Post by Guvmintcheeze on Oct 28, 2014 21:31:07 GMT
Dirk Koetter defends late-game pass play
By Vaughn McClure | ESPN.com
Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter had no issue with calling a screen pass to Julio Jones in the final minutes of Sunday's 22-21 loss to the Detroit Lions.
The short pass play on third-and-10 from the Lions' 40-yard line was dropped by Jones, stopping the clock with 1 minutes, 46 remaining in regulation with the Lions out of timeouts. The time added up as the Lions won on a Matt Prater last-second 48-yard field goal.
"When that drive started, we were actually thinking that we needed to score," Koetter explained of the four-minute drill. "We were up by two. We were actually thinking, with four minutes left and they had all three timeouts, we were thinking score.
"We went to third down on the first set and Harry [Douglas] made a fantastic catch on wheel route. Then we went another run. And we threw a wide receiver screen to Julio on second-and-long, 22-yard gain. Now it's the two-minute warning. We get the hold on second down. When we had got the first screen to Julio, we were on the 39-yard line. So we're 4 yards off what we say is our imaginary field goal line, where Matt Bryant is pretty much automatic when we get it to the 35."
But Falcons rookie center James Stone was called for offensive holding on a run by Steven Jackson, stopping the clock.
"And we lost a yard on that, so we're back to the 40-yard line," Koetter continued. "So it's third-and-10. We need 10 for a first down that will win the game. We need 5 for a field goal that will extend our lead to they have to get a touchdown instead of a field goal. You've gotta think about your options there.
"Sure, you can run the ball, run the clock out 40 seconds, punt it. That's one of the plays you can make. I chose to go with trying to put the ball in our playmaker's hands with blockers in front of him on a play that had just worked for an explosive plays a little bit before that."
Instead, the end result was an incompletion after the Jones drop.
"It didn't even enter my mind that that would be an incomplete pass," Koetter said. "I mean, I look at that play as an extended running play; a perimeter run with your wide receiver running it and blockers in front of him. It did not even enter my mind that the clock would stop because we complete that pass every time.
"If I had it to do over again, I'd do the exact same thing because I'm trying to get us at least in field goal range and possibly get a first down to win the game. We don't have any runs that are going to gain us 10 yards against a stacked box. They got us outnumbered. It's just going to be tough duty. So, you're almost saying, 'OK, we give up. We're going to let our defense play against the clock.' We didn't play it that way."
By Vaughn McClure | ESPN.com
Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter had no issue with calling a screen pass to Julio Jones in the final minutes of Sunday's 22-21 loss to the Detroit Lions.
The short pass play on third-and-10 from the Lions' 40-yard line was dropped by Jones, stopping the clock with 1 minutes, 46 remaining in regulation with the Lions out of timeouts. The time added up as the Lions won on a Matt Prater last-second 48-yard field goal.
"When that drive started, we were actually thinking that we needed to score," Koetter explained of the four-minute drill. "We were up by two. We were actually thinking, with four minutes left and they had all three timeouts, we were thinking score.
"We went to third down on the first set and Harry [Douglas] made a fantastic catch on wheel route. Then we went another run. And we threw a wide receiver screen to Julio on second-and-long, 22-yard gain. Now it's the two-minute warning. We get the hold on second down. When we had got the first screen to Julio, we were on the 39-yard line. So we're 4 yards off what we say is our imaginary field goal line, where Matt Bryant is pretty much automatic when we get it to the 35."
But Falcons rookie center James Stone was called for offensive holding on a run by Steven Jackson, stopping the clock.
"And we lost a yard on that, so we're back to the 40-yard line," Koetter continued. "So it's third-and-10. We need 10 for a first down that will win the game. We need 5 for a field goal that will extend our lead to they have to get a touchdown instead of a field goal. You've gotta think about your options there.
"Sure, you can run the ball, run the clock out 40 seconds, punt it. That's one of the plays you can make. I chose to go with trying to put the ball in our playmaker's hands with blockers in front of him on a play that had just worked for an explosive plays a little bit before that."
Instead, the end result was an incompletion after the Jones drop.
"It didn't even enter my mind that that would be an incomplete pass," Koetter said. "I mean, I look at that play as an extended running play; a perimeter run with your wide receiver running it and blockers in front of him. It did not even enter my mind that the clock would stop because we complete that pass every time.
"If I had it to do over again, I'd do the exact same thing because I'm trying to get us at least in field goal range and possibly get a first down to win the game. We don't have any runs that are going to gain us 10 yards against a stacked box. They got us outnumbered. It's just going to be tough duty. So, you're almost saying, 'OK, we give up. We're going to let our defense play against the clock.' We didn't play it that way."