I wanna blame someone… (2 Viewers)

[Taker597]

That's taking a huge chance and an enormous gamble that seems like a good idea in the moment and maybe, MAYBE if Taysom hadn't been injured, you consider the option but even their, there's still no guarantee even Hill finds a way to blast through those Falcons defenders on 4th down, but even if we kill 35 more seconds, Atlanta probably still finds a way to get the ball on their 30 and we've all seen how Cousins is the King of the Bullshirt comeback. Hes learned to be very good at it for years now where he tells his WR's, TE's in the last 1:00 of a game down by a TD or less to deliberately "draw" pass interference plays that go for 30-40 yards, just far enough that after 1-2 plays of 3 or 4 plays, their strong-leggrd PK comes out and bails his and his sorry arse teams out. In these sort of cases, unfortunately, you have to score when the opportunity presents itself even if that means a little too much clock that your concerned your opponent might use to beat you. There was no scenario here where he could've scored with 10 seconds left. I hate and despise GD bullshirt scenarios as much as the next person, but when there's other palpable alternative, you chose what you hope is the best available option.


How many times did he pull a similar stunt like this in Washington and Minnesota at the last second? He and Joe Flacco did this for years in Baltimore where they bum-forked along for 3 1/2 quarters and made sure their defenses kept it close against good teams. Then on their last offensive drive, some stupid, dumbarse DB or CB always manages to bail them out by roughing up or interfering with one of their WR's near the opponent's red-zone, they get a few first downs or none at all but their close enough within range that Justin Tucker, or Koo nails some FG some, swarmy FOX Sports announcers scream and swear, "It's a GD miracle, we're shocked and amazed that ____,,,,, PK could do that". They give their worst, annoying Gus Johnson impressions (and hes annoying, too sometimes) acting like their wives just gave birth to their firstborn children.

I'm not asking for an extended play on the end of the drive. Just one extended play to kill clock during the drive.

 

[TomThomster7]

No, I just wanted an extra play on the drive.

I understood your point.
Was going to reply in your defense, but figured you were man enough to deal with the misguided digs.

 

[Taker597]

I understood your point.
Was going to reply in your defense, but figured you were man enough to deal with the misguided digs.

To be exact.

Particularly that 2nd and 2 on the ATL 17th with exactly 2 minutes left. Decided to pass when we could of killed clock on a short run with 2 more downs left.

Next play was the Olave pass to the 1 yard line.

Can't complain about the latter, but I just knew that was the wrong sequence if you want to ice the game.

 

[DSnfla]

I'm not asking for an extended play on the end of the drive. Just one extended play to kill clock during the drive.

We shouldn't be asking for a 7 play scoring drive instead of a 6 play scoring drive to run another 25-30 sec off the clock. We should be tasking the defense to keep them from moving the ball 30 yds in less than a min to lose the game. You get the yardage when you can get the yardage. you score when you can score. Heck we even ran 2 fake QB sneaks to make them use their TOs.

 

[DSnfla]

To be exact.

Particularly that 2nd and 2 on the ATL 17th with exactly 2 minutes left. Decided to pass when we could of killed clock on a short run with 2 more downs left.

Next play was the Olave pass to the 1 yard line.

Can't complain about the latter, but I just knew that was the wrong sequence if you want to ice the game.

And if we had ran and lost yardage, or gotten a holding call and screwed ourselves you'd be calling for DA's head

 

[Elvis]

We shouldn't be asking for a 7 play scoring drive instead of a 6 play scoring drive to run another 25-30 sec off the clock. We should be tasking the defense to keep them from moving the ball 30 yds in less than a min to lose the game. You get the yardage when you can get the yardage. you score when you can score. Heck we even ran 2 fake QB sneaks to make them use their TOs.

Agreed. Points are at a premium with all of the injuries and lack of depth on offense. You gotta get them when and how you can. The head coach is the DC and should have a plan and confidence in his unit to not give up a score. If we had been down less than 3 points that would change things but we needed a TD.

 

[madsaint1967]

Not being able to end a game with the QB laying on his back is why we can’t close it out. I have never liked 4-3 defenses. Most of the greatest defenses are 3-4, makes sense: rushing 5 instead of 4 is easier to get a sack when you really need it. Drew Brees struggled against 3-4 defenses. Our greatest defense was the Dome Patrol, fast outside linebackers and thumpers in the middle. Alas, we are stuck with DA and his staff that can’t pick a DE to save their life.

 

[meily]

…and I’m the last person to make excuses.

But other than Shaheed’s massive gaffe, it’s hard to find too much to be mad about. I liked the game plan. I liked (most of) the playcalling.

The injuries really suck. And we got a screen pass tipped 283 feet into the air. But the defense didn’t give up a single offensive touchdown. Need the pass rush to get better. But it’s hard to find too much fault.

Hopefully this loss doesn’t cost us anything meaningful. But I feel good about this team moving forward (if they can actually get reasonably healthy).

We see who are team is and the direction they are going in.

We beat ourselves today and the Falcons took advantage of our mistakes.

It is frustrating watching your team lose because they did not play their best, but there is still a lot of football to be played and 2-2 is the general record for a lot of teams around the league.

 

[Saintman2884]

To be exact.

Particularly that 2nd and 2 on the ATL 17th with exactly 2 minutes left. Decided to pass when we could of killed clock on a short run with 2 more downs left.

Next play was the Olave pass to the 1 yard line.

Can't complain about the latter, but I just knew that was the wrong sequence if you want to ice the game.

Forgive me, but I'm not exactly a trusting person that Kubiak wouldn't decide to call some generic running play to the right instead of up the middle where he wouldn't be mobbed by a group of Falcons LB's/DE's. As some other posters have already pointed out in this thread and others, Kubiak is better OC than Carmichael but sometimes his play-calling is very questionable and he has a bit of the same ego-trip Payton displayed here for years (and I called him out on for his arrogance) where he doesn't like to admit or can't see what usually works maybe 60% is going to work TODAY and he refuses to adjust accordingly.

Again, if Taysom Hill isn't injured, your scenario makes more sense and is more palatable, but our red-zone offense and how our offensive philosophy works with and without him is like night and day and a lot of assurances get taken off the table when #7 isnt in the game.

It's easier for us to kill the clock when #7 is in the game or run it down as opposed to platooning it to Kamara or Jamaal Williams. If #7 had been in the game earlier in the 4th quarter, we likely score a TD instead of turning the ball over on downs deep in Atlanta's red-zone. He's a unique, peculiar variable that brings dimensions to games a lot of defenses struggle to adapt or defend against. They can't be as aggressive, physical, or as assertive as defenders usually are when they know he isn't in the game anymore.

 

[St. Geezy]

To be clear, you wanted to not score on third down and go to fourth down?

To tell you the truth, I thought we played it properly but I was rooting in my head for us to fail on the third down so that the clock would run and we put it all on the line on fourth down. I wanted all the smoke.

I think we did the right thing and gave ourselves a shot on third though. We’d have been fools to just flat out forfeit the play. A conservative, up the gut play-call was the right approach.

 

[Rouxble]

We see who are team is and the direction they are going in.

We beat ourselves today and the Falcons took advantage of our mistakes.

It is frustrating watching your team lose because they did not play their best, but there is still a lot of football to be played and 2-2 is the general record for a lot of teams around the league.

I think losing while watching the Falcons make plenty of their own mistakes was rough. They had a receiver fall down to give us an INT that led to one of our scores. They also had multiple drive killing penalties that I appreciated, including one that brought back what would have been their only offensive TD. Cousins also did us the favor of missing a few guys that had us beat downfield.

It’s like they tried to give us the game back but we kept refusing to take it.

 

[Cgrob81]

Blame Dennis Allen. He's in his 3rd year of being a .500 coach. He didn't address problems the team had last year, we have absolutely nothing at TE, stupid defensive penalties and blown coverages, and apparently a training staff/medical team that don't know what they're doing

This was the game. This was the game that I realized this team will just hover around 500 as long as Allen and Carr are together. They've proven year after year that is who they are as the team's leaders

 

[kennydfresh]

…and I’m the last person to make excuses.

But other than Shaheed’s massive gaffe, it’s hard to find too much to be mad about. I liked the game plan. I liked (most of) the playcalling.

The injuries really suck. And we got a screen pass tipped 283 feet into the air. But the defense didn’t give up a single offensive touchdown. Need the pass rush to get better. But it’s hard to find too much fault.

Hopefully this loss doesn’t cost us anything meaningful. But I feel good about this team moving forward (if they can actually get reasonably healthy).

I'm sorry guys but this is correct we should not have lost this game. Looking back at the game we did everything correct. The Saints lost the game the falcons did not win it, its the same with the Eagles game last week. Injuries are really hurting us right now and I do think we need to invest in another offensive weapon.

 

[State Of Affairs]

…and I’m the last person to make excuses.

But other than Shaheed’s massive gaffe, it’s hard to find too much to be mad about. I liked the game plan. I liked (most of) the playcalling.

The injuries really suck. And we got a screen pass tipped 283 feet into the air. But the defense didn’t give up a single offensive touchdown. Need the pass rush to get better. But it’s hard to find too much fault.

Hopefully this loss doesn’t cost us anything meaningful. But I feel good about this team moving forward (if they can actually get reasonably healthy).

Actually, this is what bothers me the most…. This is a good team and two weeks in a row, we’re finding ways to lose.

But I agree with you but it’s frustrating.

 

[St. Geezy]