Devin Singletary not scoring a TD with 34 seconds left

[aceman_16]

2 minutes ago, Casey D said:

This post convinces me you are just a troll.  The rhetorical question to you post is Why?  What would have first down have gained that made it a bonehead play?  Think carefully.

Good play....would have been MUCH better if he did it after he got a first down.

[Casey D]

1 minute ago, aceman_16 said:

Good play....would have been MUCH better if he did it after he got a first down.

What?

[Low Positive]

Just now, aceman_16 said:

Good play....would have been MUCH better if he did it after he got a first down.

Why? It was a second down run. It forced the Fins to take their final TO. Then the Bills took a knee on 3rd and ran the clock down before kicking the FG on 4th. What difference does it make if they kick on second down or forth down?

[Big Turk]

McD trusts his players to execute properly in all situations and conditions. That's what I took away from it.That type of confidence in your players goes a long way in the locker room.

Just now, FrenchConnection said:

Why? It was a second down run. It forced the Fins to take their final TO. Then the Bills took a knee on 3rd and ran the clock down before kicking the FG on 4th. What difference does it make if they kick on second down or forth down?

 

Because they could have rekicked if there was an issue on the kick...oh wait...there would have been zero on the clock. Not sure what the poster is talking about either. It was irrelevant.

[MRW]

4 minutes ago, aceman_16 said:

Good play....would have been MUCH better if he did it after he got a first down.

 

How?

[Doc]

11 minutes ago, Casey D said:

This post convinces me you are just a troll.  The rhetorical question to you post is Why?  What would have first down have gained that made it a bonehead play?  Think carefully.

In that situation (i.e. with Miami only having one timeout left), the first down meant nothing. They still would’ve run just one more play and then called the time out with 2 seconds.  If Miami had had 2 or 3 timeouts, it would’ve been a boneheaded play. 

[Bob Jones]

14 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

McD trusts his players to execute properly in all situations and conditions. That's what I took away from it.That type of confidence in your players goes a long way in the locker room.

 

Because they could have rekicked if there was an issue on the kick...oh wait...there would have been zero on the clock. Not sure what the poster is talking about either. It was irrelevant.

You must have missed this, which was posted in this thread earlier:

 

The most obvious answer is that they wouldn't be forced to kick the FG on 4th down. Get the 1st down, run a play (same play they ran on 3rd down), then stop the clock with the TO at about 10 seconds and kick the FG. That way, if there was a bad snap, a bad handle by Martin, or a slip/bad approach by Bass, they'd have a second chance at the FG. The latter would leave about 4-5 seconds (if the first FG try is good) on the clock. Then squib the kickoff and it's over.

[ArtVandalay]

23 minutes ago, Casey D said:

This post convinces me you are just a troll.  The rhetorical question to you post is Why?  What would have first down have gained that made it a bonehead play?  Think carefully.

Dude, take your own advice.  Maybe you are just closed minded and lack strategic thinking. Don't know. Use your brain, it isn't that hard...

 

The run was on 2nd, Miami used their last TO. Buffalo kneeled on 3rd, took their 2nd TO.

 

You now have 4th Down, in severe weather conditions for the snap, hold, and approach by the kicker.  If something goes wrong you have no room for error, game goes to overtime. 

 

If you took 1 more step forward and took the free first down, the FG would have been on 2nd down, if something went wrong with the snap, hold, footing of Bass, you could have tucked the ball down,  call your final TO, then kick again. 

 

Class dismissed. 

[Matt_In_NH]

Tough call.  Does someone have access to pwin data for that situation?   Both ways is huge percent you win so they likely wi either way.  Even in those conditions you should be able to assume you make a 25 yarder and the fish have no chance to touch the ball.  I was good with it. 

[ArtVandalay]

14 minutes ago, Doc said:

In that situation (i.e. with Miami only having one timeout left), the first down meant nothing. They still would’ve run just one more play and then called the time out with 2 seconds.  If Miami had had 2 or 3 timeouts, it would’ve been a boneheaded play. 

Doc, it's about providing the Bills room for error. You have severe weather conditions, anything goes wrong with the snap, hold, footing of Bass you are screwed.  

 

If you took the free first down, you kick the FG on 2nd. If something is wrong with the snap/ hold/ footing you tuck the ball down, kill the play call TO, then kick on 3rd.

 

You give yourself room for error in the extreme weather conditions. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by ArtVandalay

[Peter]

The choice was scoring and absolutely guarantying taking the lead (and the only downside is the Dolphins somehow tie the game with 34 seconds left in a snowstorm)

 

v.

 

Taking the chance that we could not convert the field goal in a snowstorm.

 

The question answers itself.

 

In some ways, McClappy is a very good coach . . . in others (to borrow a quote from someone else wrongfully directed to another coach, McCoach is "extremely frustrating."

 

We are all very lucky to have Josh Allen . . . especially McD.

[MarkyMannn]

Take the TD. Fish get the ball back and Tyreek takes a slant to the house. Then Bills lose in OT.  Then we could complain today why DS didn't fall at the 3.  

 

Reading the board today didn't know I was supposed to be so angry with a win smh

Edited December 18, 2022 by MarkyMannn

[K-9]

23 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

Why? It was a second down run. It forced the Fins to take their final TO. Then the Bills took a knee on 3rd and ran the clock down before kicking the FG on 4th. What difference does it make if they kick on second down or forth down?

That’s why what Motor did was so strategic; it forced Miami to burn their last TO instead of us kicking off to Miami with 30 seconds left and them still having that TO on offense. The decision not to score took away any control Miami might hope to have. 

[TheBrownBear]

It was the right play at the time and it helped seal our victory.  Sanchez is a complete moron and spewed nonsense the entire evening, so when he started going off on Singletary, I knew for certain it was the right play by Devin.  When the Bills ran it to zero, Sanchez abruptly changed course and said the Dolphins should have pulled Singletary into the end zone to get the ball back.

 

Bottom line - this is not your father's NFL.  Teams can move the ball 80 yards in the blink of an eye these days.  30 seconds, two timeouts and Hill and Waddle vs. having to make an old school extra point length FG from your kicker's preferred hashmark?  Seems like an easy decision to me.

Edited December 18, 2022 by TheBrownBear

[WideNine]

3 minutes ago, MarkyMannn said:

Take the TD. Fish get the ball back and Tyreek takes a slant to the house. Then Bills lose in OT.  Then we could complain today why DS didn't fall at the 3

 

Sadly, I have no problems envisioning that scenario.

 

 

[KHAN]

27 minutes ago, aceman_16 said:

Good play....would have been MUCH better if he did it after he got a first down.

OK. So you obviously are confused about the down and time on the clock. The Singletary run was on second down. Miami called their last time out. We called a kneel down on 3rd down and ran the clock down to 2 seconds. Kicked the field goal to win.

Kicking on 2nd down or 4th down wouldn't have made any difference.

[wjag]

4 hours ago, chongli said:

[I am sure this has been mentioned elsewhere (the post game thread is way too long for me to read through), but it might be a topic that deserves its own thread. A lot of people are talking about it, but mods feel free to merge this.]

 

I saw the game but did not listen to the NFL Network call. Apparently, Mark Sanchez was critical of Motor's decision to kneel at the four yard line. I will admit I was miffed when I saw the play. My thinking was it is a tie game in very icy conditions. In such conditions, you take the given TD rather than relying on a last-second FG where anything can go wrong (just look at what happened to Justin Tucker yesterday). Yes, I know that would leave Miami 34 seconds and a time out left for the potential tying (or winning) TD, but it is going to be a very hard thing to do. Yes, the Bills did have KC do it to them twice: 13 seconds and a similar thing against them this season at the end of the first half, and Buffalo did it to Minnesota to end the second half this year too, but I still consider it a fluke thing.

 

Still, I can understand the reasoning the other way. Miami has Tyreek and Jaylen, and a defender could just as well slip against them and give up the tying (or winning) TD. And a close FG, even in these situations, is still a relative gimme.

 

It's a tough call, and I will have to side with McD's judgment. He said in the article he has coached his team for this situation, calling it "no mas". Devin, to this credit, knew what to do!

 

In the comments to the article below, almost all of the people were against Buffalo not coring the TD in a tie game in icy conditions, saying the field goal was not a given (although the comments voting was about even). The twitter comments were a little more positive. They said if you have the lead, then sure, but take the points in a tie game in such conditions. They also said if Bass-o-matic missed the FG and the Dolphins went on to win in OT, people would be angry at Motor for costing us the game and first place in the AFC.

 

 

 

Brilliant...  I believed it at the time...  And I believed it today..   Don't give them the ball back.  Force them to burn their time outs.  Brilliant.

[TheyCallMeAndy]

Unselfish play by an unselfish player. 
 

Singletary has turned into a very smart RB who understands the game. He will get a nice payday this summer, but I’d love to see him back. 

[MJS]

It was perfectly reasonable and turned out well for the Bills.

 

Better to run out the clock and trust your players to get a very manageable field goal. And that's exactly what happened.

 

All of this criticism for the coaches and play calling is getting ridiculous. This might be the best team we've ever had.

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, stevestojan said:

It seemed pretty slick when Bass dove and slid for about 8 yards. 

 

Sliding on a wet jersey and planting a cleat are different.