2 Qualms with the loss

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I know I'm in way way in the minority here but I don't think going for a field goal is such a disastrous decision. Personally I think I would have punted (heck maybe fake punted!). But Suisham is a key part of our team and there will be times that he will need to hit a 50+ yarder and come through for us. Gibbs took a chance on him making the kick yesterday. He didn't but I'm glad he's showing confidence in him and taking chances on him.

I don't personally think it was the right decision, but there certainly is a lot of logic behind it.

Simply put, we have an awful short yardage running game. So if you are going for it on 4th and 1, you either have to run at about 50-50 odds, or you have to take advantage of the run heavy defense, and pass.

To me, kicking the field goal there is no worse than trying to run Portis into a sea of white. Either way, half the time you are going to come away with nothing, and give Dallas the ball in good field position. In the event that the run is successful, you have guarenteed your team absoultely nothing but a shorter field goal attempt.

The right call in my opinion would have been a play action pass. Even against the run heavy defense, you are still only about half likely to complete the first down. However, the success is likely going to give or set you up for a touchdown.

Punting there is a worse decision than kicking the FG. Football statisticians seem to agree that 20 yards of field position against an average offense with an average defense is roughly equal to one point on the scoreboard. Dallas certainly has a better than average offense, and our defense was a lot worse than average on that day, so the value of a punt is even lower than that. A field goal attempt that the kicker will only hit half the time has a value of 1.5 points. That's not going to make a big difference in the course of the game, though, but Gibbs made a pretty decent call, I thought. Go for the points.

Point is, you can defend Gibbs' call in that situation statistically.