NFL Week 7 Blunders Dirk Koetter lucky h
Dirk Koetter got lucky. He got lucky that he still had one timeout left. He got lucky that his kicker, , was unfazed by a delay. He got lucky that he won an game without knowing the rules. On Sunday, the beat the in overtime in a game between arguably two of the worst coaches in football, a game that saw Koetter make a mistake Hue Jackson would've been proud of. As the Buccaneers lined up for a 59-yard field goal on fourth-and-15 with 1:55 remaining in overtime, their coach threw his challenge flag. The game paused as the officials ran over to Koetter to inform him that all reviews in overtime must be initiated by the booth. He wasn't allowed to challenge the play -- a 14-yard completion to that moved the Buccaneers into the fringes of field-goal range. Just as the game was about to resume, the officials announced that the Buccaneers were docked their final timeout as a result of Koetter's infraction. After the me s got sorted out, Catanzaro nailed the kick to give the Buccaneers an overtime win over the Browns. Koetter got lucky. He got lucky his red flag didn't result in a yellow flag. If the Buccaneers had been out of timeouts, that illegal challenge would've resulted in a 15-yard penalty that would've pushed the Buccaneers out of field-goal range. A team may not challenge a reviewable play: (a) after the two-minute warning of Malcolm Butler Jersey each half; (b) throughout any overtime period; (c) after committing a foul that delays the next snap; and (d) after exhausting all of its challenges or timeouts. IIf a team initiates a challenge when it is not permitted to do so, it will be charged a timeout. Penalty: For initiating a challenge when a team has exhausted its timeouts: Lo s of 15 yards If the Buccaneers had been out of timeouts, they would've been penalized 15 yards to make it fourth-and-30. Instead of trying a 74-yard field goal or going for a fourth-and-forever, they would've been forced to punt, giving the Browns a chance to win or settling for a tie. Koetter also got lucky his kicker didn't mi s that kick, because if he had mi sed, we'd be spending the next week talking about Warren Moon Jersey Koetter accidentally icing his own kicker. And if the Buccaneers had mi sed that kick, the Browns would've been in excellent field position to go win the game with a kick of their own. The Buccaneers having a timeout and making the kick shouldn't absolve Koetter, a head coach for two-plus seasons, of not knowing the rules. mi ses Normally, this column will be limited to decision-making mistakes, but an exception will be made for kicker Justin Tucker, who mi sed an extra point that would've tied the game with le s than half a minute to play in their game against the Saints. What a way to win! Justin Tucker's first career mi sed extra point leads to a road victory New Orleans Saints (@Saints) Kickers mi s extra points. It happens. When they mi s game-tying extra points late in the fourth quarter, they become especially notable. When that mi s marks the first mi s of a arguably the best kicker in the NFL history's career, it becomes an entire story. That mi sed extra point was Tucker's first mi s in his career, which has included 222 makes before the end of Sunday's game, and it cost the Ravens a chance to beat one of the best teams in football. They were just as shocked as you were. Either Joe Flacco saw a ghost or Justin Tucker mi sed his first extra point in 223 attempts CBS Sports (@CBSSports) So often, Tucker has been the Ravens' best offensive weapon. On Sunday, he was their downfall. To his credit, Tucker . And let's face it, if there's ever a kicker to shrug off a mi s of that magnitude, it's Cameron Wake Jersey Tucker. If anyone deserves a pa s, it's Tucker. Ravens burn both challenges on first drive About that Ravens' lo s. Let's talk about John Harbaugh's usage of challenges. He burned both of his two challenges on the opening drive of the game. The Ravens didn't have any challenges after the 6:31 mark of the first quarter. More NFL Harbaugh used his first challenge of the game on a spot that gave the Saints an early third-down conversion. He actually won that challenge, which set up a fourth-and-short, but it didn't matter because the Saints went for the fourth down and picked up a first down. On that same defensive series, Harbaugh challenged that Saints running back fumbled. He lost that challenge, which meant the Ravens were out of challenges for the remainder of the game. That's not ideal. The ' play-calling at the goal line After watching Justin Tucker mi s his first extra point to blow the Ravens' game-tying drive, it's easy to understand why Mike Vrabel went for two at the end of the Titans' one-point lo s to the . I've got no i sues with the decision to win the game in regulation instead of playing for overtime against MVP candidate . If the Titans had made the extra point, they still would've needed to stop Rivers and the Chargers from scoring at the end of regulation. If they forced overtime, their fate might've been determined by a coin to s. Easy to understand why TEN went for 2 in the end. As long as you think your 2-pt Jayon Brown Jersey conv% is better than your chance in OT (plus some very small chance LAC scores with 30 sec in reg), you do it. With a mobile QB like Mariota (and a good play call), you can expect > 50% succe s rate. Brian Burke (@bburkeESPN) The decision to go for the win can be defended. The Titans' play-calling, however, can be called into question. We'll start with the play that got the Titans to within a point. Why the Titans were calling a low-percentage pa sing play on the biggest play of the game is beyond explanation. They could've used a sneak or some sort of zone-read play with mobile quarterback . They were lucky to even score the touchdown that put them in a position to go for two. They needed a juggling catch to get to that point. But they scored a touchdown nonethele s. Then they went for the win. And this was the play-call. They went shotgun from the 2-yard line. And then Mariota had to scramble around for eight seconds before throwing a prayer. A penalty in the end zone gave the Titans second life. The ball was moved to the 1-yard line. So what did the Titans do? They went empty, not even presenting the illusion of a running play. In situations like these, teams should always ask themselves: What would Bill Belichick do? Tajae Sharpe Jersey Belichick would've called for a quarterback sneak, because it's as undefeated as a play call will ever get. You're one lousy yard away. Don't get cute. Don't get fancy. QB sneak is the most succe sful way to get one yard. You also have a QB who can run option. Twice you need one yard and twice you pa s. I appreciate the first one worked but its one of the rare times when running is MORE efficient. Aaron Schatz (@FO_ASchatz) At the very least, make the defense respect the threat of a run. Don't go empty on the