Announcers are morons

Announcers are morons "YOU got to give it to RAy Rice here" Yeah on NE 20 with 1 timeout left???? 20 seconds left? WOW.

Why didn't Baltimore call time out on 2nd and 3 with ~2:10 left?

Why wasn't NE calling time out with a minute left. Why did NE down the ball in the first half with a minute left and 2 time outs - you gotta at least run it and see if you break one off like the Giants at GB. Was Bellichek drunk?

If we are talking about the 3rd and 1 play I agree they should have run the ball with one timeout left. They weren't on the NE 20, which makes all the difference in the world. There were 22 seconds left and they were on the 14 yard line. You have to pick up the first down on this play. And that would have given them a decent chance to pick it up. They pick it up and call timeout, which means they are now at the 12 yard line for all practical purposes, if not closer, with probably 12-15 seconds left. They don't pick it up they call time out and kick the field goal. They make it and they now have three throws into the end zone. There aren't any more first downs to obtain to worry about not having a time out. You intstruct Flacco to throw the ball away if the play isn't there. You're fighting for three more plays more than anything.

[QUOTE=Sixth Sense;50395]If we are talking about the 3rd and 1 play I agree they should have run the ball with one timeout left. They weren't on the NE 20, which makes all the difference in the world. There were 22 seconds left and they were on the 14 yard line. You have to pick up the first down on this play. And that would have given them a decent chance to pick it up. They pick it up and call timeout, which means they are now at the 12 yard line for all practical purposes, if not closer, with probably 12-15 seconds left. They don't pick it up they call time out and kick the field goal. They make it and they now have three throws into the end zone. There aren't any more first downs to obtain to worry about not having a time out. You intstruct Flacco to throw the ball away if the play isn't there. You're fighting for three more plays more than anything.[/QUOTE] i concur. not sure what Fezzik is thinking in this thread besides typical announcer bashing but I thought getting the 1st down was more important than asking flacco to heave it and hope for a first down. i trust Ray Rice more than I do Joe Flacco

[QUOTE=Sixth Sense;50395]If we are talking about the 3rd and 1 play I agree they should have run the ball with one timeout left. They weren't on the NE 20, which makes all the difference in the world. There were 22 seconds left and they were on the 14 yard line. You have to pick up the first down on this play. And that would have given them a decent chance to pick it up. They pick it up and call timeout, which means they are now at the 12 yard line for all practical purposes, if not closer, with probably 12-15 seconds left. They don't pick it up they call time out and kick the field goal. They make it and they now have three throws into the end zone. There aren't any more first downs to obtain to worry about not having a time out. You intstruct Flacco to throw the ball away if the play isn't there. You're fighting for three more plays more than anything.[/QUOTE] Bingo. Getting the first down should have been the primary objective and a hand off to Ray Rice probably succeeds there 75% of the time.

I cannot disagree more. YOU CANNOT RUN IT THERE. Burning your last time out is moronic. The probability of scoring with :14 left on the 12, with no timeouts is NOT good. In fact, NE could just tackle every receiver on the line of scrimmage (if they were smart enough) let 7 seconds runs, and boom here comes the fg attempt. And that's IF they pick up the 1d. I like the end zone throw. OR the sideline throw. YOU CANNOT RUN THERE!!! The second you run $$$$ pours in on NE in-run wagering.......

The only caveat I would make is you run if you think that gives you the best chance to make the first down. If not, then you pass but I believe (and none of us know their playbook and players better than they do) the running option is better for this team.

Fezz, you think there's a higher probability of scoring a TD with one pass from the 14 than 2-3 passes from the 12?

We got to get the facts straight here because we have some inaccuracies which may change many of the subsequent posts not to mention the original post. With the benefit of NFL Replay which I DVR'd the play in question has to be the 2nd and 1 play where Phll Simms utters as Flacco is under center something to the effect "what you do is hand the ball to Ray Rice". There were approximately 29 seconds left in the game when he said that comment. The play that transpired was the pass broken up to Evans in the end zone. The ball was at the 14 yard line. If they did hand off to Rice they would have perhaps killed a few more seconds. There were 22 seconds left when the incomplete pass to Evans ended let's assume they call TO then. They would have 1st and 10 at the 12 (at least) if he made the 1st down. That gives 3 pitches into the end zone I guess. So there is more time here than Fez's initial comment is stating. The guys who think Rice could have run there will think it is even a better play than the 3rd and 1 speculated earlier in the thread and there should be a few more seconds. But I actually agree with Fez. By throwing though on 2nd and 1 they got a chuck into the EZ and they had another chance on 3rd down. They took 2 shots at it. Rice running would have given them perhaps 3 shots but these 2 shots were more quality IMO since they had the TO if necessary if something screwed up like a sack or a receiver tackled in the field, bad snap, etc. I think by that 3rd down look if they had run Rice it might have been a non quality play anyway. Perhaps a quick timing route. Not having the TO is huge if it is burned on a play as there can be no mistakes as there is a real risk the game ends on a mistake or some half assed rushed FG which they might not get away if a mistake occurred. Flacco had the freedom to roam out of the pocket on the 2 shots they did take. I don't think with less time and no timeouts he would do that and the more he did the more risky the plays would be. I won't say Simms is a moron that is for sure but I might agree with Fez and Cameron or whoever called this sequence. (Note the 3rd down play if caught was going to be short of the goal line and if caught I think would have required a TO on that play since it looked to be at the 5 yrd line.)