re: The decision to go for it on 4th and 1 was the right call, the play call wasn't

quote:

---

I got to say, I'm always in favor of the more aggressive approach even if it doesn't work out sometimes.

There was a ton of criticism for Dennis' conservative approach last year. Can't have it both ways. The actual play call, def deserves to be crushed.

---

Decisions have to be viewed in context though.

Let's say at the time of the call, you had Hill and McCoy still in the ball game and it was a 24-20 type score where your defense, and theirs for that matter, were struggling to make stops. In that context, I'd still want to take the points but I would hate the decision less if that makes sense. Problem is that that wasn't the situation.


These coaches have sky coach and tablets to watch game in real time from the sidelines. Your offensive line was banged up and by that point in the game, the coaches had to know that. Time and again, the tape showed that penning and others were getting whipped in the run game and pass pro for that matter. With the other side struggling offensively to move the ball on your defense, the right call was absolutely to take the points.


Look, that's the issue with Dennis. It's not supposed to be an all or nothing style where we are either aggressive all the time or not aggressive all the time. There are subtleties and nuance to managing the feel of a specific game and what you're getting from an opponent in that moment. It's possible, and necessary I'd argue, for a coach to be able to take the data he's gathering from a particular game and be more or less aggressive based off of that data from that specific game. A good head coach should be able to differentiate what his teams needs to do based on the context of the game he is in at that time. Dennis didn't do that and that's why he's a career sub 40% coach.


You absolutely can have it both ways. A head coach of an NFL franchise should be able to understand the context of a particular game and make decision accordingly. Sometimes it's the right call to be aggressive and sometimes it's not. Good head coaches know the difference.