Fortune favors bold coaches
With the ball in Tom Brady’s hands, Todd Bowles played it safe and lost. Doug Pederson and Brandon Staley went for broke and celebrated wins.
Aggressive coaching paid off Sunday.
The Buccaneers lost 23-17 against the Browns in overtime in a game that Brady had a chance to win in regulation with another one of his vintage drives in the final minute. His coach didn’t trust the GOAT to make it happen.
Bowles didn’t call a timeout and chose to play for overtime. It backfired.
Pederson and Staley avoided OT and went for two-point conversions. It worked.
The Jaguars upset the Ravens when Pederson decided to go for a two-pointer after Trevor Lawrence tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones with 14 seconds left to pull within a point. Lawrence connected with Zay Jones on the conversion and the Jaguars beat the Ravens 28-27.
The same scenario unfolded later for the Chargers against the Cardinals when Justin Herbert threw a 1-yard TD pass to Austin Ekeler with 15 seconds remaining to get the visitors within a point. Herbert then hit Gerald Everett for the two-pointer to give the Chargers a 25-24 victory.
Pederson and Staley are known for making bold decisions. In the Jaguars’ case, Pederson had nothing to lose because his team is 4-7 and headed nowhere this season. The Chargers (6-5) are in the playoff chase, so Staley’s call was more risky.
Bowles didn’t even try. Calling a timeout with
Brady on the field isn’t considered a gamble. It’s standard procedure when the seven-time Super Bowl champion is under center.
The Bucs had three timeouts and the ball at their 25 with 32 seconds to go in the fourth quarter after the Browns tied the game at 17-17.
In Week 9, Brady needed just 35 seconds with all of his timeouts to drive his team 60 yards for a comeback win against the Rams. He has led a winning drive in fourth quarter/overtime an NFL-record 55 times in the regular season and 14 more in the playoffs.
This time, the Bucs needed 43 yards to give Ryan Succop an attempt at a 50-yard field goal to win.
Brady tossed a 1-yard pass to Rachaad White on first down and the Bucs could’ve stopped the clock with about 26 seconds left.
Instead, Bowles let it tick, tick, tick.
After Brady fired a 26-yard completion to Julio Jones on the next play to reach the the Browns 48, only 8 seconds remained when the Bucs finally used their first timeout. Following an incomplete pass, Brady could only try a Hail Mary on the final play before OT.
Fox analyst Jonathan Vilma called Bowles’ decision to not use a timeout after the first play of the series “inexplicable.”
Bowles coached scared to lose. The Bucs are fortunate they’re in the weak NFC South where 5-6 is good enough for first place.
When Pederson was asked about going for the win, he said: “We’ve got to think players, not plays, and trust our guys.”
Staley also trusted his team.
“We wanted to finish the game on our terms,” Staley said.