Why we lost....

[JackieSlater]

But considering that Sf did just about the exact same thing, muffing a punt, I would say both those plays negate any advantage for either team...

Kinda, but at such a late stage in the game/Field Position/ and we had the lead at the time, does make Hall's muff on the ball a little more important IMHO.

[jkramsfan]

Actually no, this line has only practiced it for a couple of days because they've been reshuffled due to injury.

You're right though, we don't really know what would happen. For all we know, one of our linemen could have completely whiffed on a block and got Bulger nailed, then he'd have o get up quickly and spike he ball to stop it then.

I see no reason to take that chance. Get to the line, spike it, get organized, and then execute. Asking this porous line to rush to the line of scrimmage and adjust on the fly just does not sound like a good idea to me at all.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, it seems.

thats fine ,hopefully next week we can talk about how well the line played

[Fortuninerhater]

There's no doubt that spiking the ball at midfield with over a minute to play only needing a field goal to win, is poor clock management under any circumstance. New offensive line or not, there's no reason whatsoever to spike the ball in that situation, and it ultimately did us in. 4th and 3 would've been 3rd and 3 at the niner 38 with still over a minute to play.

But that situation doesn't even come up if this so-called second coming of the greatest show on turf scores a few TDs.

[Goldenfleece]

I don't think the field goal kick was really a bad call at that point. We were at home, in the dome, no wind, and in Wilkins' range. The game never should have come to that in the first place. I put 90% of the blame on the fumbles.

I also agree with the redzone offense as a culprit. Specifically, I'm talking about the drive that ended in a field goal. It reminded me of last week where we got fantastic field position and just couldn't move the ball. The difference between a touchdown and a field goal turned out to be the difference between winning and losing.

[Fat Pang]

Turnovers that the opposition were able to capitalise on.

Cut those out and we're not having this conversation.

As for the playcalling, with as porous as the line is right now, it would have been taking a risk in the extreme to have gone for it om 4th and 4. I would also suggest that short routes predominated due to the need to keep Bulger off the turf as much as was humanly possible.

To say that it would have been 'easy' in those circumstances to pick up a first is simplistic.

The red-zone offence is a concern.

[bruce4life]

its like red zone no offense

[RamOfDenmark]

I don't think the field goal kick was really a bad call at that point. We were at home, in the dome, no wind, and in Wilkins' range. The game never should have come to that in the first place. I put 90% of the blame on the fumbles.

I also agree with the redzone offense as a culprit. Specifically, I'm talking about the drive that ended in a field goal. It reminded me of last week where we got fantastic field position and just couldn't move the ball. The difference between a touchdown and a field goal turned out to be the difference between winning and losing.

I agree. It's easy to second-guess now, but at that time I would rather take my chances with Wilkins leg than going for it on 4th and 3, with the way the offensive line had been working I'm not confident we would have converted a 4th in the face of heavy pressure.

Hall's muffed punt is the easiest to avoid mistake that really cost us in this game, an experienced player like Hall should know better than that.