Coaches punt on fourth down too often. They play not to lose when just a little bit of aggressiveness would help a ton.
Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn didn’t play not to lose on Sunday. And he’ll probably be shredded for his decision.
On the Falcons’ first possession of overtime, they faced fourth-and-1 at their own 45. Most coaches would punt there, but Quinn left his offense on the field even after a timeout to think it over. It was an interesting gamble, and it had a terrible result. Devonta Freeman was given a handoff off left tackle and he was stopped for a 1-yard loss. It’s not like the Chargers couldn’t have seen that play coming.
The Chargers (who were happy to finally catch a fortunate break after so many tough losses this season) took over in Falcons’ territory, gained a few yards and kicked a game-winning field goal for a 33-30 victory.
The Falcons didn’t want to punt the ball to the Chargers in overtime, especially because Atlanta was still in position to end the game with a touchdown. Had the Falcons scored a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, the game would have ended without the Chargers getting a possession. So there were good reasons to go for it, though a punt wasn’t crazy either. But since decisions are often judged on results, Quinn will be answering a lot of questions about this one.
It isn’t the first time in Quinn’s two Falcons seasons he has made a questionable game management decision in a loss. Last year against the San Francisco 49ers he decided to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line late in the game with Atlanta trailing 17-13. The Falcons ended up losing.
Quinn definitely wasn’t aggressive enough in that situation, but being more aggressive on Sunday didn’t work either.
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