Going for it

by Ryan Van Bibber on Sep 18, 2007 1:03 PM CDT in Events

As Rams fans we know all too well this week the pain of trying to kick a FG rather than going for it on a short yardage 4th down situation. It's a move that may have cost us the game.

King Kaufman, always a bastion of interesting sports writing in an industry clogged up with Bill Simmons clones, has a great piece at Salon today, underscoring the failure of nerve among NFL coaches this weekend, as they opted for the kick rather than going for it on 4th down. He really takes Mike Holmgren to task for going for the kick on 4th and 1 inside the Arizona 10 yard line and the score tied at 17-17, noting that it was an especially ludicrous move in light of the fact that Seattle had just moved the ball 78 yards on eight easy plays to get to that point.

Here's what Kaufman said about Linehan's decision:

The St. Louis Rams, having moved from their own 25 to the San Francisco 38 in the two-minute drill, trailing 17-16, faced a fourth-and-3 with about a minute to play. Did Scott Linehan go for it?

No, he did not. Scott Linehan is an NFL coach. He sent out the field-goal unit for a 56-yard try. No good. To be fair, it didn't miss by much, but what are the odds of hitting a 56-yarder and what are the odds of converting a fourth-and-3?

Linehan went for that coaching favorite: The safe move that's actually more risky, but somehow feels safer, so it gets you less criticism.

Linehan certainly didn't escape criticism. In fact, calls for his head seem to be more numerous than ever as STL sports fans thirst for some sacrificial blood to make up for the a Cardinals team not even willing to try anymore, a hometown hero linked to performance enhancers and now, two games into the NFL season, a Pro Bowl running back with no touch downs.

I think even if going for it on that fateful fourth down had failed - the end results turned out the same anyway - it might have been easier to live with the loss knowing that the coach made a gutsy call and showed faith in a veteran offense.

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you had to go for it

i was at the game and after bennett (i think) caught the pass i was saying the whole time that they had to go for it. as soon as i saw wilkins trotting out there i knew we were going to lose. as he lined up, sf took a timeout and i thought that was a blessing in disguise. i honestly thought linehan would rethink it and go for it. as soon as wilkins looked like he was going to stay out there i knew it was over. and sure enough it was. when it fell short i just wanted to scream as loud as i could "TOLD YA!" I would have honestly spared linehan if he had gone for it and not made it (assuming he called a decent play).

TST Fantasy League!!! We are full! Thanks to everyone!

by stlcardinalsfang on Sep 18, 2007 1:25 PM CDT reply actions

yeah

when SF "iced" the kicker with that time out, it was the perfect opportunity to bring in the offense and map out a play and get all 11 guys on the same page.

by Ryan Van Bibber on Sep 18, 2007 3:04 PM CDT reply actions

going for it

to be honest, I'd like to see teams across the board go for it more often on 4th downs

by Ryan Van Bibber on Sep 18, 2007 3:04 PM CDT reply actions

espcially

in thier opponents territory on less than five yards. the dude on espn who writes tuesday morning quarterback always has the scaredy-cat punt of the week on plays like this.

TST Fantasy League!!! We are full! Thanks to everyone!

by stlcardinalsfang on Sep 18, 2007 3:06 PM CDT up reply actions

I say

Go for it. But for some reason I have this horrible vision of Bulger throwing it right past the outstretched fingertips of McMichael on a route 5 yards downfield. I never would have had this vision in past years. While Bulger looked better this week than week 1 he still looked shaky on some relatively easy passes. It has been this way since preseason. I hope he gets it back together as our o-line does.

by 636thestruggle on Sep 18, 2007 5:44 PM CDT reply actions

My section was all in agreement

that the 56 yarder was out of our kicker's range and we were yelling for the team go for the first down. When the kick did indeed fall short, the entire stadium went silent. No guts, no glory my friend.

Gotta stop the run, dammit!

by Austin Idol on Sep 19, 2007 8:21 AM CDT reply actions

distance

yeah, don't get me wrong, Wilkins is a great kicker, but he his 57 yarder was in 1998. I just can't imagine the odds of him doing that again, with 9 years of aging on his leg, are very good at all.

by Ryan Van Bibber on Sep 19, 2007 8:37 AM CDT up reply actions