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Steve Brownlee
Does that make any sense?
What I'm trying to say is that criticism of clock management in some recent games should be placed on one of the teams that was let off the hook, and not on the ones that were actually getting piled on from ESPN and Fox commentators.
The one I'm actually critical of was Jacksonville and how Jaguars head coach Liam Coen decided to try a 60-yard field goal to tie its game vs. Houston on Sunday morning.
This was the game played in London last week, and I was rather lazily watching it on the NFL Network as something to have on TV at that early hour.
I didn't get to see the tail end of this game when the clock issue arose as I came into The Mining Journal office about noon, but I was kind of listening to it and caught highlights later to see what actually happened.
Here's the problem -- Coen sent Cam Little out to kick a 60-yard field goal with just under two minutes left to tie the game 31-31.
It was 4th down and 4 from the Houston 42-yard-line.
First off, that's an awfully long try to count on being able to make, even as Little did pull it off. If it had been 4th and 10 or 4th and 15, I would more heartily agree with the kick try.
It seems the odds of making first down with four yards to go were probably about the same as making that long field goal, but with a lot more upside if the first down is gained.
In making the field goal, the Jags left Houston with almost two minutes and all three of its timeouts left to go back ahead.
All the Texans needed to do was move the ball down into field goal position to likely win the game with precious few seconds remaining.
And that's what Houston did, getting a 49-yard field goal on the game's last play to win 34-31. Actually, Jacksonville called all three of its timeouts on Houston's possession in an unsuccessful attempt to preserve some time.
Instead of kicking the tying field goal, if the Jaguars had gone for first down and made it, they get a fresh set of downs with lots of time remaining and three timeouts.
At the very least, they would've moved into closer field goal range AND possibly run a lot of time off. Either that or the Texans would've used most or all of their timeouts.
Still a much better position.
Even if Jacksonville doesn't make first down on 4th-and-4, Houston takes over just outside the 50-yard line, the Jags having all three timeouts and not quite two minutes left.
Sounds bad, right? Except with the Texans still ahead (remember the Jags wouldn't have kicked the tying field goal), they probably would've run the ball and most likely not gotten a first down while staying inbounds and forcing Jacksonville to use all its timeouts.
Even then, Jacksonville gets the ball back after a punt at around its own 20 with maybe a minute left. But they still have the ball and its offense controls its own destiny.
Now let's look at the previous week's London game between the Jaguars and Philadelphia, the Eagles kicking a field goal with eight seconds left to take a 17-16 lead.
They kicked off to Jacksonville with those precious few ticks left, but not into the end zone. It allowed Jags' returner Ameer Abdullah, who once did this quite well for the Lions, to bring the ball all the way out to the Philly 39 with one second left.
Critics said Philly should've kicked the ball into the end zone and not allowed a return. That would've placed the ball at, what, the Jags' 35 with the original eight seconds to go.
But I disagree. Abdullah's return was one of the few I've seen get past his own 35 in all the time they've had this "dynamic kick" rule or whatever it's called.
Just keep the guy from returning it 55 or 60 yards or so and there would be a distinct advantage to forcing Jacksonville to return it.
Say Abdullah returns it in a more normal fashion, to his own 25. When he does that, he burns up at least three, maybe four or five seconds, and Jacksonville is suddenly in Hail Mary mode for a 75-yard-long, game-ending pass.
There was another game that week or a week earlier where a coach did kick into the end zone with less than 10 seconds left but supposedly shouldn't have because of the timeout situation. I wish I remembered all the details, but that's another one where if a team simply executes on defense and/or special teams, nobody would pull off this kind of crazy comeback.
Enough of this anguish, let's look at this week's anguish, er, I mean, slate of games, with four teams having byes:
Today, 8:15 p.m.
• New England at Chicago -- Both teams had key players return last week, the Bears had quarterback Caleb Williams and the Patriots had A.J. Brown coming back.
Brown actually didn't look that great, apparently dropping multiple passes and not recovering an onside kick in the late going. Williams had another great game once he shook off first-half rust.
But each won by a touchdown, so I'll take the home team. Bears, 30-26.
Sunday, 9:30 a.m.
• Pittsburgh vs. New Orleans, at Paris -- Oui, oui we're off to Paaa-reee! I could be wrong, but I'm thinking French fans will embrace the Saints, a team from an area where at least a dialect of their language is popular, let alone the fleur-de-lis flower/sword as the team's symbol.
But of the NFL's thoughts apparently have been toward ensuring security with civil unrest going on in the country.
I'll go with the team that got to Paris earlier in the week. Saints, 27-25.
Sunday, 1 p.m.
• Cincinnati at Baltimore -- The Ravens, or at least their offense, is starting to really miss QB Lamar Jackson. Between him possibly not being 100% in his running ability as it was an ankle injury and Cincy coming off the bye, I'll take the Bengals, 33-28.
• Cleveland at Tennessee -- I can see the Titans, even after Northern Michigan University grad Robert Saleh coached them to their first win last weekend, being a bit fragile on offense and ripe for the picking by Cleveland's defense. Browns, 24-16.
• Indianapolis at Minnesota -- A 5-0 Vikings unit also might be ripe for the picking, but I don't think the Colts are the one to harvest those apples. Especially with Minnesota coming off its bye. Vikings, 29-20.
• Miami at New York Jets -- Even though the Dolphins are the worse of these two teams -- by two medium-thickness hairs -- I think there's more pressure on the Jets to win with coach Aaron Glenn's tenure on the line by the time the season ends. Jets, 23-19.
• New York Giants at Houston -- Like the Tennessee game, I see a hopefully reinvigorated Houston defense able to take advantage of the Giants' brittle offense, no matter whether it's Jameis Winston or J.J. McCarthy leading them at QB. Texans, 20-11.
• San Francisco at Atlanta -- Though the injury bug is starting to bite San Fran hard, it also affects Atlanta with QB Michael Penix nicked up and rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels suffering a scary injury last week, though the latter seems to be doing OK. Still, I'll take the 49ers, 33-24.
• Tampa Bay at Carolina -- Carolina has entered another stratosphere -- i.e., they're playing like a team from the NFC North or West, not their own NFC South or the really dreadful NFC East.
So the Bucs still stuck without starting QB Baker Mayfield look like too much to overcome. Panthers, 28-20.
Sunday, 4 p.m.
• Denver at Arizona -- Arizona is still celebrating its upset win over the Rams last Sunday, so give me the Broncos, 22-16.
• Green Bay at Detroit -- Oh, yeah, our favorite two teams -- well, about three people in the Upper Peninsula would say BOTH are their favorite team.
I think Josh Jacobs is just the shot of adrenalin Green Bay's running game needs, and with the Lions still struggling on defense, give me the Packers, 37-33.
• Los Angeles Rams at Las Vegas -- One of these days, the Rams have to start showing all the potential their supporters bragged about in the offseason. This would seem to be a good starting point. Rams, 27-24.
Sunday, 8:20 p.m.
• Kansas City at Seattle -- The team that has "K9" -- i.e, running back Kenneth Walker -- is my choice by a mile. Chiefs, 34-21.
Monday, 8:15 p.m.
• Dallas at Philadelphia -- The kind of game ESPN likes -- two teams evenly matched -- both awful. But Dallas' offense has a chance to shine when seen next to the other three main units of these squads. Cowboys, 30-24.
Last week
9-5, 64 percent. Season -- 58-34, 63 percent.
Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.