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Post by dubber on Dec 12, 2010 17:12:54 GMT -6
Watching the end of the Packers-Lions game today, and it brought up something I have pondered before.
Lions have the ball and are running out the clock. The Lions make the Packers use their timeouts, and end up facing a 4th down with 3 seconds left on the clock.
They went super max pro (9 guys blocking), and sent Calvin Johnson deep. Stanton took a five-step drop and threw it out of bounds.
Game Over.
Obviously, rather than punt and give the other team the ball (and a chance) the Lions opted to simply use up the rest of the time in a risk averse manner.
My question is, who (on this board) has a plan for this situation?
1.) What is your plan for running the clock out?
The fade out of bounds works with 5 or less seconds, but what if there is more time on the clock?
Anyone have a "snap-it-to-the-fast-kid-and-the-rest-of-you-block-and-he'll-run-it-out" type play?
2.) Under how many seconds do you feel comfortable running this play?
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Post by davishfc on Dec 12, 2010 17:32:04 GMT -6
Watching the end of the Packers-Lions game today, and it brought up something I have pondered before. Lions have the ball and are running out the clock. The Lions make the Packers use their timeouts, and end up facing a 4th down with 3 seconds left on the clock. They went super max pro (9 guys blocking), and sent Calvin Johnson deep. Stanton took a five-step drop and threw it out of bounds. Game Over. Obviously, rather than punt and give the other team the ball (and a chance) the Lions opted to simply use up the rest of the time in a risk averse manner. My question is, who (on this board) has a plan for this situation? 1.) What is your plan for running the clock out? The fade out of bounds works with 5 or less seconds, but what if there is more time on the clock? Anyone have a "snap-it-to-the-fast-kid-and-the-rest-of-you-block-and-he'll-run-it-out" type play? 2.) Under how many seconds do you feel comfortable running this play? dubber, I understand what you mean. That was an interesting situation the Lions found themselves in. The Lions had the game won and the Packers had no timeouts on 4th down. I like what they did. I was surprised to see them do something so clever, yet common sense, to run the clock out. We're not accustomed to seeing that around here out of the Lions. I know now what I'll do in that same situation. However, you bring up a good point. What if there would have been about 10 seconds left? We don't have a "snap-it-to-the-fast-kid-and-the-rest-of-you-block-and-he'll-run-it-out" type play. I've heard of it being done before. I just don't know how comfortable I'd feel doing that even though it could potentially end the game. Interesting topic. I was intrigued by this situation as well. I'm glad I watched the game which is not normal for me. I'm from Michigan but I don't usually watch the Lions on Sundays. I'm no fan that's for sure but I do want to see them succeed. |
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Post by dubber on Dec 12, 2010 18:23:37 GMT -6
I've been a Lions fan since I saw Barry Sanders tear it up on Thanksgiving day in the late 90's........
I saw the Patriots do this a couple of years ago, and I know Schwartz use to be on that staff, so maybe he picked it up there.
The thing is, that was something they had practiced at least once.
One of those pregame walk thru things where you cover odd situations.
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Post by davishfc on Dec 12, 2010 19:41:43 GMT -6
The thing is, that was something they had practiced at least once. One of those pregame walk thru things where you cover odd situations. dubber, You're absolutely right. This was a practiced situation at some point. They executed it perfectly and opened my eyes to a possible situation I know I must be prepared for. P.S. Barry Sanders was the best running back of all time. |
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Post by coachks on Dec 12, 2010 23:44:53 GMT -6
I was wondering the exact same thing watching it. What they did was so simple it was a real "duh" moment when I saw it. I was thinking snap it the ball and have stanton dance around for a few seconds and just fall.
If you were to couple those ideas, snap it...take a 7 step drop...dance around a second and launch the ball....you can kill 8+ seconds I imagine.
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Post by davishfc on Dec 13, 2010 0:01:22 GMT -6
If you were to couple those ideas, snap it...take a 7 step drop...dance around a second and launch the ball....you can kill 8+ seconds I imagine. This is a great suggestion Coach. |
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Post by Coach Bennett on Dec 13, 2010 10:23:32 GMT -6
Depending on where you have the ball, I wonder how far you could have your ball carrier run away from the los (toward your own goal line) in killing the clock?
If he simply took the ball, ran back ten yards and then ran for the opposite sideline, how much time would that be?
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Post by Chris Clement on Dec 13, 2010 10:28:16 GMT -6
I bet you could probably dance around for a good 12-15 seconds, but then you risk a holding penalty, which would stop the clock, and you'd still lose a down and a bunch of field position, so in the example above, no big deal, but if you were trying to run the clock under 40 seconds on 3rd down and got a holding penalty, that was declined, you'd have 4th and a ton, a stopped clock, and 30-some-odd seconds left.
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Post by coachdubyah on Dec 13, 2010 11:00:40 GMT -6
We do someting similar to what the Lions did. We just run sprint out. If it's not there the QB just runs the ball. Field position is a big key here. I did see a high school game where they tried the snap it to the fast kid thing. Kid fumbled and the D picked it up but was brought down at the 1. Crazy things can happen. I love these type of hypothetical threads. Makes me a better coach.
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Post by bobgoodman on Dec 13, 2010 12:03:41 GMT -6
The NFL used to have a rule they got rid of maybe 25 yrs. ago that the ball was dead if it was being carried in a manner clearly designed to consume time. I actually saw that called once when a team trying to kill clock in the last minute ran a sweep to one side, then the runner reversed field; I forgot whether it was the 1st or 2nd time he reversed field on the play when the whistle blew. I don't know whether that rule was invented by the pros or it was an old rule that they were the last to abolish. I guess the thinking in abolishing it was either that you deserved to be able to run off time if you could, or that it was too difficult an official's call.
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Post by dubber on Dec 13, 2010 13:22:21 GMT -6
The holding aspect is another BIG consideration for this type of play.
If it's me, I would tell my kids to blatantly hold the crap out of the other team until we run the clock out.
My rationale is this:
If the opponent accepts the penalty, it is 4th down again, and we take a knee on an untimed down.
If they decline (which means the penalty never happened), then the game is over.
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