Last second timeouts right before late FG attempts

[Simon]

The main problem with this annoying "tactic" is that it's just annoying. It's not really problematic enough for the league to do anything proactive about it. What needs to happen is to make it worse so that the rules committee is forced to act, and I think there is a way to do that.

First you need a coach that doesn't necessarily have a lot to lose, so listen up Chan. The act that gets the ball rolling is for a a head coach to call that last second time-out when his kicking unit is on the field. You tell Lindell before he goes out that you're going to call TO right before the snap. The short term upside is that you give your entire unit a live dress rehearsal for the kick. You get to practice the snap, the hold, the blocking and the kick under pressure; you also get a chance to see how your opponent might attack the kick, what lanes they'll overload, whether they'll commit edge pressure, keep a man deep, etc.

Once a guy does this, it's a virtual certainty that other guys are going to start doing it too. While innovation usually wins, at its heart the NFL is a copycat league. When it becomes a more widespread practice you'll be witnessing a truly bizarre theater of the absurd on a regular basis; opposing coaches stalking referees on both sidelines seeing who will hold out the longest to call a TO, pointless discussions on who got the TO first, increasingly annoying delays that get longer as guys try to one-up each other by bluffing, situations where you see 4 timeouts in a row called before a completed kick that nobody is sure that counts until well after it happens.

Once this is the pattern, the league will have no choice but to step in and do something about it. My suggestion; no timeouts in the last 2:00 of a game when ST units are on the field. You can call them immediately after the last offensive play before the kicking unit comes out, but once Teams take the field for the kick attempt, no timeouts are allowed for any reason.

If it doesn't last too long, the short term idiocy could become embarrassingly humorous.

[phypon]

Maybe a better idea would be to get the other teams blocking unit on the field and then change the formation on offense from kicking a field goal to a trick play (change the formation to a pass or run formation). This may cause the other team to blow their timeout because of the personal on the field. Since you a team can't call back to back timeouts, you know the next play that is run the opposing team cannot call a timeout. And, if they don't, you call a timeout. Probably wouldn't work for too many games, but it may be interesting.

[Rubes]

Those are both pretty interesting ideas...

[Sabre Bill]

You're hilarious . . . and brilliant in a wacked sort of way!!

 

You're absolutely right about the annoyance factor -- it doesn't phase the players, but is truly ridiculous in the eyes of the fans. It's almost embarrassing - as if the coach pulling the stunt (calling the timeout) has little respect for the game - or the fans.

 

The only problem is the raft of grief an HC is gonna catch when his kicker hits the one that doesn't count, then blows the second one.

[dayman]

The mind game of time outs w/ the kicker is great. Ever since Chris B. threw a fit early on everyone hates on it. Guess what.....when we iced Adam "the ice man" Vinetari (sp?) I enjoyed the hell out of it. And when Baltimore beat us they did too. Make the kick bums...

Edited November 5, 2010 by dayman

[vincec]

The only thing I would like is to eliminate the ridiculous ability for a coach on the sideline to call a timeout. Only players on the field should be able to call timeout.

[Simon]

Maybe a better idea would be to get the other teams blocking unit on the field and then change the formation on offense from kicking a field goal to a trick play (change the formation to a pass or run formation). This may cause the other team to blow their timeout because of the personal on the field. Since you a team can't call back to back timeouts, you know the next play that is run the opposing team cannot call a timeout. And, if they don't, you call a timeout. Probably wouldn't work for too many games, but it may be interesting.

The only problem with that is does the opposing coach ever actually call a timeout? If I see my opponent eschewing a GW FG attempt in favor of running some goofy trick play with inexperienced personell, no way do I try and stop him. I stand pat and pray they snap the ball.

 

You're absolutely right about the annoyance factor -- it doesn't phase the players, but is truly ridiculous in the eyes of the fans.

 

The only problem is the raft of grief an HC is gonna catch when his kicker hits the one that doesn't count, then blows the second one.

It's awful to end a game on a play where nobody is sure if it really counted until after the fact. It seems like a move toward the NBA model where the game is now virtually unwatchable because all flow is completely destroyed in the closing moments and intensity never really has the opportunity to build up to where it should be.

 

The mind game of time outs w/ the kicker is great. Ever since Chris B. threw a fit early on everyone hates on it.

I find it boring enough that I usually change the channel and find out later if the guy hit the kick.

Who's Chris B?

 

The only thing I would like is to eliminate the ridiculous ability for a coach on the sideline to call a timeout. Only players on the field should be able to call timeout.

I don't have any problem with one HC on the sideline being able to call a TO to manage a game. You could take that privilege away from him though and it still wouldn't address the problem.