Decision to spike the ball...right call?
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:37 PM ^
Well feed me garlic and call me stinky!
September 2nd, 2019 at 9:07 PM ^
...a much better idea than to feed you beans! Definitely safer for the rest of us, anyway.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:39 PM ^
IjohnB pointed this out in the snowflake thread. But then again those threads are just for bitching so I'm sure he went ignored.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:04 PM ^
Correct. I think he was the only one who said that. Everyone else just complained and didn't take his comment seriously.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:07 PM ^
My feeling on these things is that there's usually a reason if it's THAT obvious (unless you're notorious for terrible in game decisions, i.e. James Franklin). I felt that way on Saturday night as drunken idiots around me were bitching about Harbaugh's salary and not knowing when to use timeouts. Lo and behold, there was a reason.
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:42 PM ^
But shouldn't we still have been using our timeouts earlier in the same drive?
September 2nd, 2019 at 7:26 PM ^
If your goal is to be more cynical than me you're not going to win
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:40 PM ^
He probably got negged for it.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:40 PM ^
Awesome, now show me video of the ball moving.
September 2nd, 2019 at 9:19 PM ^
Could not have been more perfect.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:41 PM ^
It wasn't 4th down, so... not Rutgers level decision making.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:44 PM ^
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^
Unless it was the same official who gave JT the first down. We know that guy can’t see straight.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:44 PM ^
Or it could be as simple as the team wanting to run a 2 minute drill assuming they have no timeouts. A situation they might run into later in the year.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:46 PM ^
Play starts at 13:22, I didn't see enough evidence to overturn from the replay in WD's video but you never know what the replay officials will come up with. There may have been more repays during the game but I don't recall seeing them.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:55 PM ^
The point is that the coaches knew there was a chance it could be overturned. That's really all that matters. You don't have time to analyze a replay like that when you're trying to beat the replay official.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:19 PM ^
Did they know? Or are you assuming they knew there was a problem with the reception?
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:45 PM ^
Evenyoubrutus has a direct link to all the coaches' brains (excluding Jay H). So he knew that almost all of them knew, but technically was assuming about Jay knowing. I award you 1/4 point.
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:47 PM ^
Who told you?!?
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:39 PM ^
I'm not saying the coaches were right or wrong in their decision making. I'm just trying to provide some video to go along with the photo in the OP. I didn't recall much replay after the spike so I'm not sure how many other angles were available to the booth.
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:59 PM ^
If your butt is on the ground, aren't you down?
If so, then he was already down and the play over before he fell to his right and the ball slipped.
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:47 PM ^
If he controlled the ball on the way down, it can still touch the ground -- as long as the ball doesn't move.
I get the point you're trying to make but the the picture by itself is not as incriminating as you may think.
Do you have a clip of it?
September 2nd, 2019 at 4:53 PM ^
Just curious, would it be wise to have a couple plays in such hurry up situations that you just go to that Shea can call? Like a quick fade to the back corner of the endzone?
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:02 PM ^
A: yes, there should be two or three (5-10 second) plays the QB can call at the line in a hurry-up - and yes, a fade to the back corner end zone should be one of them
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:03 PM ^
To Sainristil hopefully
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:07 PM ^
I never really got upset over the spike. The teams redzone playcalling and Shea's accuracy in the redzone is something that needs improvement dating back to last season
If Im not mistaken wasn't the playcall after the spike a fade to Sainristil that Shea overthrew? Last season I believe we only got 1 redzone TD pass to 6'7 Gentry and maybe 1 to 6'4 Nico. Whats the point of having size advantages but then throwing to the smallest guy. And if Shea struggles throwing to our tall receivers then what hope will he have throwing to our smallest receiver
I cant be the only one who notices that Shea and the offense are fine until we get within the opponents 20 yard line. Then everything stalls. We got shutdown by fucking MTSU on 4 straight run plays at one point at the goalline
So spike or timeout it doesn't matter until this gets figured out
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:15 PM ^
The failure to use size advantages drives me insane. Calvin Johnson made a living in the NFL on fades. We have 3 tall WRs plus tight ends so it seems we should be able to find a way to use this advantage.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:20 PM ^
Got to start with not under throwing the fade.
September 2nd, 2019 at 8:58 PM ^
Fade to the outside WR is a very low percentage play and it should be abolished from the playcall unless you have a freak WR like Megatron, Julio Jones, Randy Moss, etc. Slot fade are a totally different thing where there's more space for them to fade to get to the ball. I was fine with the playcall, it's just that MTSU DB just covered well by getting into his hip pockets.
September 2nd, 2019 at 8:05 PM ^
Regardless of what Shea needs to improve, at the time, under the assumption that it was clock mismanagement, it was a horrible decision.
If it's Shea Patterson or Joe Montana, you don't give up an absolutely critical down in the red zone.
Now, if they were worried about the review, I get it. But if that wasn't on their brains and it was, "we gotta stop the clock ASAP," then it was a bad, bad blunder.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:20 PM ^
If this was our thought process - that the play might be overturned so we should run a play ASAP - then that looks a lot better. Though I'd prefer to run an actual play in that case.
September 2nd, 2019 at 8:39 PM ^
I'd much rather spike than run a play without taking the time to get everyone on the same page. That's how you lose fumbles
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:24 PM ^
It's only the right call to spike the ball if it was known there was a potential problem with the catch. Absent that knowledge spiking the ball was not the correct decision.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:29 PM ^
Seems like revisionist history. I agree with others that they should have had a hurry up play ready to go with a quick snap same as a spike.
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:34 PM ^
I feel like this is a coincidence and unless Harbaugh explicitly says that's why they spiked it then I still think it was a mental error
September 2nd, 2019 at 5:50 PM ^
Yeah we all are waiting for Harbaugh to explain himself about every decision he makes. I wouldn't hold my breath
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:01 PM ^
Must … still … be a reason … to bash … Harbaugh!
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:55 PM ^
There was lots of postgame criticism for clock management at the end of the first half. But in real time and then in re-watching the game, it never seemed like not calling those two remaining timeouts was a huge mistake other than eliminating one down with the spike. In that final possession, including an extension of the drive based on a third down defensive penalty on 3rd and 10. And now understanding why the spike was the smarter move, the criticism over spiking the ball seems dumb.
Michigan ran like 10 plays in the final possession. They moved the ball from near midfield to easy field goal range in that span. It was in fact a typical drive any NFL coach would have been more than happy in executing. So the criticism seemed far-fetched to me.
September 2nd, 2019 at 6:59 PM ^
That's why I thought they did it at the time.
September 2nd, 2019 at 7:03 PM ^
That may have been the coaches' rationale (who knows?) but that photo is misleading. I'm pretty sure the play was already over - and the catch legit - by the time he fell to that side and the ball slipped (see my other comment in the thread).
September 2nd, 2019 at 7:49 PM ^
There was a slew of boneheaded coaching moves this weekend. This seems to vindicate the M coaches. Some of the worst that I saw:
Mack Brown & UNC taking a knee at midfield on 4th down while up 24-20 with :11 seconds. Lucky for them it didn’t cost them the game and they held on to beat the Gamecocks.
UNI insisting on running the ball every 1st down all the way through 3 OTs despite not having gained 50yds rushing thru regulation and the OTs! They could’ve beaten Iowa St in Ames.
Monmouth in Kalamazoo, had 3rd and goal at Western’s 1 with no time outs and 8 sec left in half. Run for no gain and that’s how the half ended, WMU 31 - Monmouth 7
September 2nd, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
Well I feel better now because that had me scratching my head
September 3rd, 2019 at 2:47 PM ^
Couldn't we signal for a timeout just as fast as spiking the ball? I'm confused.
September 3rd, 2019 at 3:05 PM ^
A timeout gives the other team plenty of time to review the play and call for a review. Spiking the ball removes all possibility of a review.
September 3rd, 2019 at 5:10 PM ^
I really hope this wasn't the thought process. If the ball wasn't caught, it wasn't caught. Trying to keep the play from being reviewed is a moral gray area at best, and I'm not OK with it. It's a tactic used by teams I don't respect.