Did Gibbs Make the Wrong Call?

[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.

[irish]

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.

[Schneed10]

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.

[skinsguy]

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.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[rickmmrr]

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.

[MTK]

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.

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

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

It was exactly 2 yards.

[#56fanatic]

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.

[skins052bgr8]

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.

[Daseal]

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

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.

[Cooley 350Z]

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.

[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.

[diehardskin2982]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Daseal

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

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.