Gameday Thread: NFC Championship GRIT vs 9ers.

[Sanders Fan]

That's not what he told the reporter at halftime, he wanted to go for it but he thought it was too far away. He was in agony that he felt like he had to kick the field goal.

Is this the same guy that went for two from the 7 yard line?

[Sanders Fan]

The consensus from the “analysts” that I’ve read is that the (mis)play of the game for the Lions was not kicking a FG to go up 17 halfway through the third quarter and it spiraled out of control after that.

[Sanders Fan]

Why didn’t somebody hit Reynolds over the head when he was laughing about his dropped catch? That wasn’t funny.

[Iron Lion]

Jahmyr Gibbeth and Jahmyr taketh away.

[CGVT]

The consensus from the “analysts” that I’ve read is that the (mis)play of the game for the Lions was not kicking a FG to go up 17 halfway through the third quarter and it spiraled out of control after that.

This is the one I disagreed with. They held the niners to three on a relatively long drive. The Lions then were in position to put the game back to a 17 point lead, the same as the score at the half, but with nine minutes of clock gone.

At that point the clock was on the Lions side. If the Lions take the points, the niners were no better off than they were going into the half and the huge momentum shift probably doesn't happen.

Having said that, I guess it is hard to criticize the call to go for it. They had an open receiver and he dropped a pass that I would expect most high school players to catch. If they pick up the first, they probably run another couple of minutes off of the clock and maybe score a TD and take the pressure off of the defense. (BTW, Reynolds dropped a huge third down that would have kept a drive alive and stopped the bleeding later in the game as well)

It is/was who the Lions were all year. They just didn't execute in the clutch yesterday.

[ghandi]

Jahmyr Gibbeth and Jahmyr taketh away.

I remember watching the play ...he and Goff almost ran into each other...I dont think it was a clean exchange....Gibbs will get the blame but Im not sure how well he had it secured

[froot loops]

Gibbs lined up on the wrong side. Goff blamed it on miscommunication. So maybe he didn't here the call correctly. Rookie mistake.

There was a similar fumble with Montgomery in the first loss against Seattle. Both times it resulted in a quick touchdown. Can't have it.

[Mainevent]

I don’t have a problem with somebody saying that they should have kicked the FG. It’s a judgment call at that point, both sides have valid arguments. I just can’t stand the idiots running around claiming one or both of those plays cost them the game and DC was reckless. It’s a sad, weak take.

Now DC and Ben Johnson should rightly get skewered for the run at the goal line. That was bad.

[ghandi]

I don’t have a problem with somebody saying that they should have kicked the FG. It’s a judgment call at that point, both sides have valid arguments. I just can’t stand the idiots running around claiming one or both of those plays cost them the game and DC was reckless. It’s a sad, weak take.

Now DC and Ben Johnson should rightly get skewered for the run at the goal line. That was bad.

Dan would be more furious opting for the FG and having him miss than going for it on 4th down and not making it...It all goes back to that Vikings game where he went with the FG and the kicker missed instead of going for it...he said he hated it then, and he hates it now.

[Sanders Fan]

Well, don’t be surprised if it costs them another playoff run in the future.

[froot loops]

If he takes the points against the Rams instead of going to LaPorta on 4th down, it would have cost them a playoff run. They won the game by one point. The thing is if he tries a field goal and Badgely misses, was it the right call?

The 3rd down run is most definitely the call to complain about. The one thing that Campbell is great about in regards to game management is saving timeouts. McVay is horrible at wasting timeouts in the second half, Shanahan isn't great either. You cannot run on 3rd down especially into the teeth of the defense. As long as onside kicks are no longer a feasible option, you have to throw.

[Sanders Fan]

As was mentioned elsewhere, as soon as they got into FG range on the last drive they could have kicked and had a 1:45 or so and three time outs. It doesn’t matter which way you get the points.

[Forsh]

As was mentioned elsewhere, as soon as they got into FG range on the last drive they could have kicked and had a 1:45 or so and three time outs. It doesn’t matter which way you get the points.

That's true enough but I think when you can get the TD you'd rather take care of that first than kick when not forced to. You'd way rather leave the fg to be attained than the TD ... but I get ya

[froot loops]

I've heard that, it is a definite strategy that has merit. But they got the TD with 56 seconds left. In essence you are saving 40 seconds but in making that trade you have to get the TD instead of a field goal, if you get the ball back. At 1:39, you have a possible 41 yard field goal, at 1:37 (really 1:30 because you would need a spike) a possible 33 yarder. The next play was OOB by a whisker on a possible TD by Firkser at 1:16.

In my view, I'd much rather get the TD first and the Lions were incredibly efficient on that drive, and except for that third down run. It cost them and unlike the 4th down calls I don't think there is a good argument for running on that. Once you get to first and goal in that situation, it has to be all passes into the end zone until 4th down then you can run or pass.

[Mainevent]

Yeah, problem with kicking the FG is then having to go 70 yards or something with no timeouts for a TD. Very hard to do, especially when the Lions don’t have those guys that draw deep PI penalties and a SF defense that can pin back their ears in the rush.