Not using Philip Rivers cost Chargers win

[TTK]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/sep/22/philip-rivers-cost-chargers-win-calkins

Not using Philip Rivers cost Chargers win

[QSmokey]

Classic Monday Morning Quarterbacking. If Rivers had thrown on 2nd/3rd down on that last drive, and didn't connect, Tennessee would have had 3 minutes (instead of 2) to march down the field, and all of us would be screaming that we didn't run out the clock when we had the chance. Against a team with 1 TO remaining.

Hindsight and the Crystal Ball. Both 20/20.

[BoltBalls]

Classic Monday Morning Quarterbacking. If Rivers had thrown on 2nd/3rd down on that last drive, and didn't connect, Tennessee would have had 3 minutes (instead of 2) to march down the field, and all of us would be screaming that we didn't run out the clock when we had the chance. Against a team with 1 TO remaining.

Hindsight and the Crystal Ball. Both 20/20.

Agreed. The failure was all on the defense this time. Execution and play calling.

[Wheels]

Classic Monday Morning Quarterbacking. If Rivers had thrown on 2nd/3rd down on that last drive, and didn't connect, Tennessee would have had 3 minutes (instead of 2) to march down the field, and all of us would be screaming that we didn't run out the clock when we had the chance. Against a team with 1 TO remaining.

Hindsight and the Crystal Ball. Both 20/20.

I know what you're saying, and there are always certain people who will always take the contrarian position, whether subconscious or not. I didn't see the game, but 3 runs in a row to milk the clock is almost a sure thing to give the opponent the ball back. I wonder what the percentages are for it, but as far as I'm concerned, unless your O line has been pushing the opposing defense around all day, 3 straight runs while holding a small lead is a sure fire way to give the ball back. I usually favor a pass or two to move the chains unless it's a 2 score lead. 2 mins is all a team needs to try for a comeback, and they often succeed because they have nothing left to lose, and they have 4 downs to get a new set of downs.

[TTK]

Classic Monday Morning Quarterbacking. If Rivers had thrown on 2nd/3rd down on that last drive, and didn't connect, Tennessee would have had 3 minutes (instead of 2) to march down the field, and all of us would be screaming that we didn't run out the clock when we had the chance. Against a team with 1 TO remaining.

Hindsight and the Crystal Ball. Both 20/20.

Going through Marty, then Norv, I think we're all sick of seeing the team turtle up and not go for the throat when needed. Get that first down and you win the game. If you throw an incomplete pass, your defense still has to make a stop anyway. But going for it gives you an extra chance to win, instead of one.

Also, this didn't even come up because the defense was so bad but I remember reading an article once talking about how it's more difficult to stop a team on a final drive because unlike a normal possession, teams are going to go for it on 4th down so the likelihood of a stop is going to be less. The thing the defense has on their side is the clock but 2 minutes + the two minute warning is enough time for an offense to drive down the field, especially against one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL.

The percentages were played completely wrong IMO. I've been usually very supportive of McCoy and Whiz but I'll blast them when I feel it's necessary.

[oneinchpunch]

I can't argue with running it three times on that final drive. If you don't get the first you punt and pin them deep. Teams like the Titans aren't going to drive from deep in their own territory with 2min left and no timeouts to score a TD.

Taking it out of Philip's hand for the rest of the second half made no sense.

[TABF]

Classic Monday Morning Quarterbacking. If Rivers had thrown on 2nd/3rd down on that last drive, and didn't connect, Tennessee would have had 3 minutes (instead of 2) to march down the field, and all of us would be screaming that we didn't run out the clock when we had the chance. Against a team with 1 TO remaining.

Hindsight and the Crystal Ball. Both 20/20.

Agree, shoulda-coulda-woulda classic MMQB....

A few things I think about -

Everyone knows our best unit (By far) is our offense, therefore we are going to have to rely on them more often than not (It is what it is). With the lead, ball in hand, little time left on the game clock, and your opponent needs a TD to win, all we need are first downs (and no penalties)... We are where we want to be.

Our offesne must carry this team and our offense must do what it does best, which is throw the ball in a controlled manner. Sure, we didn't have our best OL in there, so we were hindered even further (that affected any call we make, pass or run). But, win or lose...Do it doing what you do best, not what you do second best...

I get the article, and it is Monday morning QB, but we are who we are, and we CANNOT count on our D to win it for us. They are not our best unit.

[QSmokey]

I know what you're saying, and there are always certain people who will always take the contrarian position, whether subconscious or not. I didn't see the game, but 3 runs in a row to milk the clock is almost a sure thing to give the opponent the ball back. I wonder what the percentages are for it, but as far as I'm concerned, unless your O line has been pushing the opposing defense around all day, 3 straight runs while holding a small lead is a sure fire way to give the ball back. I usually favor a pass or two to move the chains unless it's a 2 score lead. 2 mins is all a team needs to try for a comeback, and they often succeed because they have nothing left to lose, and they have 4 downs to get a new set of downs.

Except they had just done the same thing (i.e., run the ball for a 1st down) in the previous series. That's what I recall, anyway. So, if true, it DID work...once. And one more 1st down gets us a win, as we all know. It's just MMQBing at it's best.

[Coachmarkos]

Classic Monday Morning Quarterbacking. If Rivers had thrown on 2nd/3rd down on that last drive, and didn't connect, Tennessee would have had 3 minutes (instead of 2) to march down the field, and all of us would be screaming that we didn't run out the clock when we had the chance. Against a team with 1 TO remaining.

Hindsight and the Crystal Ball. Both 20/20.

correct.

[Wheels]

Except they had just done the same thing (i.e., run the ball for a 1st down) in the previous series. That's what I recall, anyway. So, if true, it DID work...once. And one more 1st down gets us a win, as we all know. It's just MMQBing at it's best.

Didn't catch the game, so I can't comment on the previous drive or set of downs. I'll just restate that going 3 straight runs usually won't get you the first, and you're pretty much trading the ball back for the opponent's used up timeouts or time off the clock (or some combination). That's obviously what the coaching staff was going for, and it bit them in the ass. I don't have a huge problem with it, but prefer a little more aggression to try to actually keep the ball in our possession.

[BlazingBolt]

I can't argue with running it three times on that final drive. If you don't get the first you punt and pin them deep. Teams like the Titans aren't going to drive from deep in their own territory with 2min left and no timeouts to score a TD.

Taking it out of Philip's hand for the rest of the second half made no sense.

After the Texans game wasn't there a bunch of talk about why did we abandon the run game?

We tried to pass to hold a lead and failed.

We tried to run to hold a lead and failed. If it were not for the holding call however they looked to be running it well enough to close out the game....3 straight runs did get us the first down except that we needed 2 first downs to end the game.....

[oneinchpunch]

After the Texans game wasn't there a bunch of talk about why did we abandon the run game?

We tried to pass to hold a lead and failed.

We tried to run to hold a lead and failed. If it were not for the holding call however they looked to be running it well enough to close out the game....3 straight runs did get us the first down except that we needed 2 first downs to end the game.....

That was a 21 point lead. Not a 7 point lead.