BGO Blind Pig: Commanders Wildcard Victory - on to Detroit!

[Boone]

The Pigs revel in an incredible playoff win in Tampa Bay and wonder if Washington can pull off another surprise against the Lions Saturday night.

 

[Utah]

Just to add a little frame of mind of coaches during playoff games on the road. You hear DQ talk all the time about energy and what he is feeling on the sideline. For some damn reason, FGs feel like a positive moment for the home team. I have had the chance at many clinics to talk with coaches on all levels and the general feeling is it sucks for the away team if that's all you can get. I can tell you this, I have never heard a great defined answer. Just the general feeling for the away team. I can tell you also from experience, the phrase "SH*T....FG.....get out there. Damnit" And your always pissed.

And yes, if the FG is for the win.....perfect, wonderful......exactly how we drew it up.

 

[burgold]

That’s interesting. To build on that how often have we heard that holding a team to a field goal was a victory for the defense.

 

[Utah]

Football is just annoying that way.

It reminds me, back in '05 or so I think, we were playing a high school here (Bingham) in the playoffs and they had a kid who ended up going to BYU to kick. On Kick offs, the kids goal was to put the ball through the up rights and he had a 92% success rate at that according to one of his coaches. It was nuts. We actually had coaches who wanted to target the kicker. Yes they were idiots, but if they crossed mid field, this kid could have a legitimate shot at putting 3 points on the board. Mind you, their offense was crazy good. So as the defensive coach, holding them to a field goal meant you kept them on their side of the field. Talk about a paradigm shift in coaching and strategy.

 

[Boone]

Here's the most obvious point of them all (and I think this was alluded to in the pod by Derek)... Let's assume we find ourselves in two 4th down situations... If you are going to argue that 'going for it' on those two 4th downs is foolhardy, then you'd better be prepared to guarantee those two FG attempts are successful. You can't miss if that's your argument. The maximum benefit is 6 points, and again, that's assuming nothing goes wrong. And God knows, with kickers, nothing ever ever goes wrong.

On the other hand , when going for it, we could keep drives alive that could potentially result in 16 points. Yes - that's not likely. But a 7 point end result from 2 potential drives? Now that doesn't sound impossible. And we've shown all season long, it is QUITE possible we deliver a TD on one of those two opportunities.

It's a trade off. 'Take the points'? Fine. But it's just 3 points. 'Go for it'? It's a risk, but the reward is greater.

I think their are justifications and rationales for either decision. But those that argue 'going for it' is 'irresponsible' or 'foolish' completely miss the point of the strategy.

 

[CapsCommies]

If you convert 4th down at 50% and go for it twice, you can expect to walk away with 7 points vs. 6 if you kick two field goals. Plus we don't have a kicker who's automatic so you need to actually make the kick.

By the way, going for it demonstrates belief in both the offense (that you'll convert) and the defense (that they'll make the stop and get the ball back if you fail). It is a core part of this team's identity.

At the end of the day, I trust Jayden Daniels leading our offense more than I trust Zane Gonzalez. And if we're going to beat Detroit, we need touchdowns not field goals. It's a race to 30 and you won't get there with 3's.

 

[Utah]

Football is always situational and you have 22 players you have to take into account as to what the best choice is at that crucial moment. I love that DQ has these guys ready to go for 4 downs so there is no let up after whatever happens on 3rd down. He has this teams frame of mind as aggressive and that plays a huge part in us being so focused on these plays. Brilliant set up by him that he started back on day 1. It also makes it easier for DQ to make those choices early in a series as he has the pulse of the team and he can focus Kliff and allow him to be in a great position to succeed. That, of course, is all set up by the prep done going into the game. It is such a great template to follow. The results show.