Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

Two and a half minutes left. Redskins up 35-28. 3rd and 2 at our own 20. Tampa has no timeouts left. Gibbs calls for a running play over the right tackle to Portis....was it the right call?

Vote, no need to discuss really. We all seem to be discussing it in enough other threads. Just want a count. (note: this will be a public poll so all can see your response)

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

We were running well the entire game. I kinda felt that the Bucs were going to be looking for the short dump since we did it earlier on 4th down. I liked the call of the quick hitter up inside, unfortunately they got stuffed.

It's one of those things, if it works it's great call, since it didn't everyone will second guess it. The game didn't hinge on that one play... there were many other factors along the way that all contributed to the end result.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

I didn't think it was a bad call. In retrospect, it might have been better to have passed on 3rd down but the call was a good one.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

We should have been throwing on second down, play action roleout's to take advantage of Brunells legs giving him the option to run or throw, trying to run the clock down at that point in the game was moot, if we don't get a firstdown the Bucs have more than enough time to take the ball downfield whether we have an incomplete or not. The right call in that situation is to do whatever you have to do to get a firstdown, if you fail with an all out effort you can tip your cap to the Bucs, but that's not what happened we went into a shell and said hear's another chance to beat us, bad move considering the Bucs had already showed they pretty much figured out how to expose our secondary at that point with galloway.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

I am not sure how to vote, because I would have liked to see us do a roll out with Brunell where he has the option to either run and pick up the 1st or pass for the 1st. If you looked the buc's were pretty much playing the run on that play, I think that we could have picked up the 1st if did a roll out play. Just my thoughts...

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

:Smoker: NO WAY!!!!! That play did away with the time out of turn of possesion! Great call Gibbs:goodjob: Come on TAFKAS with that loaded question....:spank:

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

the redskins did the right thing by running on that play, but i would've put sellers in at halfback mainly because i don't see portis as a short yardage back. A rollout with Brunell probably would've been more effective because he has more options, but the game was blown on other plays, not this one. Imo, the play that blew the game was the thirty yard td pass to sheppard at the end, by that point i had realized whenever we blitzed it wasn't doing anything, leaving walt harris on an island like that is a really bad idea, considering he's been burned other times already.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

After the two minute warning, I would have no problem with it.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

its very easy to second guess it now,because the obvious answer is yes because the run didnt work,Gibbs is a great coach but he has a major tendency to get conservative at the end of games,I knew once we got the ball on that drive it was going to be 3 straight runs and hope for the best,if he has so much confidence in Brunell then he should trust him to make that play,either with his legs or his arm

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

This is crazy...........

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=mooby]the redskins did the right thing by running on that play, but i would've put sellers in at halfback mainly because i don't see portis as a short yardage back. A rollout with Brunell probably would've been more effective because he has more options, but the game was blown on other plays, not this one. Imo, the play that blew the game was the thirty yard td pass to sheppard at the end, by that point i had realized whenever we blitzed it wasn't doing anything, leaving walt harris on an island like that is a really bad idea, considering he's been burned other times already.[/QUOTE]
thank you.....over agressive D is killin us......BUT of course we dont have the talent to NOT bring the house...........:rant:

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

Gibbs made the right call running the ball here. Today showed how a 23 yr old QB headed for the junk pile ended up with a 119% QB rating. Our entire secondary looked like freshmen! Running into each other, getting burnt over and over and by Chris Simms! Granted our O put them in a bad situation atleast twice today, but say that's 2 TD's. I think a main problem was Taylor being out as they seemed to do as they pleased with our secondary. Grrrrrrrr.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

I voted yes cuz it made sense with the ease in which the team had been able to run against the bucs defense all afternoon, but I could also have seen them call a bootleg. they had already gone for the bootleg on the 4th down conversion on the previous drive so maybe that's why they decided not to do it that time, who knows. I'm more inclined to question the defense playcalling and lack of a plays made on the defensive side of the ball especially in the 4th quarter. I think today's game demonstrated the teams need to address the defensive end position this off season.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=skinsfanthru&thru]I'm more inclined to question the defense playcalling and lack of a plays made on the defensive side of the ball especially in the 4th quarter.[/QUOTE]

Gibbs's offense scored 35 pts today and lost. Granted Brunell didn't help his defense with field position a few times today, but ya have to put this loss on the defense. And we weren't playing Plunkett or Elway or hell even Phil Simms, his Fireman Bob son beat us today! No excuse! None. :hitfan:

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

At that point in the game, the smart strategy is to kill the clock. You do that with a running play. If you don't make it, the clock still runs. You punt it away and rely on your defense. That was a good situation and [b]should[/b] have worked.

I question why Gibbs tries to use a sports car like a Mack truck. In that situation Betts, Sellers or Cartwright are better for a tough inside run IMHO.

Portis had a good day and does everything the coaches ask. But he still doesn't get the runs he got in Denver, mostly because our offensive schemes don't run him to the outside enough. He's very good, but we need GREAT.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

I agree with the call, O line knows in that situation Gibbs is gonna call a running play. Bottom line, it was two yards and you gotta get those short yardage type plays to win.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

The way the skins were running the ball they had to go with a run there. It keeps the clock moving. Not being able to run the clock out was perhaps the only thing the offense did wrong yesterday but when the game was turned over to "The U" I'm sure nobody thought they would blow it.

Had the skins passed and it not worked Gibbs would have been ripped a new one by everyone. JG made the correect call.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

There were better calls Gibbs could have made. A pass in the flat to Sellers or Cooley would have made more sense. When it's 3rd and short, I want the ball in the hands of someone with more size than Clinton Portis.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

It was the right call for the right situation. I think the 2 yards were "too long" for Mike Sellers, which was the reason why you give it to Portis. Even if the team didn't get the first down, the clock continues to run. It's easy to say we should have passed after the fact, but at the point in time, running was the best option.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=NM Redskin]I agree with the call, O line knows in that situation Gibbs is gonna call a running play. Bottom line, it was two yards and you gotta get those short yardage type plays to win.[/QUOTE]

It was 3rd and a LONG 2. Closer to 3rd and 3 in my book.

And I totally agreed with Troy Aikman. Remember the play they called on 4th and 2 on the Tampa 35 yard line? That one worked, why not playaction pass and get Cooley into the flat one on one with somebody.

I like Cooley 1 on 1 against a defender a lot better than I like Clinton Portis against a giant pile.

At the time of the decision, there were 2 and half minutes left on the clock. If you run it and don't make it, that still leaves Tampa with 2 minutes to get down the field. That's PLENTY of time. So Tampa was going to have plenty of time to score whether the Skins ran or passed incomplete. If they're going to have plenty of time either way, you might as well take your best shot.

Portis against a pile is not the smartest thing to do.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

This is when Brunnel needs to be able to audible. He sees the bucs stacking for the run and he changes the play to a roll out option.

But I don't think this lost the game. It was the defense this game.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. Gibbs chose to keep the clock running which is what he'll do 99% of the time. I'd rather not pick this decision apart when there are bigger fish to fry like the defensive breakdowns and the turnovers.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=Schneed10]It was 3rd and a LONG 2. Closer to 3rd and 3 in my book.[/QUOTE]

It was exactly 2 yards.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

I totally believe its the right call. You are trying to eat up the clock, we are up by 7 and deep in our own territory. You dont want a pick in that situation, and if its incomplete thats an additional 25 to 35 seconds Tampa has. turns out they didn't need it, but you still run the ball there. If you can grind out 2 yards in those situations, then you should be forced to punt and live or die by your defense. Which by the way is looking awful the last 3 or 4 games.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

I don't disagree with keeping the ball on the ground, but do something creative not straight up the middle three times in a row, we did the exact same thing last week three straight up the middle and turned the ball back over to the eagles and they drove right down the field fortunately we got a play from our D at the goal line. We had been driving the ball all game by mixing it up why do the exact same play with the box stacked. If we can see the same run in previous games don't you think other coaches see the tendancies every game in that situation dive in the middle of the pile with no success. I don't care that we ran on them all game, we do the same thing over and over again when we need to run the clock out, how can anyone say it is the right call when we have not been unsuccessful with running out the clock and converting in nearly everygame this year. Tell me when the last time you saw someone even if they new it was coming stop Cooley or Sellers in the flat for a score or a first down. Where was the stretch play let Portis pick his gap.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[quote]I'd rather not pick this decision apart when there are bigger fish to fry like the defensive breakdowns and the turnovers.[/quote]

Matty -- if we get that first down. Game over and we get a W.

Exactly, skins052. Even dating back to last year we put the game in our defenses hands seemingly not even trying for the first down to kill the clock. While an incomplete pass would have left them an extra 30ish seconds I doubt it would have mattered. Taking a high percentage pass instead of running the exact same play three times in a row is the way to go for me. Or at least try to show a new look besides everyone but Portis on the line.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

You can always second-guess these things, and like someone previously said, you want to say we should have passed, simply because the run did not work out. Bottom line, Portis was running well & at the time the run was the right call. You can't win them all. Given our proclivity for heart-attack inducing close games, it was just a matter of time before one went the other way. Lets now focus on taking down the Raiders in our house with the 12th man in full force.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

It wasn't a bad call. If C-Po makes the first down, game over. An incomplete throw on 3rd and 2, and the clock stops, giving the Bucs even more time. However, a play action pass would have worked nicely here, and could have given Brunell enough time to find an open Cooley, Kozlowski or Royal in the flats for the 1st.

Hindsight is a lovely 20/20.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=BDBohnzie]It wasn't a bad call. If C-Po makes the first down, game over. An incomplete throw on 3rd and 2, and the clock stops, giving the Bucs even more time. However, a play action pass would have worked nicely here, and could have given Brunell enough time to find an open Cooley, Kozlowski or Royal in the flats for the 1st.

Hindsight is a lovely 20/20.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you, but I still think it was a good call. especially because how productive portis was yesterday

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=Daseal]Matty -- if we get that first down. Game over and we get a W.[/QUOTE]

You can say that about anything that happens during a game.

If we don't turn it over twice and spot them easy points it's a different ball game.

If we don't jump offsides and give them the chance to go for two, perhaps it's a different ball game.

If the refs don't call that horrible force out call perhaps it's a different ball game.

If the defense doesn't keep giving up big play after big play, it's a different ball game.

It's convenient to boil the game down to one play, but the game wasn't decided on that one play.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]You can say that about anything that happens during a game.

If we don't turn it over twice and spot them easy points it's a different ball game.

If we don't jump offsides and give them the chance to go for two, perhaps it's a different ball game.

If the refs don't call that horrible force out call perhaps it's a different ball game.

If the defense doesn't keep giving up big play after big play, it's a different ball game.

It's convenient to boil the game down to one play, but the game wasn't decided on that one play.[/QUOTE]

That is totally right!! If we dont spot them 14 or 21 points we win the game easily. Pass protection broke down early, although the second half was better. The pass to Patten was not a bad pass, but a bad effort on catching the ball. He should have broke towards the ball instead of letting the DB break on the ball. Our D needs some serious adjusting!! We cant give up that many points and expect anything other than a loss. Our Offense is playing as well as I have seen since 97-99(good ole Norv). I think GW may have been a little too aggressive in the end. I think we needed to keep as much help deep as possible especially since we were given up deep balls pretty much the entire game.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

The loss aside, is it just me or does it seem like Gibbs is trying to get EVERYONE involved in the offense so that when he WANTS to throw to someone like Koz that people won't expect it?

Also, Daseal pointed this out, that we were running many more stretch plays and lo and behold Portis's numbers went through the roof.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

Offenses are too explosive these days cant play and rely on the D to hold them ...Coach Gibbs needs to get that killer instinct step on thier necks ..shoot them in the back ..end it ..dont rely on anyone... i think he did make a mistake......but and what a great gutsy though provoking question TY

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

It was the right call. It took the clock from 2:45 down to the 2-minute warning. Good teams can run when everyone knows they're running (like Gibbs 1.0). You don't need any fancy plays there, just pound it through (see Alstott's 2-pt conversion). We just didn't make it.

This loss is on the defense. If you claim to be a playoff caliber team but can't stop a rookie QB from marching the field with less than 2 minutes and no timeouts, then you have issues. Not to mention they rolled right thru our d on the previous series but luckily stalled at our 10.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=railcon56@comcast.net]Offenses are too explosive these days cant play and rely on the D to hold them ...Coach Gibbs needs to get that killer instinct step on thier necks ..shoot them in the back ..end it ..dont rely on anyone... i think he did make a mistake......but and what a great gutsy though provoking question TY[/QUOTE]

usually you and I see eye to eye on things, but this time I have to disagree. You run the ball in that situation 99% of the time, or atleast Gibbs does. He always has been this way and probably always will. He won 3 super bowls with his "conservative" calls. we are too deep in our own territory to rish a throw. He may get sacked, fumble, int, what ever. too many risk factors involved to throw. Fact remains, the skins should have been able to run the ball to get two yards. We didn't , so we punted. What I am failing to hear is the fact the punter hit another bad punt. where is Tupa when you need him. the punt was only a net of about 30 yards, beside the fact it was a line drive punt. If he punts the ball deeper, we may be able to hold on. The whole team lost this game, but the punter seems to be getting a free ride here. He has not been a good punter up to this game and I dont see him changing anytime soon. Field position is key in that situation, and he blew it first, then the D blew it big at the end.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

[QUOTE=Ramseyfan]I didn't think it was a bad call. In retrospect, it might have been better to have passed on 3rd down but the call was a good one.[/QUOTE]



I agree. Had we been playing better defense after taking the lead twice in the second half only to loose it, I would agree with the decision to run the ball. There was nothing to make me think TB would not score to tie the game because the defense hadn't proved to me they could stop them.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

you have ot kill the clock and the way portis was running it was golden what if brunnel through an interception he already had 2

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

Gibbs made the right call in running. We had the lead, and had the possibility to run down the clock more. Plus, Portis was running like a scalded dog all game. I'm surprised he actually didn't get a first down. He gained like 6 yards on the first down. If we had passed and had it intercepted and returned, people would be mad with Gibbs anyway.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

i think passing had a high chance to convert, even though it'd leave more time on the clock... I don't really think that was the worst thing that happened last night though.

I think having our D go MIA is a much bigger concern.

Re: Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?
 

He called the right play there, you can't crucify gibbs for getting somewhat conservative there and keeping the clock running....

but (and this is probably why I'm not an NFL coach) I would have definately gone for it (even on our own 20) on 4th and 1.

I mean we punt from our own 5, and you can bet they start in their own territory anyway... not only that, but we keep letting teams back in games by not putting them away with our offense. The eagles could have scored that last TD, and we should have been another TD ahead in that game.

If we don't make it, our D is somewhat fresh defending a shorter field (supposed to be in our favor, because there's less field to protect) and they play for a tie with no time and all we have to do is watch the pass with a more crowded secondary.

If we make it... game over.

I don't see how we can come back, take a lead, and then just let teams back in ball games like we do. Ther's been 2 games this year out of 9 that haven't been edge-of-seat finishes, and we've outgained alot of opponents that we've lost to in close games dramatically. We have to start putting teams away when we get ahead. If we can play great from behind, we should be able to keep it up.