There are times when I'm maddened by the decisions NFL coaches make late in games as it pertains to clock management. The Bills/SD and Bills/Colts games are two cases in point.
In yesterday's game the Bills needed a touchdown and a field goal to tie. At the 2-minute warning (which came at 1:53) they had the ball at the SD 23 and no time outs. Why not kick the field goal there and try the onsides kick immediately? (I know that wind conditions were a factor, but go with me on this as they wouldn't have kicked in a dome).
That way, if you recover the kick you have over a minute and a half to drive for the tying touchdown. I like those odds much better than the way they played it, where had they made the onsides recovery they had but 20+ seconds to try and get within field goal range.
Case #2 the Indy game where they found themselves playing defense down by 1 with less than two minutes to play. Indy had a third and mid-range. If they pick up the first they can run out the clock - game over. Why wouldn't the Bills coaches tell the players to play the tackle up to the marker and let the guy go to the house past it? That way you're down 8 with a chance to get the ball back and have a chance for a TD and a 2-point conversion to send it to OT. Instead, the Bills D made the tackle and the game was essentially over.
In basketball a guy has no problem intentionally bricking the second end of a 1 and 1 when his team is down by 2 with a couple of seconds left. Why don't NFL coaches think out of the box and give their teams a better shot at winning?
Thoughts?