Worst Coaching Decision

[Hoosiernsavga]

Everything on here is unfortunate and definitely not the best calls. But the fake punt alignment was just stupid! 

[dodsworth]

Easily Pete Carol. I walked through the house cussing like a lunatic for 5 minutes straight with that bone head play call.....5 minutes is a very long time cussing while not taking a breath.

[21isSuperman]

Fake punt - this one had some merit to it, but it was poorly executed.  Whalen wasn't supposed to snap it, and even Pagano was seen on the sidelines saying "why did he snap it?", so I don't put this one on Pagano.  I think this was more McMahon's fault and Whalen's fault for having really bad situational awareness

 

4th and 2 - again, there's some reasoning behind this.  Belichick was scared of Peyton, so he'd rather risk going for it with Brady than punting and giving Peyton the ball back.  At least if you go for it, there's a chance you keep possession.  If you punt it, you 100% give possession to the other team

 

Seahawks pass - once again, there's some reasoning here.  I don't like the play itself, but passing makes sense as long as you pass to the corner/back of the endzone.  Their goal was to save time without using a timeout, so throwing it on an inside slant was an awful idea.  I have no problem with them wanting to throw a pass in that situation, but you have to throw it to the back of the endzone and put the ball where only your receiver can get it.

 

Falcons - this one makes absolutely no sense to me.  The only thing I can think of here is the element of surprise.  The Falcons got greedy.  I don't pin this one on Quinn, but on Shanahan.  I see no reason to be throwing the ball in those situations.  Plus, add in that this was in the Super Bowl, and that they were up by 25 points.  This is by far the worst one on the list

[UKColt13]

Pete Carroll.

 

The Pagano one wasn't really a bad coaching decision it was a bad play by Whalen because he hadn't been practicing as the snapper. A bad play by all involved but blame isn't squarely on Pagano's shoulders.

[life long]

1 hour ago, 21isSuperman said:

Fake punt - this one had some merit to it, but it was poorly executed.  Whalen wasn't supposed to snap it, and even Pagano was seen on the sidelines saying "why did he snap it?", so I don't put this one on Pagano.  I think this was more McMahon's fault and Whalen's fault for having really bad situational awareness

 

4th and 2 - again, there's some reasoning behind this.  Belichick was scared of Peyton, so he'd rather risk going for it with Brady than punting and giving Peyton the ball back.  At least if you go for it, there's a chance you keep possession.  If you punt it, you 100% give possession to the other team

 

Seahawks pass - once again, there's some reasoning here.  I don't like the play itself, but passing makes sense as long as you pass to the corner/back of the endzone.  Their goal was to save time without using a timeout, so throwing it on an inside slant was an awful idea.  I have no problem with them wanting to throw a pass in that situation, but you have to throw it to the back of the endzone and put the ball where only your receiver can get it.

 

Falcons - this one makes absolutely no sense to me.  The only thing I can think of here is the element of surprise.  The Falcons got greedy.  I don't pin this one on Quinn, but on Shanahan.  I see no reason to be throwing the ball in those situations.  Plus, add in that this was in the Super Bowl, and that they were up by 25 points.  This is by far the worst one on the list

I too voted falcons. The seahawks call was not that bad. It was Russells mistake not the play caller if he quickly threw that away they still have timeouts and more downs. The falcons however had a WHOLE HALF of awful decisions. Which led to the pats winning a SB they had no business being in by the 4th. At least the seahawks had to score and put it all on their qb. The falcons failed in every phase of the game after halftime. Has to be #1 IMO.

[NannyMcafee]

Pags said that he wasn't calling that play intentionally. Lol

[IndyScribe]

Falcons had many things lead to their collapse, but that play call certainly didn't help. 

 

I'd say trying to pass in the SB instead of giving it to Lynch. There's nothing wrong with passing, but they should have given it to Lynch, instead of trying to let Wilson be a hero. 

[BOTT]

1 hour ago, UKColt13 said:

Pete Carroll.

 

The Pagano one wasn't really a bad coaching decision it was a bad play by Whalen because he hadn't been practicing as the snapper. A bad play by all involved but blame isn't squarely on Pagano's shoulders.

Having Whalen out there when he hadn't practiced all week compounds the stupidity.

[UKColt13]

17 minutes ago, BOTT said:

Having Whalen out there when he hadn't practiced all week compounds the stupidity.

 

Agreed

[ReMeDy]

The Seahawks one was perfect sense from both teams and a good call! On that down and situation, the Seahawks knew they had time for three plays: a passing play and two runs. The predictable thing would be running it twice, then passing. Instead, the Seahawks reversed the order. The pass play itself was a quick inside slant -- considered a low-risk passing play -- and one the Seahawks had practiced a lot. Unfortunately, the Patriots also practiced against it (and with multiple players, not just Butler) because they knew the Seahawks liked to use it @ 4:55

 

It was good coaching by both teams. Now the Atlanta Falcons collapse, on the other hand... So far I haven't read a good reason explaining it.

 

[life long]

1 hour ago, ReMeDy said:

The Seahawks one made perfect sense from both teams and was a good call! On that down and situation, the Seahawks knew they had time for three plays: a passing play and two runs. The predictable thing to do would be running it twice, then passing. Instead, the Seahawks changed the order. The pass play itself was a quick inside slant, which was considered a low-risk passing play, and one the Seahawks had practiced a lot. Unfortunately, the Patriots also practiced against it (and with multiple players, not just Butler) because they knew the Seahawks liked to use it @ 4:55

 

It was good coaching by both teams. Now the Atlanta Falcons collapse, on the other hand... So far I haven't seen a GOOD reason that explains what they did.

 

Exactly, I am suprised the falcons didnt get more votes....

[Luck is Good]

Colts and Falcons calls are definitely the worst ones. I voted for the fake punt though. That was just completely stupid. I was at that game too. Holy crap

[superrep1967]

23 hours ago, SilentHill said:

It's easily this:

 

Pete Carol - Throwing on 2nd and Goal (SB) against Pats

 

The fake punt was not designed to go off like that, Colt Anderson & Griff Whalen messed it up, sure it was one of the worst plays in NFL history, but it was not executed as it was designed.

Yeah, But Pagano should never have run the play with guys who never practiced it due to injury. So it was all on Pagano. So it was the worst coaching decisions in NFL history it just wasn't for a super bowl or anything like that.  

[superrep1967]

16 minutes ago, Luck is Good said:

Colts and Falcons calls are definitely the worst ones. I voted for the fake punt though. That was just completely stupid. I was at that game too. Holy crap

Yeah. Pagano has made some stupid decisions that's for sure. You would think being an NFL head coach he'd be smarter than that but nope. 

[RockThatBlue]

1 hour ago, superrep1967 said:

Yeah. Pagano has made some stupid decisions that's for sure. You would think being an NFL head coach he'd be smarter than that but nope. 

The timeout at the end of the Lions game last year still confuses me.

[Luck is Good]

45 minutes ago, RockThatBlue said:

The timeout at the end of the Lions game last year still confuses me.

Good god yes. Should've let the clock run down as far as possible. Don't give the other team one more chance. We've seen it too many times where that leads to disaster

[RockThatBlue]

Just now, Luck is Good said:

Good god yes. Should've let the clock run down as far as possible. Don't give the other team one more chance. We've seen it too many times where that leads to disaster

Pagano defended the decision too IIRC. It was bad.

[BOTT]

2 hours ago, RockThatBlue said:

Pagano defended the decision too IIRC. It was bad.

When asked about it as the press conference he seemed to be confused to even why there was a question about it.  A mensa member he is not.

[Dark Superman]

As bad the the fake punk was, you gotta go with the Pete Carrol decision to throw the ball. That one play cost this the game and SB title. I remember Lynch literally carrying 4-5 guys down the field throughout that game.

[Peterk2011]

Imo, it's not even close. Coach decisions can't be pulled out of context and examined as a mathematical/physical model. Its real life, every decision has to be judged by it's importance. If you are a soldier, and make a big mistake during training, no one cares about it. If you commit a small mistake during a combat, it costs lifes.

 

I selected Carroll's call as the worst, because it was a single play, single big mistake, while Quinn's/Shanahan's were rather a series of escalating smaller mistakes. There is no excuse for Carroll for that call. I don't care if a call could "theroretically work", or was "theoretically right". The game is not an exam of theoretical cases, its real life. Each call must be called evaluating the game situation. In some situations a certain play can be a good decision, while in a different situation it can be a terrible decision. At that time, the Patriots defense was gashed. They held Lynch quite well in the first half, but as the game went by, they were completely gashed towards the end. Lynch run through their defense almost like there was no dline there. He did it in the entire drive. The Pats stacked the box and Lynch still run through them. They could've run the ball, they could've pass to the corner, they could've call an end around, a play action. Practically, anything but that pass to an inside slant, right into the stacked box.

 

The second worst was the Quinn/Shanahan one. As I said, imo it was rather a series of smaller mistakes. Not only at the end of their last drive, but in their previous one. They called a pass play on a 3&1 at their own 35 yard line, which led to a Ryan sack, fumble and turnover. Why didn't run there? They were 15 point ahead, and all they needed to do is to run the clock down. Then, in the last drive I didn't like a single call they made, except the very first one (a short to Freeman). I'm not saying all were terrible calls, but imo, they were not logicall calls there. The Julio Jones play for example. It was a miracle play, a fantastic catch from Jones, but why to call a deep pass? You call those deep passes when you are behind, so you HAVE to make plays, have to take risks. But not when you are ahead, and all you have to do is run the clock down. And, when, your QB has been sacked-fumbled-ball-lost just a few plays before, trying to go deep.

 

Regarding the fake punt, it was an embarrassing call, but I didn't care much about it - even at the time. I felt we were already out of the game, the Pats were clearly the better team, so i already booked the L there. Didn't really care how it happened. (Btw, I can't judge who made the mistake there? Did Pagano suppose to know that Whalen didn't even practice the play, or was it the ST coach responsibility not warning Pagano about it?)

 

The 4&2 itself wasn't a bad call imo. But Belichick made a mistake there by calling an unnecessarry timeout (allowing the Colts def to regroup, and loosing his last challenge).

[BOTT]

7 hours ago, Peterk2011 said:

Imo, it's not even close. Coach decisions can't be pulled out of context and examined as a mathematical/physical model. Its real life, every decision has to be judged by it's importance. If you are a soldier, and make a big mistake during training, no one cares about it. If you commit a small mistake during a combat, it costs lifes.

 

I selected Carroll's call as the worst, because it was a single play, single big mistake, while Quinn's/Shanahan's were rather a series of escalating smaller mistakes. There is no excuse for Carroll for that call. I don't care if a call could "theroretically work", or was "theoretically right". The game is not an exam of theoretical cases, its real life. Each call must be called evaluating the game situation. In some situations a certain play can be a good decision, while in a different situation it can be a terrible decision. At that time, the Patriots defense was gashed. They held Lynch quite well in the first half, but as the game went by, they were completely gashed towards the end. Lynch run through their defense almost like there was no dline there. He did it in the entire drive. The Pats stacked the box and Lynch still run through them. They could've run the ball, they could've pass to the corner, they could've call an end around, a play action. Practically, anything but that pass to an inside slant, right into the stacked box.

 

The second worst was the Quinn/Shanahan one. As I said, imo it was rather a series of smaller mistakes. Not only at the end of their last drive, but in their previous one. They called a pass play on a 3&1 at their own 35 yard line, which led to a Ryan sack, fumble and turnover. Why didn't run there? They were 15 point ahead, and all they needed to do is to run the clock down. Then, in the last drive I didn't like a single call they made, except the very first one (a short to Freeman). I'm not saying all were terrible calls, but imo, they were not logicall calls there. The Julio Jones play for example. It was a miracle play, a fantastic catch from Jones, but why to call a deep pass? You call those deep passes when you are behind, so you HAVE to make plays, have to take risks. But not when you are ahead, and all you have to do is run the clock down. And, when, your QB has been sacked-fumbled-ball-lost just a few plays before, trying to go deep.

 

Regarding the fake punt, it was an embarrassing call, but I didn't care much about it - even at the time. I felt we were already out of the game, the Pats were clearly the better team, so i already booked the L there. Didn't really care how it happened. (Btw, I can't judge who made the mistake there? Did Pagano suppose to know that Whalen didn't even practice the play, or was it the ST coach responsibility not warning Pagano about it?)

 

The 4&2 itself wasn't a bad call imo. But Belichick made a mistake there by calling an unnecessarry timeout (allowing the Colts def to regroup, and loosing his last challenge).

The colts were down 6 with a minute to go in the 3rd.

[coltsfeva]

1 hour ago, BOTT said:

The colts were down 6 with a minute to go in the 3rd.

Agreed. The Colts came out strong in that game (can we credit Pagano for that) and went toe to toe with the Pats. They had a shot in that game until....That being said, the Seahawks fiasco was heartbreaking. I remember how happy I was to KNOW the Pats were going to lose and then...The gift ring. What if Pete Caroll thought we are going to run it, try and stop us? Makes perfect sense to me, with THAT back, 1 yard out, a timeout and 3 tries. Funny how. people are giving other coaches a "pass" but not Pagano. Truth is, they were all bone head plays and all coaches make mistakes, but from the "risk-reward" perspective, for me, that Seahawks Decision was the worst I've ever seen. 

[VaAllDay757]

On Fri May 19 2017 at 5:36 PM, Lucky Colts Fan said:

 

Did you watch it live?  Were you also jumping up and down yelling at the TV?  I mean, I get worked up during games, but I have never yelled at the TV like I did when that happened...

 

   

Yeah I almost broke my tv

[BOTT]

8 hours ago, coltsfeva said:

Agreed. The Colts came out strong in that game (can we credit Pagano for that) and went toe to toe with the Pats. They had a shot in that game until....That being said, the Seahawks fiasco was heartbreaking. I remember how happy I was to KNOW the Pats were going to lose and then...The gift ring. What if Pete Caroll thought we are going to run it, try and stop us? Makes perfect sense to me, with THAT back, 1 yard out, a timeout and 3 tries. Funny how. people are giving other coaches a "pass" but not Pagano. Truth is, they were all bone head plays and all coaches make mistakes, but from the "risk-reward" perspective, for me, that Seahawks Decision was the worst I've ever seen. 

I think people are critical of the Seahawks because of the result.  Throwing on 2nd and goal is fairly common in the NFL.  Wilson didn't have to throw a pick.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

On 5/19/2017 at 1:44 PM, Buddy Lee said:

The fake punt was an ill-conceived play run with Griff Whalen who hadn't even practiced it. It had no chance. At least the others had a chance.

 

Knowing Griff had no experience with it, it shouldn't have happened.  However, if you listen to Anderson and others after the game, they say the way it was practiced was to not run it if the Pats reacted like that.  Griff panicked, and the play was executed poorly.

 

However, the ball wasn't supposed to be snapped.  It was a play designed to get some free yards or to take a delay of game and just punt anyway.  I'll put some blame on Chuck and the STs coach for allowing a guy who hadn't practiced the play to be under center, but I don't think it was the worst coaching mistake.

 

 

On 5/19/2017 at 10:04 PM, BOTT said:

Pagano.  The other plays weren't that bad really,

 

Marshawn was averaging 4.25 yards a carry and the Pats were showing no signs of slowing him down late in the game.  It was 2nd and 1 -- I think you have to hand him the ball there, then call timeout and throw on 3rd down if you have to.  It was a bad call, IMO, though Carrol was coaching an otherwise very good game.  I think given the stakes, that was the worst call on the list.

 

Atlanta made a bad mistake with Quinn's call on the play you reference, but it wasn't just that play.  Given overall performance in a big game, I think Quinn's/Falcons' debacle has to be up there.

[BOTT]

55 minutes ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

 

Knowing Griff had no experience with it, it shouldn't have happened.  However, if you listen to Anderson and others after the game, they say the way it was practiced was to not run it if the Pats reacted like that.  Griff panicked, and the play was executed poorly.

 

However, the ball wasn't supposed to be snapped.  It was a play designed to get some free yards or to take a delay of game and just punt anyway.  I'll put some blame on Chuck and the STs coach for allowing a guy who hadn't practiced the play to be under center, but I don't think it was the worst coaching mistake.

 

 

 

Marshawn was averaging 4.25 yards a carry and the Pats were showing no signs of slowing him down late in the game.  It was 2nd and 1 -- I think you have to hand him the ball there, then call timeout and throw on 3rd down if you have to.  It was a bad call, IMO, though Carrol was coaching an otherwise very good game.  I think given the stakes, that was the worst call on the list.

 

Atlanta made a bad mistake with Quinn's call on the play you reference, but it wasn't just that play.  Given overall performance in a big game, I think Quinn's/Falcons' debacle has to be up there.

It was questionable, but not this horrible call it's been made out to be.  Rolling Wilson out and making him a threat to run would have been the best option imo.

 

The Falcons just screwed up the whole 2nd half.  I can't nail that down to one play.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

13 minutes ago, BOTT said:

It was questionable, but not this horrible call it's been made out to be.  Rolling Wilson out and making him a threat to run would have been the best option imo.

 

The Falcons just screwed up the whole 2nd half.  I can't nail that down to one play.

 

It was still a call made with the game on the line with no way out.  At least, in defense of Pagano, the punt play was not supposed to have been snapped (against Pagano is, it shouldn't have been run with a guy who never practiced it).  Geathers was supposed to be under center but got hurt earlier that game.

 

http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/why-did-whalen-snap-it-real-reason-makes-colts-look-worse

[King Colt]

Giants vs. Philly  one play left with the Giants winning  just take a knee  but instead they decide to hand the ball off to Csonka   he fumbles   the Eagles pick it up and run it in for six and win.. 

[King Colt]

Don Shula deciding one perfect season was enough instead of back-to-back perfect seasons. What a jerk! ;)

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, King Colt said:

Don Shula deciding one perfect season was enough instead of back-to-back perfect seasons. What a jerk! ;)

How about us not going for 16-0 in 2009 when it was clear we would've. That was awesome wasn't it?? I think that was more of a Polian thing though than it was Caldwell. That was perhaps the maddest I have ever been as a Colts fan.

[2006Coltsbestever]

7 minutes ago, King Colt said:

Giants vs. Philly  one play left with the Giants winning  just take a knee  but instead they decide to hand the ball off to Csonka   he fumbles   the Eagles pick it up and run it in for six and win.. 

Yep

[CoachLite]

On 5/20/2017 at 2:32 PM, superrep1967 said:

Yeah, But Pagano should never have run the play with guys who never practiced it due to injury. So it was all on Pagano. So it was the worst coaching decisions in NFL history it just wasn't for a super bowl or anything like that.  

I agree with this as the worst coaching decision. Why? It shows that Pagano did not have confidence in the Colts as a team to be able to win the game, believing he needed a "trick play" to compete with the Patriots (particularly Belichick). The game was close at that point. It went downhill fast.

[King Colt]

18 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

How about us not going for 16-0 in 2009 when it was clear we would've. That was awesome wasn't it?? I think that was more of a Polian thing though than it was Caldwell. That was perhaps the maddest I have ever been as a Colts fan.

Yes, that was sorry. It was throwing personal pride out the window. I wonder what the talk was in the locker room.

[crazycolt1]

18 hours ago, King Colt said:

Giants vs. Philly  one play left with the Giants winning  just take a knee  but instead they decide to hand the ball off to Csonka   he fumbles   the Eagles pick it up and run it in for six and win.. 

It was picked up and returned for a TD by Herm Edwards.

[crazycolt1]

18 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

How about us not going for 16-0 in 2009 when it was clear we would've. That was awesome wasn't it?? I think that was more of a Polian thing though than it was Caldwell. That was perhaps the maddest I have ever been as a Colts fan.

I totally agree with this. Plays during the game can go wrong quick but having this pre determined was as bad as it could get IMO.

[Buddy Lee]

On 5/19/2017 at 4:55 PM, SilentHill said:

It's easily this:

 

Pete Carol - Throwing on 2nd and Goal (SB) against Pats

 

The fake punt was not designed to go off like that, Colt Anderson & Griff Whalen messed it up, sure it was one of the worst plays in NFL history, but it was not executed as it was designed.

A good reason that it didn't go off as designed is that Griff Whalen was never in on the practice for it. He was thrown in a the last second without good knowledge as to how the play was supposed to go. That is more poor coaching than poor execution.

[Buddy Lee]

On 5/21/2017 at 5:32 PM, ColtsFanMikeC said:

 

Knowing Griff had no experience with it, it shouldn't have happened.  However, if you listen to Anderson and others after the game, they say the way it was practiced was to not run it if the Pats reacted like that.  Griff panicked, and the play was executed poorly.

 

However, the ball wasn't supposed to be snapped.  It was a play designed to get some free yards or to take a delay of game and just punt anyway.  I'll put some blame on Chuck and the STs coach for allowing a guy who hadn't practiced the play to be under center, but I don't think it was the worst coaching mistake.

 

 

 

Marshawn was averaging 4.25 yards a carry and the Pats were showing no signs of slowing him down late in the game.  It was 2nd and 1 -- I think you have to hand him the ball there, then call timeout and throw on 3rd down if you have to.  It was a bad call, IMO, though Carrol was coaching an otherwise very good game.  I think given the stakes, that was the worst call on the list.

 

Atlanta made a bad mistake with Quinn's call on the play you reference, but it wasn't just that play.  Given overall performance in a big game, I think Quinn's/Falcons' debacle has to be up there.

I just read today that Marshawn Lynch had been stuffed twice in a row on short yardage plays earlier in the game. Maybe Carroll didn't want to practice Einstein's definition of insanity.

[indyagent17]

The fake punt not only because Pagano let that play go on but the entire line was offside. Call a timeout and punt!

[deedub75]

Seahawks play was poorly executed more than it was a bad call. If Wilson puts that pass in the correct spot, it's a TD and everyone thinks Carroll is a genius. 

 

The fake whatever was just plain stupid especially against the Patriots. They're too disciplined to fall for that. 

[jameszeigler834]

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 3:51 PM, Majin Vegeta said:

The Falcons collapse was one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen. 

That game was fixed.