Running DOWN The Score…Has This Ever Happened ?

[PaulThePat]

Imagine the scenario…1:50 left on the clock and the team driving have no time outs left and trail 24-23. The QB drops back throws downfield and the pass is picked off. The defensive player who intercepted the ball has a totally clear path to the endzone and an easy 7 points.

In this situation would it be accepted practise for the player who intercepted the pass to simply run out of bounds and NOT to score the TD. If you scored the TD and hit a 1 point conversion then the other side would get the ball back trailing by 8 and still in a 1 possession game.

Being in the UK I’ve not seen the same amount of games as you will all have…so is it something that’s ever happened ? I can imagine many players simply returning the ball for paydirt without thinking but surely a veteran would do the right thing and intentionally not score.

Have there been any famous situations you can recall where a team have scored when they wished they hadn’t or someone having to produce a spectacular move to prevent scoring ?

 

[zarakotas5]

Not returning the INT would be the smart thing to do. Simply fall down to ensure the maintenance of possession. After that, they would simply kneel the ball to run out the clock. Those opposing team (lacking time-outs) could do nothing about it.

As far as scoring too quickly: It happens all the time. The "two-minute drill" is routinely successful, either for the win or to cause OT. See: the end of the first half vs. Indy (although the Pats didn't score in that case.) I'm sure folks have their favorite examples to share...

 

[Michigan Dave]

That's funny you bring it up. In 1999, we played Illinois. Illinois scored to take a 28-27 lead with 2:40 to play. Brady mounted a drive, but a snap over his head left us with 4th and long, and he threw a pick, essentially ending the game. However, we had a timeout left, so on Illinois' first play they ran up the middle....untouched for a 54 yard TD. Our sideline went as crazy as theirs did. We were only down 8, and had a chance with 59 seconds left. Brady drove us down, but a pass bounced off Dave Terrell's fingertips in the end zone, and we ended up losing. I'll never forget the look across the field on Ron Turner's face when he realized that "clinching" TD gave us one last shot.

 

[Truck]

And if its 4th down, the best play is to swat the ball to the ground, not catch it, in your scenario.

Last year against the Chargers the playoffs, the famous Troy Brown Strip:

4th down, 6:35 left, Chargers have 8 point lead, ball at SD 41:
Tom Brady throws a ball thats intercepted 20 yards downfield. As soon as this happenned, I thought "why would he do that...he's not going to be able to run it back to the line of scrimmage...so the chargers will be better off if the ball was swatted to the ground"....Next Troy Brown strips the ball from the defender, and the Patriots drive continues for a TD/2Pt Conversion.

I strongly believe that if the defender swatted the ball away, giving them great field position, SD would've won the game. They could've easily put the game out of reach with a field goal (making it 11 points), or even 3 & out would've run the clock to 4 minutes, giving NE only one chance to score.

 

[dryheat44]

Imagine the scenario…1:50 left on the clock and the team driving have no time outs left and trail 24-23. The QB drops back throws downfield and the pass is picked off. The defensive player who intercepted the ball has a totally clear path to the endzone and an easy 7 points.

In this situation would it be accepted practise for the player who intercepted the pass to simply run out of bounds and NOT to score the TD. If you scored the TD and hit a 1 point conversion then the other side would get the ball back trailing by 8 and still in a 1 possession game.

Being in the UK I’ve not seen the same amount of games as you will all have…so is it something that’s ever happened ? I can imagine many players simply returning the ball for paydirt without thinking but surely a veteran would do the right thing and intentionally not score.

Have there been any famous situations you can recall where a team have scored when they wished they hadn’t or someone having to produce a spectacular move to prevent scoring ?

Ty Law used to do this routinely and it drove me nuts every time. The 2003 regular season game against the Titans is the one that's burned into my memory.

I remember seeing a Ravens game where this happened. Whomever they were playing (Jags I think) got a pick and returned it for a TD they didn't need. That great KR the Ravens used to have returned the KO for a TD, and then the Ravens successfully executed an onside kick to get the ball back. Fortunately for the Jags, they couldn't score the TD they needed.

 

[NE39]

If Marlon McCree had gone down after picking off Brady 6 minutes left and an 8-point lead in the Charger-Pats playoff game last year, they would have been hosting Indy for the AFC Championship. Instead, he tried to run it back and Troy Brown stripped him, allowing the Pats to get the tying TD and 2-point conversion shortly afterward.

I do believe it has been done before, and it is the smart play. As much time as Belichick spends drilling the team on situational football, I imagine any Patriot defender would know what to do and go down. Well, maybe not Ellis Hobbs (he is kind of excitable), but anyone else.

It was interesting to see Rosy after the fumble recovery last week. After catching the ball he tried to run it back, but when he saw a Colt coming up behind him he went right down. I imagine he was thinking about the SD playoff game a year ago, not wanting to get stripped.

 

[PaulThePat]

It was interesting to see Rosy after the fumble recovery last week. After catching the ball he tried to run it back, but when he saw a Colt coming up behind him he went right down.

Either that or he could hear the millions of Patriot fans screaming at their TV's for him to GET DOWN

 

[PaulThePat]

And if its 4th down, the best play is to swat the ball to the ground, not catch it, in your scenario.

I wonder what BB's take on swatting the ball would be. Personally I'd rather a player caught the ball and then hit the turf straight away. Isn't there a danger that in trying to swat the ball down you could end up patting into the air for the receiver to catch

 

[xmarkd400x]

Look no further than the playoffs last year.

Ex 1: Chargers have lead, intercept TB pass. Runback results in lost fumble. Pats get game winning TD.

Ex 2: Colts have lead, intercept TB pass. Colt defender falls to the ground, and the Colt offense runs out the clock.

My personal take:

If your team has the lead and less than 2:00 left, do not attempt to advance a turnover. Otherwise, take it to the house.

 

[zarakotas5]

I wonder what BB's take on swatting the ball would be. Personally I'd rather a player caught the ball and then hit the turf straight away. Isn't there a danger that in trying to swat the ball down you could end up patting into the air for the receiver to catch

I'm with you on this one. If you can secure it, do so. It's amazing how silly precision athletes can look trying to do mundane tasks. Bad swats, presumably in traffic, is essentially the tip drill.

 

[richpats]

I had a Bronco fan at work rip the Pats for running it up on the Redskins and as karma would have it, the Broncos end up getting swatted by the Lions of all teams. They had a couple of defensive scores at the end, so I asked- should the DEFENSE have let up when they had the ball? I mean, if everybody so sensitive about big scores, why is it OK to be up 44-0 when the D scores and not 45-0 when the offense scores?

 

[patchick]

It was interesting to see Rosy after the fumble recovery last week. After catching the ball he tried to run it back, but when he saw a Colt coming up behind him he went right down. I imagine he was thinking about the SD playoff game a year ago, not wanting to get stripped.

I was wondering afterwards -- how many extra seconds ticked off as he was running? And what if you have a few more seconds on the clock than kneeling can eat up?

It reminded me of that game-ending play a couple of years ago. You know the one...Pats up by a score, have the ball in their own territory, 4th down, maybe 8 seconds left. The announcers kept debating--do you punt or do you run the ball, hoping you can keep the play live for long enough? They didn't even consider the perfect play that transpired: Brady rolls out then hurls a long, high ball downfield where it lands safely out of bounds with 0:00 on the clock. Nobody does the situational stuff better than BB.