Preseason Thinking

[Daseal]

When Gibbs went for the FG when it was 4th and G. Obviously, in a real game that's the correct decesion, but with a team that has such a poor record in the red zone (even if it's first down) shouldn't we use a pressure situation like that for practice? I know you want to win preseason games, but I think this is the time to really work some plays, see how they'll do.

How important is it for a FG unit to get in-game experience (this is a legitimate question) do gametimes represent something (other than pressure, which either of our experienced kickers don't exactly need) that can't be recreated in practice?

[EternalEnigma21]

I think with Hall coming off his injuries and Chandler being a choke artist there was some importance there. We could've probably been in playoff contention last year had we not been flying in Olaf Kimrin the night before the game and they probably wanted to get the ST's some practice in a game situation.

[Kope]

Good point

Maybe Gibbs is doing some perseason for his coaching decisions...rehearsing what he would do in a game for real?

[BigSKINBauer]

Chandler seriously seems to miss them sometimes when you know he can. During the scrimmage Hall was perfect, infact he didn't miss a field goal from practice to the game, he hit like a 54 then two 56s in a row in practice during the scrimmage and during the preseason so far he has not missed, so Hall has missed nothing that i have seen so far. Chandler missed one in the scrimmage and again in the preseason.

BUt back to the real ?- yes i was hoping he would go for the TD because we do need the practice more with 3rd and 3 at goalline than a 20 yard kick. But think if Patrick punched that in, we would be so much happier. We would have seen a 70 yard drive and 2 TDs and 2INTS with a tie game going to half against what so many of us have deemed a playoff team.

[Gmanc711]

Dasel, when we first went for the FG last night, I was livid. I couldnt belive that we wouldnt try to get the points in preseason. However, someone mentioned to me, they may have wanted pts on the drive just for Ramsey's confidence, which I think makes sense. Not that he had enough things go wrong yesterday, he finished strong with a great drive and if they didnt get points on the last drive, he may not have viewed it as productive. So I guess thinking about it that way, its not a bad choice. IDK though, I still watned the points.

As for your actual question, I think it carries some weight but not much. Most NFL Feild goal kickers should be money from inside the 35, the rest are all pressure kicks. I dont think you can really get pressure kicks in the preseason. Ya know? I think a kickers ability to deal with the pressure is really how good they are. I mean look at Adam Vinatari and Jets kicker Doug Obrien. In actuality, I dont think Vinatari is really *THAT* much better than Obrien, he can just deal with the pressures of the job and thats why he is successful.

[Duffman003]

If I were a coach I would go for it on 4th down a lot more because it could show you who steps it up when you need it, i mean it's just preseason so people shouldn't care who wins or loses.

[That Guy]

Imagine if gibbs went for it and ramsey throws an int... do you leave him in the rest of the game to try and make up for it? i think he was trying to get ramsey out on a positive note to help quell some of this qb talk and avoid the posibility of more turnovers.

[wolfeskins]

Originally Posted by That Guy

Imagine if gibbs went for it and ramsey throws an int... do you leave him in the rest of the game to try and make up for it? i think he was trying to get ramsey out on a positive note to help quell some of this qb talk and avoid the posibility of more turnovers.

i agree with you and what Gmanc711 said.
patrick was having an "up and down" game, it was the end of the half and it was ramsey's last series, so gibbs just wanted the drive to end with a score to help build patrick's confidence and have him leave the game on a "up" rather than a "down".

[saskin]

I'm starting to worry a bit about Ramsey. But I trust Gibbs to make the right decision as I know he knows what he is doing.

I wouldn't be surprised if we did get a new QB though....an experienced one.

I like Ramsey but if he's not going to deliver for us, then we have no use for him. This is a "business" after all...

[MTK]

I thought going for the FG was to help end the half on a positive note... and more importantly to end Ramsey's night on a positive note. I didn't have a problem with the call.

[JWsleep]

I agree with Matty. Positive end to Ramsey's night--given the ups and downs, why risk not converting? Plus, you get some specials practice, I suppose.

I thought it was a nice drive, btw.

Wonder why we didn't see any Cooley action. Maybe Gibbs said, hey, we know you can throw to Chris--spread it around and get that same vibe with the rest of your receivers.

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by JWsleep

Wonder why we didn't see any Cooley action. Maybe Gibbs said, hey, we know you can throw to Chris--spread it around and get that same vibe with the rest of your receivers.

Yep...we need to work on what we aren't doing well and last year, going to receivers deep was not a thing we done well.

[Daseal]

Personally I don't buy the confidence argument. You're telling your QB you don't trust them to make clutch plays and that they can't do it. In a game, it was the right decesion without a doubt, but we're SO bad in the redzone I think it was worth it to just air it out!

[offiss]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Personally I don't buy the confidence argument. You're telling your QB you don't trust them to make clutch plays and that they can't do it. In a game, it was the right decesion without a doubt, but we're SO bad in the redzone I think it was worth it to just air it out!

I was thinking the same thing when I saw it, unless Gibbs want's to work on the field goal unit we should have gone for it, it's good experience, I know Gibbs doesn't like to show much but I say go for it.

I understand the confidence point of view, but IMO Ramsey may be better served at this point to leave on a bad note, some sleepless nights and that bad feeling in your gut may be just what he needs to get him going the next time out, I know if I fail at something my last time out I am far more focused and motivated the next time around, failure can be a bigger motivator than succees, sink or swim I alway's say, if Ramsey can't rebound after a bad game, or a bad pass, then we have a problem, personally I would have yanked him after the second INT and let him think about it all week, then see how he responds, cotalling can breed complacincy.

I know I probably butchered those 2 words as well.