Strange call by BB

[PromisedLand]

punting on 3rd and 3 with about 1:40 to go - what tha? BB as usual was brilliant for most of the game - the quick kick earlier in the 4th quarter was pure genius - but what was the point of punting on 3rd down the second time? There was no surprise as the regular punter was on the field, and there was an opportunity to run another 40 seconds off the clock, even by kneeling down. There was no reason for that at all, and with a 13 point lead the game was NOT out of reach - a quick score followed by a recovered onside kick could have made things very uncomfortable.

Can anyone explain that call?

 

[Jangles]

*edit*

I thought you meant the initial weird punt by Cassel. Maybe Bill called the punt to give them some time back that they got screwed out of. Good sportsmanship perhaps. I don't know

 

[scout]

I'm glad you brought that up, because I had thought I lost count of the downs.

 

[Kontradiction]

Just be happy with the win. BB coached us to an 11-5 record this year and on the cusp of a division win or wild card birth without Tom Brady. I didn't get it either but trying to read BB's mind would be an exercise in futility. I'm sure he'll explain it in the postgame presser.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

punting on 3rd and 3 with about 1:40 to go - what tha? BB as usual was brilliant for most of the game - the quick kick earlier in the 4th quarter was pure genius - but what was the point of punting on 3rd down the second time? There was no surprise as the regular punter was on the field, and there was an opportunity to run another 40 seconds off the clock, even by kneeling down. There was no reason for that at all, and with a 13 point lead the game was NOT out of reach - a quick score followed by a recovered onside kick could have made things very uncomfortable.

Can anyone explain that call?

Only thing could be that Bill was hedging against a possible bad snap on fourth down, like when teams try the game winning FG kick on third down. Either that or he didn't know what down it was.

 

[SoCal Bong]

Have we ruled out the possibility of that actually being 4th down and the graphic on CBS was wrong? I am watching in a bar that I couldn't hear whether the commentators discussed it or not.

 

[godef]

Have we ruled out the possibility of that actually being 4th down and the graphic on CBS was wrong? I am watching in a bar that I couldn't hear whether the commentators discussed it or not.

Per the ESPN scoreboard (link), it was 3rd down.

 

[Bertil]

It does give them another attempt in case of a bad snap. It's better to give up the extra 15 yards of field position than turn it over so close with only 67 seconds remaining.

 

[tombonneau]

definite head scratcher. I think as stated it was to hedge against bad snap. Or maybe the wind had just died down and they wanted to take advantage?

 

[PromisedLand]

Well I hope someone asks him about it at the postgame PC.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

It does give them another attempt in case of a bad snap. It's better to give up the extra 15 yards of field position than turn it over so close with only 67 seconds remaining.

If they had taken a knee on the play there is no risk. They would have been punting with about 37 second left and a two score lead. Even a blocked kick and you're still in business. It's a bizzare call.

 

[luisrha]

I didn't get it either but trying to read BB's mind would be an exercise in futility. I'm sure he'll explain it in the postgame presser.

I'm sure he won't...

definite head scratcher.

Maybe that's what he wanted... 11 teams wondering what the hell he's going to do in playoffs...

 

[363839]

I thought he did it to pin the Bills back for the final several minutes that were left. This took them by surprise and that's why it worked so well.

Either that or BB lost track of the down.

 

[aluminum seats]

Anybody know what the deal was here?

Dierdorf and Gumbel were too stupid to comment.

 

[brdmaverick]

Until I came across this thread I was convinced I had lost track of the downs too.

 

[ausbacker]

I'd hazard a thought he was interested in preserving the shut out, as I didn't notice a down loss during that series at all.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

That call was dope!

 

[Tunescribe]

I was at the game and didn't understand it either. All you can surmise is that BB felt preserving the win was more efficient playing defense with the Bills having to drive a long way against the wind. You can't argue with the final results -- a shutout.

 

[Triumph]

I was at the game and didn't understand it either. All you can surmise is that BB felt preserving the win was more efficient playing defense with the Bills having to drive a long way against the wind. You can't argue with the final results -- a shutout.

Yup.

1 Punting on 3rd is less likley to be blocked and better odds to pin Buffalo deep.
2 Buffalo has the ball going into the wind down by 2 scores.
3 Passing the ball is risky resulting in INTS.
4 Rushing the ball runs the clock out if Buffalo cannot get out of bounds.

 

[PromisedLand]

Yup.

1 Punting on 3rd is less likley to be blocked and better odds to pin Buffalo deep.
2 Buffalo has the ball going into the wind down by 2 scores.
3 Passing the ball is risky resulting in INTS.
4 Rushing the ball runs the clock out if Buffalo cannot get out of bounds.

There's no reason to thinking punting on 3rd is any less likely to be blocked or pin Buff deep than punting on 4th. As I pointed out in the original post, there was no element of surprise here. Our punter was out on the field. Why not kneel down first and give the Bills 40 less seconds to work with?