JimSox said:
75bear said:
JimSox said:
KenBurnski said:
Maybe check a Bucs board. If they're anything like us the topic will have been explored, deconstructed, analyzed, abused and locked.
Just did. Nothing about it. It was fourth and like 12 for goodness sakes. 36 seconds with which to try to pull off a miracle. Why let the clock expire instead of calling your last time out? It appears I'm the only person in the entire world who noticed this. Meaning I am either uniquely perceptive or quite insane!
JimSox, here's an entire thread about the issue:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/19cgx85/why_didnt_the_buccaneers_call_their_timeout_after/
Now you can roll around there like a pig in sh*t and bathe yourself in the 700 comments, each purporting their own theory! Nobody can agree on anything, although it appears the stadium scoreboard correctly reflected TB had a final time out. And Todd Bowles said in his post-game presser that he knew they had a timeout (whether he is telling the truth or not, who knows).
Have at it!
Aha. I was right, there was one timeout left. I will look at that thread. Can't imagine why a team wouldn't want one more desperate chance to win a playoff game. Thanks much for the info. Much appreciated. (Though I'm not all that grateful for the pig in sh*t comparison.)
Ok. Looked at the thread and got the answer. First, Lions could have used more time on the kneel downs and run the clock much farther down than they did. Was there some kind of tacit agreement with TB not to bother? Lots of speculation there was, but no evidence to that effect. In fact, Bowles was asked about it in a presser after the game and said he knew he had a timeout but didn't want to prolong the game. Said they were already lined up for a field goal and Bucs would only have about 12 seconds left, no way we come back in that amount of time.
Ok, the part about the field goal I don't think is true, plus they would have had more than 12 seconds and would have had a chance assuming the 47 yard field goal was no good.
And, he didn't want to prolong the game? Isn't that exactly what you do when you're behind?
No point in making this a huge deal because they almost certainly would have lost anyway. But "almost" isn't definitely. Coaching blunder. And mistake by the Lions for not chewing up more time on the kneel downs. Too busy celebrating.
All right, enough. Game over. Now it's on to San Francisco…er, Santa Clara.