Craig S.
01-12-2004, 12:46 PM
Maybe I'm just being super-critical, but I feel like Mike Martz and Mike Sherman were both to blame for their team's losses this weekend. I know the players are the ones who play the game, but both of these guys made decisions that I think led directly to losses:
Martz - I'm referring to the fact that they had the ball at the Carolina 38 with 2:00 to play. From that point, they ran 3 plays to get down to the 15. At no time did they go to a hurry-up, and they let the clock tick off 30 seconds before kicking the tying field goal. While there's no guarantee that they would have scored a TD, they certainly had all the momentum. And this from a coach who loves the media portrayal of himself as a risk-taker, a guy willing to go for the jugular.
Sherman - An even worse case than Martz. Three mistakes that stand out:
1) Up 14-7, he goes for it on 4th and goal inside the one. A good move if you're going to be in an offensive battle, but they were playing a team that had struggled offensively, and that was missing Westbrook. Instead of gaining back a little momentum and putting his team up by 2 scores, he gives it back to the Eagles. I'm all for taking chances, but the situation was totally wrong.
2) On their final drive in regulation, they had run the ball for 10,4,4,3,5,3,2 and 4 yards, with only one pass thrown in there. The Eagles knew they were running it, and they couldn't stop it. So on 4th-and-1, with a chance to put the game away, they could use the NFC's best runner in Green, or their pounding FB in Davenport. Instead, Sherman decides to punt, gaining them a whole 20 yards. I would have approved of the punt if there was under a minute left, but they kicked with 2:30 still left on the clock. Sherman had to know that was enough time for the Eagles to drive.
3) The 4th-and-26 call. All you need to do is prevent a 26-yard gain, and you'll win the game. So you call a soft cover-2? Unbelievable. Either play tighter coverage or put pressure on the QB. By doing neither, they gave Philly every chance to make that play.
Maybe I expect too much from these guys, but such obvious mistakes shouldn't happen at this level. And I don't like either of those teams, but I hate seeing stupid decisions cost games. But I guess it shouldn't surprise me in a league where Dave Wannstedt gets an extension as a reward for his futility.
Martz - I'm referring to the fact that they had the ball at the Carolina 38 with 2:00 to play. From that point, they ran 3 plays to get down to the 15. At no time did they go to a hurry-up, and they let the clock tick off 30 seconds before kicking the tying field goal. While there's no guarantee that they would have scored a TD, they certainly had all the momentum. And this from a coach who loves the media portrayal of himself as a risk-taker, a guy willing to go for the jugular.
Sherman - An even worse case than Martz. Three mistakes that stand out:
1) Up 14-7, he goes for it on 4th and goal inside the one. A good move if you're going to be in an offensive battle, but they were playing a team that had struggled offensively, and that was missing Westbrook. Instead of gaining back a little momentum and putting his team up by 2 scores, he gives it back to the Eagles. I'm all for taking chances, but the situation was totally wrong.
2) On their final drive in regulation, they had run the ball for 10,4,4,3,5,3,2 and 4 yards, with only one pass thrown in there. The Eagles knew they were running it, and they couldn't stop it. So on 4th-and-1, with a chance to put the game away, they could use the NFC's best runner in Green, or their pounding FB in Davenport. Instead, Sherman decides to punt, gaining them a whole 20 yards. I would have approved of the punt if there was under a minute left, but they kicked with 2:30 still left on the clock. Sherman had to know that was enough time for the Eagles to drive.
3) The 4th-and-26 call. All you need to do is prevent a 26-yard gain, and you'll win the game. So you call a soft cover-2? Unbelievable. Either play tighter coverage or put pressure on the QB. By doing neither, they gave Philly every chance to make that play.
Maybe I expect too much from these guys, but such obvious mistakes shouldn't happen at this level. And I don't like either of those teams, but I hate seeing stupid decisions cost games. But I guess it shouldn't surprise me in a league where Dave Wannstedt gets an extension as a reward for his futility.