Last Offensive Play of the Game (w/ similar play from another season)

[brdmaverick]

I'm sure you are all aware of the play.

Fourth down, five seconds left, Pats with four point lead.

Instead kicking a field goal or punting, the Pats run a fourth down offensive play........not a true attempt to 'go for it' but instead a deliberate attempt to kill the remaining seconds from the clock............only there is 1 second remaining. According to the TV announcers, the play ends when it touches something (after all, even though we all knew it was going out of bounds you don't ACTUALLY know that until the ball hits something out of bounds. Theoretically a strong gust of wind could otherwise blow the ball back in bounds).

Even with one second left the Cowboys were far from a threatening situation, but let's take a look a similar play from 2014. It was Pats vs Raiders and a similar situation came up, except that there were only 3 seconds left and facing fourth down from THEIR OWN four yard line.

Now the clock definitely hits 0 and the game is over (which was the accurate call), but it definitely was 'too close for comfort'. Could you imagine if in this situation we left one second to the Raiders FROM THE FOUR YARD LINE!!!!! Yikes.

Check it out for yourself it's, the last play so it's at the very end of the video (the 1:56:07 mark)




To be fair, I'm not saying their choice was a BAD choice, but it does have me thinking of possible alternatives.

I really don't know the answer to this, but what happens if intentional grounding is called in one of these situations? We all know a game can't end on a defensive penalty, but what about an intentional offensive penalty?

If the game is still over with or without intentional grounding then Brady should do the same play but put more air under the ball and throw it further downfield (killing more time).

I still like that over punting. While a punt boomed out of bounds would definitely kill the clock the long snap and catch by the punter would concern me.

 

[PatsDeb]

I know it can be a risk, but I thought they should have gone for the chip shot FG, or as a runner up they should have called a running play or a QB sneak. What they did seems like the only option that could have left time on the clock, which it did. Luckily the Cowboys didn't study the end of the Miami game last year.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Pats shouldn't have taken a knee on first down. If they had run a play on first down, they wouldn't have gotten to 4th down.

 

[NashuaPats]

They mismanaged things by not running a play on first and third down, but the fourth down play was the right call. The timekeeper messed up and Brady could have executed it better, but it’s the least risky play to burn time off the clock.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I was in favor of bringing out the punter and having him run around, East or West, to kill all of the 5 seconds. You risk a bad snap, but there is a risk with anything.

 

[brdmaverick]

I know it can be a risk, but I thought they should have gone for the chip shot FG, or as a runner up they should have called a running play or a QB sneak. What they did seems like the only option that could have left time on the clock, which it did. Luckily the Cowboys didn't study the end of the Miami game last year.

it was fourth down though so a qb sneak likely would have left time on the clock as well

 

[brdmaverick]

I was in favor of bringing out the punter and having him run around, East or West, to kill all of the 5 seconds. You risk a bad snap, but there is a risk with anything.

Yeah, I was watching the game with my dad and he was saying "why wouldn't you have Edelman take a snap from under center and then just run the other way?"

I suppose that would have worked too, but poor execution still could result in problems.......

1.) If Edelman waits to be tackled then the tackle could cause a fumble
2.) If he takes a knee or goes out of bounds you need to make sure the clock ran out before doing so.

 

[Patjew]

Yeah, I was watching the game with my dad and he was saying "why wouldn't you have Edelman take a snap from under center and then just run the other way?"

I suppose that would have worked too, but poor execution still could result in problems.......

1.) If Edelman waits to be tackled then the tackle could cause a fumble
2.) If he takes a knee or goes out of bounds you need to make sure the clock ran out before doing so.

That is what I was thinking too, but with someone faster than Edelman, such as McCourty. Holy **** would that be scary to watch!

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

That is what I was thinking too, but with someone faster than Edelman, such as McCourty. Holy **** would that be scary to watch!

You would much prefer, I think, to use someone who is used to taking shotgun or long snaps on a routine basis. I suppose that James White might be logical, given that they practice the the direct snap play. Bailey probably is the best choice, though he's not as fast. Worst case scenario is fumbling the snap.

 

[NashuaPats]

If a player ran straight back, they’d run about 40 yards before the time ran out with guys chasing after him. Now imagine if he slipped on the wet grass, was caught and fumbled and the other team picked it up and scored to win. That play would be mocked more than the Colts fake punt, the Butt Fumble, and all of Leon Lett’s plays combined.

 

[maust]

I was expecting a pitch and backwards run, everything about that sequence of downs was...off. I also suspect the game clock was showing the wrong time remaining.

 

[venecol]

Houston ran this play successfully on TNF with 3 seconds left.

 

[PP2]

They mismanaged things by not running a play on first and third down, but the fourth down play was the right call. The timekeeper messed up and Brady could have executed it better, but it’s the least risky play to burn time off the clock.

It surprised me that Brady did a kneeldown on the first snap- I wonder if we lost track of the number of timeouts Dallas had left.

 

[Patjew]

If a player ran straight back, they’d run about 40 yards before the time ran out with guys chasing after him. Now imagine if he slipped on the wet grass, was caught and fumbled and the other team picked it up and scored to win. That play would be mocked more than the Colts fake punt, the Butt Fumble, and all of Leon Lett’s plays combined.

I agree. It’s a ridiculous idea and I kind of would like to see it sometime. Maybe in a meaningless week 17 game.

 

[nabwong]

I would have given the ball to Collins and then watch him run with the ball all the way into the locker room.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Awesome last play call...can always count on B.B. the coach making the right decision every time on situation awareness

 

[brdmaverick]

The situation didn't call for it, but if we were closer to our endzone it would be good to know..........

Can a game end on a safety, or do you have do the kick out of necessity?

 

[QuantumMechanic]

The situation didn't call for it, but if we were closer to our endzone it would be good to know..........

Can a game end on a safety, or do you have do the kick out of necessity?

According to Rule 4(8)(2)(g) in the 2019 rulebook:
If a safety results from a foul during the last play of a half, the score counts. A safety kick is made if requested by the receivers.

However, if a half-ending safety isn't the result of a penalty there is no kick.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

I think there’s still .5 sec left. the clock op must be a closet cowboys fan or a make up call for the tripping flags

 

[brdmaverick]

According to Rule 4(8)(2)(g) in the 2019 rulebook:
If a safety results from a foul during the last play of a half, the score counts. A safety kick is made if requested by the receivers.

However, if a half-ending safety isn't the result of a penalty there is no kick.

So perhaps in the 2014 situation against Oakland they could have had someone run back to the endzone, do a little dance, and then jump out of the endzone when pressure came near.

Of course, in that situation it was only 3 seconds they had to kill so a pass would definitely cover that.