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OldBucsFan
Buc Waterboy
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| Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:44 am Post subject: The hero and the goat.....Gruden and Payton |
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NEW ORLEANS - Two coaches. Two plays.
The Bucs' Jon Gruden and the Saints' Sean Payton were like Riverboat gamblers playing near the banks of the Mississippi on Sunday.
At stake was the game, the NFC South championship and, perhaps, the season.
Having essentially put the game away, holding a 23-20 lead, the Saints had the ball at midfield and needed only a first down to run out the clock and pull within a game of the Bucs.
But Payton ordered a reverse. Saints running back Reggie Bush made an errant pitch that was recovered by the Bucs' Jovan Haye.
A few plays later, Gruden made the call of the year.
In position for a 46-yard field goal that would tie the score and likely force an overtime, Gruden decided to go for it on fourth and 1 from the Saints 28.
Running back Earnest Graham, on his fourth straight rushing attempt, made the first down.
"Why not? Control of the division is on the line," Bucs receiver Ike Hilliard said. "You have to tip your hat to Coach Gruden for making a (gutsy) call. Biggest call I've ever been around."
The play led to Luke McCown's 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jerramy Stevens with 17 seconds left, propelling the Bucs to a thrilling 27-23 win. The victory virtually locked up the division for the Bucs, who own a three-game lead over the Saints and Panthers (and own tiebreakers over both) with four games left.
You also can't say enough about the lunacy of the call by Payton, who apologized to his team after the game.
"That was a disappointing loss and probably the worst job I have done as a head coach since I have been here," the second-year coach said. "We got the safety late and had the ball back at midfield with four minutes left. Obviously, I regret the play call that resulted in a fumble and cost us a game. It's disappointing for our players and our staff to lose a game like that. We had every opportunity to win it. It starts with me.
Gruden's big decision turned out much better. After sending out the field-goal unit, Gruden changed his mind during the two-minute warning. Why?
Center John Wade had just left the game with cramps. Fullback B.J. Askew was limping on a sprained ankle. And there was no guarantee Matt Bryant would make the field goal or the defense could hold the Saints if they got the ball back.
"I wanted to go for it. I really did," Gruden said. "But you've got to think about it. You've got to think about the ramifications. We didn't have any timeouts left. That was a strange game."
On the sideline, Garcia was plotting with defensive backs coach Raheem Morris to lobby Gruden to go for it.
"I think Raheem Morris may have gone over there," Garcia said. "We talked about it together to gang up on Coach. Maybe Raheem did. Maybe it was (offensive line coach) Bill Muir. I don't know. I'm glad all of a sudden Coach made that call and put it on the offensive line to get that yard."
Linebacker Derrick Brooks said he hoped Bryant would make the field goal and was preparing to return on defense.
"Mike Alstott came down to me and said, 'We're going for it,'" Brooks said. "I said, 'Well, maybe we're going to try to drive them offsides. I don't know.' He said, 'No, we don't have any timeouts.' "
Graham was seething on the bench, having just been stopped on third and 2.
"When he made that call, I just knew in that situation we were going to get it," Graham said. "There was no way we were going to leave that out there on the field."
Gruden believed his team was running out of gas.
"You don't want to get on the airplane - and even if you make the 46-yard field goal and go to overtime - we're depleted," he said. "You're running out of guys. The center, the fullback, we're on our third halfback, the fourth quarterback and there's no guarantee we're going to (hold the Saints to) three-and-out. So hey, get ... out there, let's get the first down and see what we can do."
So Gruden made the call, Graham made the first down and 6-foot-7 Stevens leaped over Jason Craft, the 5-10 cornerback, in the end zone for a touchdown.
Two coaches. Two plays. Too much. |
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fan4ever
Buccaroo
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| Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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Great read, OBF...love it!! 
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PWTRPWR
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| Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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Very Nice, bout time someone else is goat
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ilbuc
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| Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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I was screaming at teh TV to go for it...the old adage "If you can't muster up 1 yard of offense when you need it most, you don't deserve to win" stuck in my head and blared out of my mouth. Mrs ilbuc looked at me funny.
When I saw Graham head back onto the field I 
I think that picking up that 1st down depleted the Saints D just enough for the big 21 yard gain by Graham on the next play.
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