McCarthy takes safety rather than face 1st and goal (1 Viewer)

[tomarken]

Rodgers tackled in his own end zone, fumbles the ball at the one and it's recovered by Vikings. Ruled on the field as a fumble, which would give Minnesota first and goal at about the 1 yard line with a 14 point lead and about 7 and a half minutes left in the 4th quarter.

McCarthy challenges the call, and upon review it is ruled that Rodgers was actually down in the end zone for a safety.

So instead of giving the Vikes the ball at the one, McCarthy opts to give them two points and the ball at their own 30 or so. Smart move?

 

[Man in the yellow hat]

Does it matter? It was over long before that.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Not only smart, there was no other move to make.

 

[Werewolf Moderator Fan]

Is he a genius if he doesn't realize it's going to be a safety when he challenges it?

 

[PizzaDeliveryGuy]

Not only smart, there was no other move to make.

No-brainer.

 

[rotorooter]

Rodgers tackled in his own end zone, fumbles the ball at the one and it's recovered by Vikings. Ruled on the field as a fumble, which would give Minnesota first and goal at about the 1 yard line with a 14 point lead and about 7 and a half minutes left in the 4th quarter.McCarthy challenges the call, and upon review it is ruled that Rodgers was actually down in the end zone for a safety. So instead of giving the Vikes the ball at the one, McCarthy opts to give them two points and the ball at their own 30 or so. Smart move?

still 2 score game. if vikes score a TD it would be over. it's likely over anyway.

 

[eoMMan]

shuke made a fine call there.

 

[stbugs]

Is he a genius if he doesn't realize it's going to be a safety when he challenges it?

He threw the flag almost instantly. I think he knew right away (from say Rodgers) that is wasn't a fumble. The replays on TV showing the knee being down came up after the challenge was made. The announcers that realized it was a safety on replay were saying how the review would come back with a safety.I don't think McCarthy was even thinking safety and I know I wasn't as a fan watching. It was pretty clear that the "fumble" occurred outside of the end zone, so I doubt there was any way without the TV replays for McCarthy or anyone on the GB staff to know Rodgers knee was down. There was no way that they wouldn't throw the flag at that point in the game. Worst case scenario, they lose a timeout.

 

[two_dollars]

Good call. Big difference between a 16pt and a 21pt game.

 

[SSOG]

Not only smart, there was no other move to make.

No-brainer.

Definitely.

 

[trader jake]

Is he a genius if he doesn't realize it's going to be a safety when he challenges it?

He threw the flag almost instantly. I think he knew right away (from say Rodgers) that is wasn't a fumble. The replays on TV showing the knee being down came up after the challenge was made. The announcers that realized it was a safety on replay were saying how the review would come back with a safety.I don't think McCarthy was even thinking safety and I know I wasn't as a fan watching. It was pretty clear that the "fumble" occurred outside of the end zone, so I doubt there was any way without the TV replays for McCarthy or anyone on the GB staff to know Rodgers knee was down. There was no way that they wouldn't throw the flag at that point in the game. Worst case scenario, they lose a timeout.

He had an entire commercial break to make a decision. Solid move. I recall Belichick taking an intentional safety late in a Monday night game a few years ago as well (had the snapper launch it over the punter's head while in the end zone).In the end it didn't work out for the Packers but McCarthy made the right call. If Sidney Rice doesn't grab one of those on side kicks maybe a miracle occurs.

 

[Corey's Carnage]

Yep - it was the ONLY move he could make to have a realistic chance at winning.

 

[moderated]

if there is any controversy over that call we need to question the sanity of the general public.

complete no brainer, of course you give them 2 instead of the ball at the 1 when giving them a safety would keep it a 2 score game.

 

[Sarnoff]

Can't not make that challenge.

Allowing first and goal at the one there is practically criminal.

 

[Sarnoff]

Follow up: Has a coach ever challenged before to assure the other team gets points?

 

[Lobary]

if there is any controversy over that call we need to question the sanity of the general public.complete no brainer, of course you give them 2 instead of the ball at the 1 when giving them a safety would keep it a 2 score game.

+1I can't believe this is even being discussed as a legitimate question.

 

[Sarnoff]

Is he a genius if he doesn't realize it's going to be a safety when he challenges it?

He threw the flag almost instantly. I think he knew right away (from say Rodgers) that is wasn't a fumble. The replays on TV showing the knee being down came up after the challenge was made. The announcers that realized it was a safety on replay were saying how the review would come back with a safety.I don't think McCarthy was even thinking safety and I know I wasn't as a fan watching. It was pretty clear that the "fumble" occurred outside of the end zone, so I doubt there was any way without the TV replays for McCarthy or anyone on the GB staff to know Rodgers knee was down. There was no way that they wouldn't throw the flag at that point in the game. Worst case scenario, they lose a timeout.

Right.Of all the possible results of the challenge (down outside the end zone, GB ball, or, down inside, safety, or, fumble and recoverd by MIN as ruled on the field), the worst would be to let the play stand as called. Win scenarios from "Down 14, opponent has the ball with first & goal on the one, less than 10 minutes in the game" are few and far between. "Down 16, kicking off" and "Down 14, 4th and 10 on the 1" are both better options to face. Doesn't really matter if his guys knew or saw the replay or not. Doesn't even matter if they saw the replay and it showed the ruling on the field was right... you have to challenge there no matter what because the play was an absolute Game Over. I'd say, even if the replay showed that Rodgers fumbled and MIN got it on the 1, throw the flag and hope the ref has a stroke while he's watching the video, because referee error at that point is more likely to lead to a win than letting MIN have the ball on the 1 uncontested. Sometimes, you just have to challenge. When the end result of a play on the field is so damaging to your team that it leaves no hope of recovery, just throw the red flag and pray. Tell the ref to look at the whole play, maybe they'll find a guy an inch offsides. Maybe there's some arcane rule that the ref doesn't know, or, doesn't know correctly and might misinterpret in your favor. Maybe the guy will see something that you've never even heard of. Doesn't matter. Worst case is a loss of a timeout in a game that's over anyway. Some situations are an absolute must challenge, and that play was one of them.

 

[themikus]

7pts

3pts

2pts

I know, this should be a pole.

 

[Ray]

Good call. Big difference between a 16pt and a 21pt game.

16 is even way better than 17.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

Good call. Big difference between a 16pt and a 21pt game.

16 is even way better than 17.

Right. You'd have to hold them on 3 downs and then block the field goal to make it a better play than taking the safety.

 

[GreenNGold]

Say McCarthy did not challenge this play. Would it have been correct for Chilly to challenge get the safety?

I think the answer to this question answers the OP.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Say McCarthy did not challenge this play. Would it have been correct for Chilly to challenge get the safety?

Probably not, but Childress is pretty dumb sometimes, so he probably would have.

 

[stbugs]

Is he a genius if he doesn't realize it's going to be a safety when he challenges it?

He threw the flag almost instantly. I think he knew right away (from say Rodgers) that is wasn't a fumble. The replays on TV showing the knee being down came up after the challenge was made. The announcers that realized it was a safety on replay were saying how the review would come back with a safety.I don't think McCarthy was even thinking safety and I know I wasn't as a fan watching. It was pretty clear that the "fumble" occurred outside of the end zone, so I doubt there was any way without the TV replays for McCarthy or anyone on the GB staff to know Rodgers knee was down. There was no way that they wouldn't throw the flag at that point in the game. Worst case scenario, they lose a timeout.

He had an entire commercial break to make a decision. Solid move. I recall Belichick taking an intentional safety late in a Monday night game a few years ago as well (had the snapper launch it over the punter's head while in the end zone).In the end it didn't work out for the Packers but McCarthy made the right call. If Sidney Rice doesn't grab one of those on side kicks maybe a miracle occurs.

He threw the flag instantly IIRC. I remember that the play itself hadn't even gotten a replay on TV yet when the play was challenged. The announcers talked over the replay and said that it looked like the challenge would actually result in a safety not a non-fumble ball at the half yard line. I don't remember a commercial break first. I thought the commercial break was actually done during the review time and right after the break the referee said the review resulted in the safety.The reason I am fairly certain about that is because I was in a ridiculously close game against Wheelhouse (0.9 diff before the game with both having 1 player left) and that 3 point play (safety and sack) got me enough cushion that Driver basically needed a TD to beat me. I pretty much paid attention to every Minnesota defensive possession.ETA: When down by 2 TDs that late, there was no choice for him to make. The worst case is that he loses a timeout. The best case is Minny gets no points and he gets to punt the ball.

 

[sho nuff]

Say McCarthy did not challenge this play. Would it have been correct for Chilly to challenge get the safety?I think the answer to this question answers the OP.

Or say they call it correct on the field...would Minny have been quick enough this time with the flag to get the safety rather than GB punting?Not blaming the refs...though that was terrible...just a crack for the first time chilly tried to challenge and they could not get the flag out.

 

[GreenNGold]

Say McCarthy did not challenge this play. Would it have been correct for Chilly to challenge get the safety?I think the answer to this question answers the OP.

Or say they call it correct on the field...would Minny have been quick enough this time with the flag to get the safety rather than GB punting?Not blaming the refs...though that was terrible...just a crack for the first time chilly tried to challenge and they could not get the flag out.

Yeah I don't understand how teams are so inept with challenges. Between that and MM's first challenge. Just horrendous.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Say McCarthy did not challenge this play. Would it have been correct for Chilly to challenge get the safety?

Absolutely not. You want the ball at the 1 yardline, 1st and goal. That's an easier decision than deciding whether or not to accept Jessica Biel's invitiation to go back to her place.I can only recall 1 time where this actually blew up in the face of the team that got the ball at the 1 yard line instead of a safety, and that was a college game. The 1995 Orange Bowl NU - Miami. (And even then, you could argue it helped NU out since TO pulled Berringer and put Frazier back in )