I thought it might be nice to create a catch-all thread to discuss coaching decisions of a good, bad or questionable nature as the NFL season goes along.
My prompt for doing this was a timeout Dan Quinn took for the Falcons against the Giants on Sunday. It's always interesting to see how first-time head coaches adapt to clock management responsibilities, and Quinn did something...well, I'm not sure it was bad, but it certainly struck me as unusual. You'll probably recall that the Giants took a terrible delay of game penalty coming out of Atlanta's second timeout with 3:27 to go: at that point the Giants led 20-17, and after the penalty the Giants had 3rd and 12 from their own 34. On the resulting play, Eli Manning completed a short five-yard pass to Geremy Davis, after which Quinn immediately called the Falcons final timeout with 3:23 to go. After the resulting punt and return, Atlanta had the ball at their own 30 with 3:12 to go and no timeouts; had they not called the timeout, they probably would have had the ball at their own 30 with maybe 2:30 to go and one timeout. (For decision-making purposes, you'd probably have to assume slightly worse field position; the Giants averaged 38.6 net punting yards in 2014 and 42.0 net punting yards so far in 2015, so let's say you'd expect the Falcons would start at their own 20 instead of the 30.)
I felt at the time like that timeout call was a mistake, and in retrospect I feel even more strongly about that. Realistically, the Falcons are going to get only one possession to try and tie or win the game either way, and for a QB like Matt Ryan who is very capable in the two-minute drill, either scenario leaves him loads of time. But not calling the timeout lets you keep more control over the clock yourself: that's not so important if you're struggling to move the ball, but it could have been hugely important after a quick Falcons touchdown. Indeed, Ryan promptly started marching the Falcons down the field, and his long pass to Julio Jones on the first play after the two-minute warning was initially ruled a touchdown, which would have left Eli Manning 1:53 and all three timeouts to drive in the other direction. Luckily for the Falcons, that ruling was overturned; even more luckily for the Falcons, Tom Coughlin then failed to immediately call the Giants' first timeout, so after two running plays by Devonta Freeman led to a touchdown, the Giants were left needing to go 80 yards with only 1:14 and two timeouts, a challenge Manning ultimately failed to complete.
Is that fair analysis, or does anyone think Quinn's decision to call the final timeout either was good or had little overall impact?
My prompt for doing this was a timeout Dan Quinn took for the Falcons against the Giants on Sunday. It's always interesting to see how first-time head coaches adapt to clock management responsibilities, and Quinn did something...well, I'm not sure it was bad, but it certainly struck me as unusual. You'll probably recall that the Giants took a terrible delay of game penalty coming out of Atlanta's second timeout with 3:27 to go: at that point the Giants led 20-17, and after the penalty the Giants had 3rd and 12 from their own 34. On the resulting play, Eli Manning completed a short five-yard pass to Geremy Davis, after which Quinn immediately called the Falcons final timeout with 3:23 to go. After the resulting punt and return, Atlanta had the ball at their own 30 with 3:12 to go and no timeouts; had they not called the timeout, they probably would have had the ball at their own 30 with maybe 2:30 to go and one timeout. (For decision-making purposes, you'd probably have to assume slightly worse field position; the Giants averaged 38.6 net punting yards in 2014 and 42.0 net punting yards so far in 2015, so let's say you'd expect the Falcons would start at their own 20 instead of the 30.)
I felt at the time like that timeout call was a mistake, and in retrospect I feel even more strongly about that. Realistically, the Falcons are going to get only one possession to try and tie or win the game either way, and for a QB like Matt Ryan who is very capable in the two-minute drill, either scenario leaves him loads of time. But not calling the timeout lets you keep more control over the clock yourself: that's not so important if you're struggling to move the ball, but it could have been hugely important after a quick Falcons touchdown. Indeed, Ryan promptly started marching the Falcons down the field, and his long pass to Julio Jones on the first play after the two-minute warning was initially ruled a touchdown, which would have left Eli Manning 1:53 and all three timeouts to drive in the other direction. Luckily for the Falcons, that ruling was overturned; even more luckily for the Falcons, Tom Coughlin then failed to immediately call the Giants' first timeout, so after two running plays by Devonta Freeman led to a touchdown, the Giants were left needing to go 80 yards with only 1:14 and two timeouts, a challenge Manning ultimately failed to complete.
Is that fair analysis, or does anyone think Quinn's decision to call the final timeout either was good or had little overall impact?