Grantland: Punting on 4th-and-1 candidate for worst coaching move of the year

[Delhommey]

If you don't trust your team to pick up one yard with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, why did you spend close to $50 million on running backs?

Let me quote that a few more times...

If you don't trust your team to pick up one yard with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, why did you spend close to $50 million on running backs?

If you don't trust your team to pick up one yard with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, why did you spend close to $50 million on running backs?

If you don't trust your team to pick up one yard with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, why did you spend close to $50 million on running backs?

If you don't trust your team to pick up one yard with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, why did you spend close to $50 million on running backs?

[Fox007]

I would like Delhommey's post 1,000 times if i could.

Common sense isn't so common.

[SuperMan]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

It isn't hindsight when we were all calling for it...

I nearly broke my TV when he didn't go for it.

[Toundra]

Their is no bad or good decision in a situation like this.

This is 50/50, you play you win you'r a hero, you play you loose you' a looser.

[SuperMan]

Even if we go for it and DON'T make it... no one is sitting here blaming him for losing aggressively. Most people in the press and the fans would prefer, if you're going to lose you lose firing every bullet in the gun. You can't fault a coach as badly if you try to win a game and you lose bc of it.

Just a horrible decision by Rivera and I'll never get past it. I'm done with him.

This is my point, If we go for it and don't make it.... We at least had our best unit out there trying to ice the game for us not the worst.

Play to win!

[TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam]

This is my point, If we go for it and don't make it.... We had least had our best unit out there trying to ice the game for us not the worst.

Play to win!

Exactly. And believe me--as I thought to myself during the delay of the measurement and review--if we DID NOT make it on 4th and inches I promise we wouldn't be sitting here feeling like this today even if Atlanta goes on to win... Rivera wouldn't have left himself open to that type of second guessing that at least for me will last forever. I will never get over this loss, no matter what he does here. He showed me what lies beneath him and what his legacy will ultimately be in the big spots, I saw all I needed to see. Rivera doesn't have what it takes with it all on the line.

[SuperMan]

Exactly. And believe me--as I thought to myself during the delay of the measurement and review--if we DID NOT make it on 4th and inches I promise we wouldn't be sitting here feeling like this today even if Atlanta goes on to win... Rivera wouldn't have left himself open to that type of second guessing that at least for me will last forever. I will never get over this loss, no matter what he does here. He showed me what lies beneath him and what his legacy will ultimately be in the big spots, I saw all I needed to see. Rivera doesn't have what it takes with it all on the line.

I didn't hesitate at all, I and all the other Panther fans at the bar were screaming go for it as soon as it became appearent that the fumble made us short of the first.

We were less than 1 yard from victory and Riveras sackless ass blew it.

[Actionman0z]

I do not buy this for one second. If we go for it, and do not get the first down, they need 15 yards for a FG. I maybe go for it if we are up by 4+, but not where a FG wins it. To down it at the 1 is the best possible scenario. There is no way that should ever happen, but it did.

As a coach I'd have fired/cut Nakamura on the spot. He's been awful all year. We lost this game because we cannot get off the field on 3rd down. Two plays to Tony Gonzales stand out in my mind. First where Beason missed, and then the one where TD missed. If Cam does not fumble, we get the first and win. It was a bad series of plays against arguably the best team in the league. To summarize, "It is what it is."

[TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam]

I do not buy this for one second. If we go for it, and do not get the first down, they need 15 yards for a FG. I maybe go for it if we are up by 4+, but not where a FG wins it. To down it at the 1 is the best possible scenario. There is no way that should ever happen, but it did.

As a coach I'd have fired/cut Nakamura on the spot. He's been awful all year. We lost this game because we cannot get off the field on 3rd down. Two plays to Tony Gonzales stand out in my mind. First where Beason missed, and then the one where TD missed. If Cam does not fumble, we get the first and win. It was a bad series of plays against arguably the best team in the league. To summarize, "It is what it is."

Well, you along with Rivera would have made the wrong move.

Do you think it would draw such harsh criticism outside Carolina if Rivera truly made the right call?

[Montsta]

There is a reason they call a Hail Mary a Hail Mary. Because you are throwing up a prayer. I'd like one of these stat guys to look up how many teams have driven 95+ yards successfully with less than a minute left and no timeouts to win a game. I'm sure it's been done less than 1% in those scenarios in NFL history. Our defensive players and coaching are bad at a historical NFL level. They'll be an answer to a sports trivia question someday.

[thatlookseasy]

I would just like to point out that having the punt downed at the 1 was really lucky too- we were inches away from giving them the ball on the 20.

Serious question to those who thought punting was the right move- were you actually confident that the defense was going to stop them? Because I was terrified of their WRs coming back on the field

[thatlookseasy]

There is a reason they call a Hail Mary a Hail Mary. Because you are throwing up a prayer. I'd like one of these stat guys to look up how many teams have driven 95+ yards successfully with less than a minute left and no timeouts to win a game. I'm sure it's been done less than 1% in those scenarios in NFL history. Our defensive players and coaching are bad at a historical NFL level. They'll be an answer to a sports trivia question someday.

They didnt have to go 95 yards, they needed about 65-70. With the Panthers secondary that is not really that far. 3-4 long pass plays would do it normally, we just decided to let them do it really quickly

[SZ James (banned)]

Do you think it would draw such harsh criticism outside Carolina if Rivera truly made the right call?

This a million times. I wonder who would be calling it the wrong call if Rivera went for it.

If we won I doubt that people would be as condescending with the WHY AREN'T YOU A HEAD COACH THEN crap

[X-Clown]

There is a reason they call a Hail Mary a Hail Mary. Because you are throwing up a prayer. I'd like one of these stat guys to look up how many teams have driven 95+ yards successfully with less than a minute left and no timeouts to win a game. I'm sure it's been done less than 1% in those scenarios in NFL history. Our defensive players and coaching are bad at a historical NFL level. They'll be an answer to a sports trivia question someday.

If we're going to look at this from a stats perspective, you'd also want to analyze the chances that a punt would get downed at the one yard line. The much more likely outcome of that play is that it's a touchback, which, had that happened the move would be even more indefensible.