The Blunder In London

There’s eight seconds left in the game. The Philadelphia Eagles just kicked a go-ahead field goal and are about to kickoff to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars don’t have any timeouts. One would think that the Eagles are just going to kick the ball straight into the end zone for a touchback. No need to allow them to return the ball. Just force them to have to start at their own 35-yard line with no timeouts and eight seconds left. Alas, that’s not what the Eagles did. They kicked the ball inside of the 10-yard line and allowed the returner to run the ball 53-yards in seven seconds. All the Jaguars need to do is get within field goal range to attempt to kick a game winning field goal. They have the record holder for the longest kick in NFL history in Cam Little. He calmly kicks the game winning 57-yard field goal with a backup long snapper mind you to win the game. Was this the dumbest coaching decision of the week? It was a contender to start the week off.

You Trusted Your Special Teams To Win The Game?

The biggest problem for the Los Angels Rams last season was their special teams unit. Whether it was their coverage units, the kicker or the returner. The argument could be made that if they were someone competent last season they would have been playing in the Super Bowl instead of the Seattle Seahawks. With that said it was a bit puzzling to see head coach Sean McVay actually put trust in his special teams at home on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills. Both the Rams and Bills defense’s couldn’t slow each other down in the second half. QB Matthew Stafford was slicing up the Bills on almost every possession of that half and it was happening again during their final drive in the 4th quarter. The Bills left too much time on the clock and Stafford got the Rams down the field in one minute and thirty-four seconds of time. McVay should have gone for two points to win the game right there. Why play for overtime when your defense hasn’t come close to stopping Bills QB Josh Allen? On the opening possession of overtime the Rams forced a fumble from RB James Cook and once again were marching down the field towards a victory. However, a very conservative third down run play for no gain convince everyone that they were going to settle for the field goal. A 45-yard try which isn’t a gimme by any means, but within in range for Harrison Mevis. The field goal attempt was blocked though and the Rams special teams once again proved to be a fatal flaw. Josh Allen then promptly ran the ball himself down the field towards the Bills own field goal attempt which ended up going through for the win. The always aggressive play-caller Sean McVay was way too timid in this one and it cost him.

Biggest Brain Fart Yet

The weather played a part in the contest between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders. The Giants were playing from behind most of the game, but poor play by Washington allowed New York to get back in the game. Turnovers proved costly to the Giants late in the game in which they should have won. The Commanders recovering a fumble in overtime was all they needed to get out of this with a victory. Less than two minutes left in overtime they were driving and gaining big chunks of yardage to get well within field goal range at the Giants 26-yard line. A short gain on the ground brought the ball to the 24-yard line and less than a minute to go. Washington doesn’t have any timeouts left and they are lining up to run a play. Mind you it’s second down and they could just go ahead and attempt to kick the game winning field goal. The ball is lined up right down the middle of the field. Their kicker couldn’t ask for a better spot to place the ball. Yet, they run a play, but QB Jayden Daniels is immediately lost once the ball is snapped, panics and just runs up the middle diving to the line of scrimmage. The clock is running and there isn’t enough time remaining to spike the ball to stop the clock. That’s how it ends in a tie without even an attempt to kick the field goal. Afterwards one of the Commanders offensive lineman, Chris Paul was asked if the team knew they had no timeouts when they were in the huddle on that last play. He acknowledged that everyone knew about the lack of timeouts in that moment. A pretty damning moment for Daniels and another feather in the cap for head coach Dan Quinn and his horrible history with blowing games as a head coach. If you don’t remember he was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons during their famous 28-3 blown lead in Super Bowl 51 to the New England Patriots. This tie which it shouldn’t have been will likely lead to his eventual firing and blacklisting from ever being a head coach ever again in the NFL.