REICH TAKES VALOUR OVER DISCRETION
Colts head coach has no regrets going for it on fourth down and handing win to Texans
“We’re not playing to tie,” firstyear NFL head coach Frank Reich said defiantly.
In so doing, his Indianapolis Colts lost.
It’s a short step between being aggressively brash on fourth down and recklessly stupid. Which was Reich? Tough call.
But taking such a chance to win becomes a bad thing if it means losing becomes likelier than tying.
Follow along. Here was Sunday’s scenario.
The Colts had wiped out a 28-10 home-field deficit in the third quarter to take the previous winless Houston Texans into overtime at 31-31, thanks to the incredibly heroic passing of Andrew Luck, whose throwing arm and shoulder are just fine after taking all of last season off, thank you very much.
After each team kicked a field goal in the 10-minute OT, Indy had the ball with 27 seconds left, facing 4th-and-four from its own 43. Luck and the offence lined up as if to go for it, but soon it was clear they were just trying to pull the Texans defence offside.
Then Indy called timeout. Reich huddled with his offensive players.
If they went for the first down and failed, they’d give the Texans the ball at the Indy 43, with only 10 or so yards needed to reach game-winning field-goal range, and enough time to do so.
But if the Colts punted, the game almost certainly would end in a tie, as the Texans would have got the ball at about their own 20 with 20 or so seconds to play.
Reich sent Luck and the offence back onto the field, whereupon Luck threw low and incomplete to receiver Chester Rogers on a short comebacker to the right, between the numbers and the sideline.
With 24 seconds left, from the Indy 43, Texans second-year quarterback Deshaun Watson fired a quick slant to 2017 firstteam all-pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Inexplicably, the Colts had a linebacker (Darius Leonard) covering Hopkins, who unsurprisingly burst free, caught Watson’s zipped-in pass and raced up a seam to the Indy 19-yard-line for a 24-yard gain. Watson ran up and spiked the ball with four seconds left.
Ka’imi Fairbairn then drilled a 37-yard field goal as time expired to win it for the Texans, 37-34.
Both teams are 1-3, tied in the AFC South cellar.
Had Reich opted to punt it, it’s highly likely the Colts would be 1-2-1, a game ahead of the 0-3-1 Texans.
Even if Luck and Rogers connected, Indy still would have been some 15 yards from Adam Vinatieri’s field-goal range, with 20-some seconds left.
So Reich regrets the decision, right?
Wrong.
“We’re going for it 10 times out of 10,” he said. “In a perfect scenario, we just go for it and don’t call timeout. But that’s not how it played out. That’s on me.
“I need to not flinch there and we need to get it done. Ideal situation is we don’t call a timeout, because you’re probably not going to draw them offside. The only second-guessing is: Do I just go with it right away without talking it through?”
Colts players had their coach’s back.
“I loved it. We had a discussion before the play and I agreed,” Luck said, per Bob Kravitz of WTHR.com. “I didn’t give Chester enough of a chance to make a play and I’m sick to my stomach about it.”
Fans at football games always loudly cheer a coach’s decision to go for it on 4th-and-short. Because we’ll make it! Every time! And because punts aren’t brave, punts aren’t heroic. Boo, punts.
But sometimes punts are smarter. Because ties are better than losses. And in September? Always.
Notes: Luck became just the second NFL player to lose despite throwing for more than 450 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, per ESPN … the Dallas defence is allowing the fewest yards per first-down play (3.63) … San Francisco quarterback C.J. Beathard has completed the longest pass this season, an 82-yard scoring strike to George Kittle … Oakland’s Marshawn Lynch leads the AFC in rushing with 300 yards … Atlanta’s Julio Jones tops the NFL with 502 receiving yards but still hasn’t caught a touchdown pass from Matt Ryan.