i think we should have let the cowboys score a td in the last 2 minutes

Play some more Madden.

i actually haven't played madden in years but thats what i use to do in those rare occasions. anyway, it would be nice if you shared your thoughts instead of saying what you said. i guess that's too much to ask.

"RickyNeverInhaled wrote:

i actually haven't played madden in years but thats what i use to do in those rare occasions. anyway, it would be nice if you shared your thoughts instead of saying what you said. i guess that's too much to ask.

Or we could've just played some defense. Or covered the punt properly.

well i agree, it has happened before, if we let them score at least we have a chance to get the ball back and then its about us not them

"PSG wrote:

Or we could've just played some defense. Or covered the punt properly.

there's a lot of different things we could have done. we could have made the field goal we missed, we could have not fumbled the shot gun snap and put them in a position to score a td on the next play. ect, ect, blah, blah, blah.

I'm talking about doing the best thing possible in the exact same scenario we were in at the end of the game.

I think that if we would have let them score there would have been some serious discussions today about how Sparano can't trust his defense to come up with a stop. While it may have made sense in the short term, in the long term it's more of a signal that we have no faith in our defense - and that's something that can tear a team apart.

Kind of like a reverse Baltimore Ravens situation from a few years back.

I agree with the OP. I was watching the game thinking once they were that close, let them get the TD and get the ball back with a chance to tie. Knowing Sparano, though, he would have run the ball and let the clock tick down anyways.

"Vengeful Odin wrote:

I think that if we would have let them score there would have been some serious discussions today about how Sparano can't trust his defense to come up with a stop. While it may have made sense in the short term, in the long term it's more of a signal that we have no faith in our defense - and that's something that can tear a team apart.

Kind of like a reverse Baltimore Ravens situation from a few years back.

i agree. but there's no denying that it would have been smarter. you can always have a talk with the defense and explain yourself in the press conference. the problem is even if the defense holds up and stops them from getting a td, like we did, they still get a field goal and win. so the discussion you have with your defense is, hey i know you guys can stop them from getting a td, but we know we'll lose. so lets let them score. its not because i don't have faith in you guys, its because i know we will lose.

i think the only thing that keeps people from wanting to do this is because its never been done, except for when i've done it in madden years ago. lol. it works.

"dolfan32323 wrote:

I agree with the OP. I was watching the game thinking once they were that close, let them get the TD and get the ball back with a chance to tie. Knowing Sparano, though, he would have run the ball and let the clock tick down anyways.

the key phrase is "once they were that close". that's exactly they way i thought. i meant to say that in my original post. i'm glad you said it. i have more faith in our defense then i do in our offense. i was hoping to stop them and get the ball back from a punt but once they got close enough for a field goal i still had faith the defense could stop them from getting a td but i knew a field goal would cause us to lose. so the only thing that gives us a chance is to let them score a td with time on the clock.

I agree with this. Was thinking the same exact thing. Very rare for me but the situation dictated that thinking.
Eating time outs and letting the cowboys run out the clock for an easy FG wasn't going to win the football game.
You let them punch it in and we have a shot. I don't think it would be a question of whether Sparano believed in his defense to stop them. They were going to score anyway and win the game. I say give yourself at least some sort of chance to win.
I hate to say it but by not giving up on that drive they gave up on the game.

Let the other team score a TD? On purpose?
The Superfans around here must be pissed.....:lol:

It crossed my mind at the time but thought it might have been better for Wake to have pushed the runner out of bounds rather than tackle him which may have saved a little time and a TO. Not that it would have been easy to think that in the heat of the game.

"PSG wrote:

Let the other team score a TD? On purpose?
The Superfans around here must be pissed.....:lol:

no matter what happens, someone will always be pissed in a forum. lol

"Killerphins wrote:

I agree with this. Was thinking the same exact thing. Very rare for me but the situation dictated that thinking.
Eating time outs and letting the cowboys run out the clock for an easy FG wasn't going to win the football game.
You let them punch it in and we have a shot. I don't think it would be a question of whether Sparano believed in his defense to stop them. They were going to score anyway and win the game. I say give yourself at least some sort of chance to win.
I hate to say it but by not giving up on that drive they gave up on the game.

i couldn't have said it better. there's nothing wrong with doing whatever it takes to win within the rules.

"dolfan32323 wrote:

I agree with the OP. I was watching the game thinking once they were that close, let them get the TD and get the ball back with a chance to tie. Knowing Sparano, though, he would have run the ball and let the clock tick down anyways.

We would have been going for the win, not a tie.

I think it has a lot to do with the HC having confidence in the offense. Given the offense had another 4 times in the red zone that resulted in FGs and no TDs Sparano was probably praying for a botched FG hoping Dallas would lose the game rather than Miami's offense being able to win the game.

I do like the strategy depending on context. Almost worked for GB against Denver in the Super Bowl.

Yes once Dallas got inside the 20 they should have let them score. Getting the ball back behind by 5 is much better than not getting it back at all.

Guys, sometimes you hear funny things...

The reason we are 3-8 is because we cannot score more than 20 points on any good and sometimes average Defense...

...and Not because we give up to many points...

Scored 13 against Houston...
Scored 16 against Cleve...
Scored 16 against SD...
Scored 6 against the Jets...
Scored 17 against the Giants...

So we are going to let them score a quick TD... you first will loose the respect of the team if you go that way... then you you will loose the ball on downs, because like I said you as a HC will have lost the respect of your team...

"PSG wrote:

Let the other team score a TD? On purpose?
The Superfans around here must be pissed.....:lol:

You're just mad because you ordered your Luck jersey and have to put it away in a closet.

"Disnardo wrote:

Guys, sometimes you hear funny things...

The reason we are 3-8 is because we cannot score more than 20 points on any good and sometimes average Defense...

...and Not because we give up to many points...

Scored 13 against Houston...
Scored 16 against Cleve...
Scored 16 against SD...
Scored 6 against the Jets...
Scored 17 against the Giants...

So we are going to let them score a quick TD... you first will loose the respect of the team if you go that way... then you you will loose the ball on downs, because like I said you as a HC will have lost the respect of your team...

There was no way we were going to get the ball back once Dallas got into fg range. We were not able to stop the clock and Dallas fully dictated when they wanted to kick that FG. I don't care if we put up goose eggs in every other loss we've had up until that one. If we wanted a chance to come back and win, we needed to get the ball. Allowing Dallas to kick a FG as time expired obviously does not put us in position to win that game.

You send everyone except for man coverage until you stop them or score. Letting them milk the clock inside the 35 is myopic.

"Vengeful Odin wrote:

I think that if we would have let them score there would have been some serious discussions today about how Sparano can't trust his defense to come up with a stop. While it may have made sense in the short term, in the long term it's more of a signal that we have no faith in our defense - and that's something that can tear a team apart.

Kind of like a reverse Baltimore Ravens situation from a few years back.

Once they moved into FG territory there was no more "stop" they are past that.

"dolfan32323 wrote:

There was no way we were going to get the ball back once Dallas got into fg range. We were not able to stop the clock and Dallas fully dictated when they wanted to kick that FG. I don't care if we put up goose eggs in every other loss we've had up until that one. If we wanted a chance to come back and win, we needed to get the ball. Allowing Dallas to kick a FG as time expired obviously does not put us in position to win that game.

and would have that guaranteed we have scored???

Offensively we could not have maintained possession before when we needed to, what makes anyone thing we could have scored with even 1:30 on the clock, against a D that was making life misserable for our OL???

Let's be realistic here and not a bit delusional???

Aqua, I understand, but you need to understand that 1:30 from the 5 yards from the GL is a bit different than 2:00 from your own 35 YL...

interesting. i was thinking this tactic was only done by me in madden. lmao. this has happened before? if so, do you think it was coached or did it just happen? do you think the players involved thought it was best to let that happen or do you think the coach was smart enough to coach that? or did they players involved actually get beat?

"Aqua4Ever04 wrote:

Well it would be nice to have a time machine, but at that point they were already in field goal range, we were out of timeouts, and they were going to be able to run the clock out and line up a field goal. The OP is absolutely right, letting them score once they came to within a 40 yard field goal is absolutely the right move.

Remember in 2008 in Houston when there was a minute and a half left and the Texans only had one time out? We had fist and goal from the 5 and Ronnie Brown ran on in where the Texans seemingly let him go in for the score. Rather than allowing us to run the ball three times and kick essentially a PAT for the win, they let us go ahead by five, saved time, and mounted a game winning drive.