Was Mike Smith's decision to punt the right one? (1 Viewer)

[Sarcastic]

Self-explanatory. Thought we needed a pole.

I think it was right. If Graham fumbles, or they get a stop on third-and-short, Ryan gets another shot.

What do you think?

EDIT: Ummm, I meant from the Falcons standpoint. Not from a Saints fan's. The question is "was it the right decision."

 

[Shibby]

They really had nothing to lose by going for it. So what if they don't make it, they get to play Carolina next week. If they go for it and win, they get to rest next week.

Complete lack of confidence in their offense at the time and a complete disregard for the bigger picture, imo.

 

[bornnraisedwhodat]

I thought it was a good call. His defense has done a good job all night in slowing us down, we didnt really have many long sustained drives and when we did, we blew them with penalties or TO's......

But when you give Drew a chance to redeem himself, he will do it.

 

[saintlyn8]

I can't say it was good or bad. Either way is a roll of the dice, and the good 'ol hindsight is 20/20.

 

[Sophandros]

Here's why it was a bad call: http://www.advancednflstats.com/2010/12/should-falcons-have-punted.html

The thought process leading to the decision, not the outcome, determines whether or not it was a good or poor decision. In this case, it was a poor decision. Heck, they beat us in the first game primarily because they went for it and converted on 4th downs.

Granted, I'm happy that Smith chose poorly, but still...

 

[SuperQuincy]

Trick Question.


I thought it was a GREAT call. Being a Saints fan.

I thought it was a bad decision. Saints are trying to ice it and need first downs, not points. Who cares where you give em the ball. I think they should have done everything in their power to not give us the ball. Instead they kicked it right to us.

 

[KrAzY KaJuN]

As a Saints fan? I thought it was a great decision.

 

[whodat79]

Good call because the Saints won but most teams are going to run the ball three times and usually punt and give 50 or so seconds. With Sean payton and Drew Brees anything is possible plus Ryan was just barely at 50 percent completion thats the difference between him and Brees We would have went for it so Smith's confidence in Ryan may have been lacking ha ha

 

[joeyseven]

Trailing the Saints by 3 points with 2:52 left to play Monday night, the Falcons faced a 4th and 6 from their 43-yard line. With two timeouts and the two-minute warning in their pocket, they chose to punt, hoping to make a stop and get the ball back with enough time to tie or win in a final drive. Did Coach Mike Smith make the right call?

A punt in this situation typically nets 37 yards, which would give the Saints a first down at their 20. This would give the Falcons a 0.15 Win Probability (WP).


Fourth-and-6 attempts outside the red zone are successful about 44 percent of the time. A success gives the Falcons a first down at (at least) their 49-yard line, worth 0.37 WP. A failure, giving the Saints the ball at Atlanta’s 43, would mean a 0.12 WP for the Falcons. All would not be lost. A stop or even allowing a field goal still gives the Falcons time for a touchdown drive, which when all four downs are available, are successful more often than many realize.

In total, the fourth-down conversion attempt would be worth 0.23 WP.

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/the-falcons-shouldnt-have-punted

 

[Cosmic201]

4th and 6 after their offense has been pretty well shut down all game and their defense has been playing like a beast? Yes, that was a good call.

It wasn't even 10 minutes ago that the Falcons defense had a pick 6 and then another interception on the next drive.


The Saints showed that they still have the heart of a champion out there last night, but the Falcons played a hell of a game, specially on defense.

 

[REBEL_SOUL]

Option "C"
They were screwed either way.
Breesus was on our side.

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

For Them...NO! For Us...YES!
Guess it's all a matter of perspective

 

[va_bank]

I think it wasn't a good call for them, it was a no other choice call. Their running game was completely stopped by our D and it was way to close to their goal line to give the ball to the Saints. There was still time for them and I think they had to punt.

 

[Consigliere]

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/the-falcons-shouldnt-have-punted

That is interesting data, but it is probably based on normal games, and probably does not account for the fact that we'd been shutting each other down all game.

 

[antipop]

no matter how the Saints got the ball back, all they were going to was run out the clock....the field position didn't matter.....

it was a stupid decision