NE massively outcoaching Atl

NE massively outcoaching Atl ATL.....punts 4th and 5 from the NE 38 NE......Goes for it 4th and inches on the own 27. There is a reason certain teams just keep winning year after year......

shame we have ne under 11.5 then

Exactly. NE was up by only 6 points. The "conservative" play would punt the ball and give ATL excellent field position. Then after a couple breaks, ATL could be leading by 1 in the fourth quarter. Everyone would forget the stupid decision, and blame a loss on some desperate NE drive that failed at the end, letting ATL eat time off the clock. Instead NE makes the first down, eats up time, and makes an even riskier first down on 4th and 3 at the ATL 37. They are not leaving this game to chance.

down 2 TDs, 7 mins left 4th and 4 atl punts wow. atl quit

NE should have won this by 30 points. Driving down the field was like taking candy from a baby - ATl could not get off the field. I thought poor defensive scheme by Atlanta - if you don't pressure Brady you have not shot. They sat back all day long. Offensive play calling by Atl seemed poor too though that was due mostly to rarely having the ball. Hadn't seen a lot of Atlanta but agree that Smith is no Belichek. Their Defense is not playoff worthy IMO.

When it comes to conservative play calling, Mike Smith is among the worst.

Im convinced coaches so underuse 4th down that if they went on 4th down every time they would come out ahead of how they play it now

[QUOTE=sean1;3754]Im convinced coaches so underuse 4th down that if they went on 4th down every time they would come out ahead of how they play it now[/QUOTE] Coach Mike Leach of the Red Raiders understands this. He doesn't care if people think he makes bad decisions.

No he doesnt. Last night on 4th and 3 or 4th and 4, he punted up 5 with about 4 minutes left with his abysmal defense. Cost him the game. Given his offense and defense, I'd say the EV was something like 70/30 on going vs punting.