I feel today just like I did on January 3, 1984 when the Huskers lost to Miami 31-30. The only difference is that I'm not just sad, I'm angry.
It never fails to amaze me the boneheaded things that these otherwise bright coaches (who make millions to call a game) do to not just lose a Superbowl, but to outright blow a Superbowl. The lack of strategic thinking is breathtaking.
With about 5 minutes left in the game ahead 28-20 and faced with a 1st and 10 at the Patriots 20 yard line (with one of the best kickers in the game on the sideline), rather than run the ball 3 times and kick the field goal to go up by 11 with probably 3:30 left, they decide to pass and before you know it, they are out of field goal range and have to punt, allowing the Patriots to come back and tie the game.
The worst case if they had kicked the field goal is that the Patriots would have had to try an on-side kick after their TD, which there is a 95% chance the Falcons would have recovered, game over. What the hell were they thinking? In that situation, an 11 point lead is just as good as a 15 point lead.
This comes on the heals of losing to the Chargers on an interception when they could have run out the clock and losing to the Chiefs by throwing a pick 2 on a conversion with a 1 point lead and 3 minutes left.
Can we give Dan Quinn and the staff a bunch of credit for getting these guys to the Superbowl when they blow games like that at critical moments? Blowing the Superbowl is inexcusable.
It never fails to amaze me the boneheaded things that these otherwise bright coaches (who make millions to call a game) do to not just lose a Superbowl, but to outright blow a Superbowl. The lack of strategic thinking is breathtaking.
With about 5 minutes left in the game ahead 28-20 and faced with a 1st and 10 at the Patriots 20 yard line (with one of the best kickers in the game on the sideline), rather than run the ball 3 times and kick the field goal to go up by 11 with probably 3:30 left, they decide to pass and before you know it, they are out of field goal range and have to punt, allowing the Patriots to come back and tie the game.
The worst case if they had kicked the field goal is that the Patriots would have had to try an on-side kick after their TD, which there is a 95% chance the Falcons would have recovered, game over. What the hell were they thinking? In that situation, an 11 point lead is just as good as a 15 point lead.
This comes on the heals of losing to the Chargers on an interception when they could have run out the clock and losing to the Chiefs by throwing a pick 2 on a conversion with a 1 point lead and 3 minutes left.
Can we give Dan Quinn and the staff a bunch of credit for getting these guys to the Superbowl when they blow games like that at critical moments? Blowing the Superbowl is inexcusable.
