12/21/24
September 29, 2003
Shades of Tom Osborne: The Texans/Jaguars game Sunday ended with one of the gutsiest calls an NFL coach could ever make. Fourth-and-six-inches. Two seconds left. Down by three. At home. Go for the touchdown.
Is it me (that is, anecdotal) or are more penalties being called in the first four weeks than last season? Gutsy call by Capers, for sure, but then again what does he have to lose if they don't make it?
posted by billsaysthis at 01:36 PM on September 29, 2003
bcb2k2, not to rub salt....and this is a last minute/defensive penalties comment in general, but I've noticed that fouls are flagrant at such late points in games(I've witnessed a couple games like this so far this season). This seems to be a challenge by the D, hoping the offense will make an error before it cleanly beats the D, and the D will foul until that happens: its a pretty smart bet against odds/stats, with the caveat of a game not being able to end on a D foul, except it fires up the opposition.
posted by garfield at 01:45 PM on September 29, 2003
I'm a Jags fan too, bcb. Ugh. I think it was crazy for Capers not to kick the field goal and go into overtime at home with a kicker who excels in that stadium. If the Jags had put someone in the middle to jump Carr's sneak attempt, the Texans lose the game.
posted by rcade at 02:11 PM on September 29, 2003
I agree wih you, Rcade ... and I don't agree. Going for the field goal in that situation would be a smart move for about 26 NFL teams, squads who would be seriously hurt by a loss. But how much would a last-second defeat to the Jags really have hurt the Texans? No one expects the Texans to win more than 6-7 games this season. Dropping one at the goalline would have hurt, yes, but Capers (an excellent motivator) would have used the loss as a tool to show his team just how close they are to being a team that prevails at the end. Instead, the Texans win, the city (and really, the country — people everywhere are talking about this) goes nuts and Houston gets about a 100% boost in confidence. Who knows what happens now? Perhaps I'm getting all misty-eyed here and reading too much into a team's psyche, but how can a Texan player not be willing to fall on a grenade right now for his coach? If I know Dom Capers, his decision was calculated. The man must require a wheelbarrow to carry around his testicles. Kudos to him ... and nuts to the naysayers.
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:30 PM on September 29, 2003
The man must require a wheelbarrow to carry around his testicles.
Good God! Imagine the stetch marks!
posted by lilnemo at 02:55 PM on September 29, 2003
SpoFi:We require a wheelbarrow to carry around our testicles.
posted by lilnemo at 02:55 PM on September 29, 2003
I thought it was a great call, especially the leaping-keeper idea. Carr's a BIG man and that last 6 inches should have been easy for him. It's the easiest play in the book (no handoffs to drop or passes to be blocked) so I'm surprised the defence didn't have a safety or linebacker whose specific job was to be a human missle at the QB.
posted by grum@work at 06:25 PM on September 29, 2003
It was a good call, but a really lousy call by the D- like grum said, it should have been blocked. [BTW, great Osborne link in the topic- my dad was at that game, and left me at home with a sitter. I'm still bitter. I mean, I was five at the time, but still... :)
posted by tieguy at 06:54 PM on September 29, 2003
Grr....why do you have to bring this up, rcade??? The pain is too fresh... The Texans would never have had that SIXTH chance at the goalline, had the Jags not committed two damn penalties in the endzone! I say again...grrrrrr.