnover.
If that situation was mid-to-late 4th Qtr you might try it, but 3rd Qtr is too early.
That said, this year's defense is giving up 80/90 yard drives in a record pace...pathetic.
Contrast the guts of Jeff Fisher faking a punt against Seattle with the LEAD late in the 4th quarter in Rams territory knowing that his D could not stop Russell Wilson at that point. A great call.
Some day there will be a coach who will actually use statistical analysis in the NFL and behave more rationally. Will likely punt less than 50% than they do now - perhaps 75% less. That is one thing that Parcells was way ahead of his time on. But I will not hold my breath given how wed NFL coaches are to conventional wisdom.
Contrast the guts of Jeff Fisher faking a punt against Seattle with the LEAD late in the 4th quarter in Rams territory knowing that his D could not stop Russell Wilson at that point. A great call.
Some day there will be a coach who will actually use statistical analysis in the NFL and behave more rationally. Will likely punt less than 50% than they do now - perhaps 75% less. That is one thing that Parcells was way ahead of his time on. But I will not hold my breath given how wed NFL coaches are to conventional wisdom.
On a similar note, should they have tried an onside kick after scoring to get within 7 points in the 4th quarter? That is usually not a percentage play with about 5 minutes left and 3 time outs, but the odds change when you know your defense is totally incapable of making a stop. Your chances of a recovery should also be better when the opposition is not expecting an onside kick.
Miss the FG, you still are losing by 7 and the Cowboys get the ball nearly in scoring territory.
Being the 3rd quarter, the punt was the best move, unless of course, it is looked at in hindsight because we didn't stop the Cowboys.
But our special teams aren't good and our defense is soft in big situations.
I'm calling horseshit on that.
I'm calling horseshit on that.
All I can say is that I wanted to go for it at that time, and I would have defended the call here. I would not have tried a FG, though.
--Bill O'Brien.