Vrabel Intentional Penalty: Genius Move

[brdmaverick]

Sorry, I'm not as frequent a poster here as I'd like to be, so my apologies if this was already posted (but after a quick look I didn't see it).

Mike Vrabel, coach of the Titans and former Pats player/BB student, made a genius coaching decision that should be getting more attention.

Situation: Titans down 1 with 3 timeouts and 3:05 on the clock. Texans facing a 2&1 on the Tennessee 24 yard line and he takes an intentional 12 men penalty.

How does it make sense? Have a read...……

Mike Vrabel appeared to take an intentional penalty to stop the clock on Titans’ comeback

Titans coach Mike Vrabel showed some quick thinking and a thorough knowledge of the NFL’s timing rules late in Tennessee’s comeback win over Houston on Sunday. With the Titans trailing 30-29 and Houston having the ball on second-and-1 with 3:28 to play, Vrabel sent safety Josh Kalu onto the...

sports.yahoo.com

I'm very impressed that
1.) he thought of this
2.) this was on his mind at the time the situation was playing out (For most of us only during the week are we like...'oh man, I really should have done this or that)

He's shown he deserves the coaching credit that has been given to him.

 

[Wheelman]

If only he had done that vs Harbaby. That would have been epic.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Vrabel did it 2 years ago too against the Jets

The best part is he subtly tells his player we're good. Then he fakes exasperation to get the refs attention to throw the flag.

Genius move. I love this so much. Belichick's best coach from his tree after Saban may be a player Vrabel who never coached under him formally

.

 

[luuked]

I dont get why absolutely blatantly unsportsmanlike **** like this gets celebrated.

It is neither creative nor particularly clever. He is just purposefully violating the spirit of certain rules and it will just lead to even thicker rule books to account for **** like this.

 

[Bill Lee]

CHEATER!

Feels good to post this, but this and $1.79 will get you a small coffee at Dunkin's.

 

[brdmaverick]

I dont get why absolutely blatantly unsportsmanlike **** like this gets celebrated.

It is neither creative nor particularly clever. He is just purposefully violating the spirit of certain rules and it will just lead to even thicker rule books to account for **** like this.

To be fair we celebrate it when BB does like.....
1.) Like when he took back to back penalties on a punt against the Jets to kill clock (I know, Vrabel then used this against us)
2.) Or when he used Shane Vereen as an ineligible lineman against the Ravens

I think it's certainly worth applauding a coach using any loophole to gain an advantage. It shows how clever, resourceful, and knowledgeable they are.

For instance, I HATE the Giants and what they did to us in the Super Bowl, but I can at least appreciate their gamesmanship when they intentionally put 12 men on the field against us during our desperation drive of SB 46. They knew the 5 yard penalty was well worth having an extra defender to take prevent 'the big play'. I hate them for it but appreciate their awareness of the situation.

So all in all, I think we should not hate on the coaches for exploiting the rules, but I do get your point.

 

[brdmaverick]

…..and for the record I loathe the intentional fouling that happens at the end of every NBA game

 

[brdmaverick]

Another interesting point about this...………

On the Titans play the refs blew the play dead IMMEDIATLEY. I wonder if they are told to blow those dead because of the Pats-Giants situation where they don't want to see unnecessary clock time run out, or if it's a player safety thing where the extra defender could hypothetically get a big hit on the quarterback.

 

[The Brandon Five]

I dont get why absolutely blatantly unsportsmanlike **** like this gets celebrated.

It is neither creative nor particularly clever. He is just purposefully violating the spirit of certain rules and it will just lead to even thicker rule books to account for **** like this.

Yeah we would never stand for it around here.

 

[luuked]

To be fair we celebrate it when BB does like.....
1.) Like when he took back to back penalties on a punt against the Jets to kill clock (I know, Vrabel then used this against us)
2.) Or when he use

I am with you when it comes to the back to back penalties. I wasn't a fan of that at all.

But the ineligible receivers play is completely different in nature. Vrable purposefully sent 12 men onto the field whereas before the ineligible receiver play the refs clearly announced who needed to be covered. For all intents and purposes it was a trick play.

The closest thing to the Vrables move was when Harbaugh purposefully made everyone on the Ravens commit holding penalties while taking an intentional safety to burn down even more clock in the SB against the 49ers.

I just don't see anything admirable in purpose breaking rules because of some situational loopholes.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

How is this any different than jumping offsides on purpose?

 

[brdmaverick]

How is this any different than jumping offsides on purpose?

The only thing I can think of is that the offense could actually snap the ball before the 'offending player' is able to touch the defender so either...….

the play continues without penalty

or the if he's offsides but hasn't touched anyone it is a free play for the offense

In essence I agree it would be the same but with those two risks.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

The only thing I can think of is that the offense could actually snap the ball before the 'offending player' is able to touch the defender so either...….

the play continues without penalty

or the if he's offsides but hasn't touched anyone it is a free play for the offense

In essence I agree it would be the same but with those two risks.

There’s also a risk that the refs dont notice 12 men on the field too, I suppose...

 

[NashuaPats]

Smart play. It reminds me of so many former Patriots players and coaches who talk about how much Belichick coaches situations and rules. It also reminds me of the intentional safety Belichick once took.

 

[NashuaPats]

I love this:

“The only system I knew, which was a great system, was all about pressure. And then when I went to Belichick, after coordinating in college football, I think I had one way to play and I knew it all. Hell, I had no idea how much I didn’t know. I learned so much about situational football. I knew nothing about situational football until I got with Belichick.”

Saints' Ryan grew up under Belichick

METAIRIE, La. -- New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan learned football from his legendary father Buddy Ryan, who gave him his first NFL job as an assistant with the Arizona Cardinals from 1994-95 -- as well as his aggressive mentality and a passion for the sport that still hasn’t...

www.espn.com

 

[Wheelman]

Can't Romeo just decline the penalty and make the clock continue to run?

 

[Doctor DDS]

I think the league needs to make a couple rule changes where the opposing team has the option to decline the clock stoppage and when on offense they can choose to have clock reset to time before play (would eliminate the intentional 12 men on the field type thing) No team should benefit from a penalty.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Can't Romeo just decline the penalty and make the clock continue to run?

I don't think the clock would continue to run in that situation...either way it stops.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Can't Romeo just decline the penalty and make the clock continue to run?

Decline a 1st down?

 

[Wheelman]

Decline a 1st down?

Yeah, it was a pre-snap penalty and 2nd and 1. So it would still be 2nd and 1, right? Play Vrabel's game. Instruct your team to only gain 1 yard. So they can still potentially get two 1st downs before it's goal to go. Not only did Vrabel stop the clock but the next 1st down for the the Texans was goal to go.