Quote Originally Posted by vince View Post
Perhaps you might take a look at the 2nd half play-by-play that Bossman posted and see what actually happened. Stubby didn't espouse what you're accusing him of. He threw it on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down - every 3rd down in fact. The "old school, two dimensional bias" you're so anxious to ridicule as outdated and unrealistic is exactly what happened. That dropped pass by Davis on the first down throw with 6:35 to go was very significant.

If they run the ball in that situation it would have given them a lot more options on 2nd down particularly if they would have had even a modest gain. As it was with the clock stopped with the incomplete pass they had zero option but to run on 2nd and the Lions knew it. Three passes running zero time off the clock could have been completely disastrous in that situation.

3:34 to win the game up by 7 was tough enough. 4:40 forces at least another first down to win at a ton of time for Stafford to continue carving up the defense.

I know I know, if they'd just throw it they'd score and the game would be over already. They had just enough ball control to overcome the significant faults in that new school 3-D strategy. Davis just needs to catch it and all is good. They always catch it in new world 3-D - well hypothetically anyway, at least with Rodgers throwing it.
First of all, my comment you posted was an observation of a bias that Stubby has demonstrated over 11 years. I think I could produce a whole bunch of specific examples to justify my point of view. I certainly am not arguing that Stubby acts on that bias in each and every specific case, last Sunday's game included.

Second of all, I am not arguing that Stubby should pass on any particular down all the time and that that would prove Stubby's bias does not exist. Nor am I arguing that he should pass all the time. Nor am I arguing that a rush-heavy offense (as we saw early in the second half Sunday) is necessarily always ill-advised. What I am arguing is that in today's game a bias for the run and against the pass in time-critical situations exists, that it is old school, that Stubby has it and, frankly, so do you. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. )

You demonstrate that bias when you write:
If they run the ball in that situation it would have given them a lot more options on 2nd down particularly if they would have had even a modest gain. As it was with the clock stopped with the incomplete pass they had zero option but to run on 2nd and the Lions knew it. Three passes running zero time off the clock could have been completely disastrous in that situation.
You say Stubby had "zero option" but to run the ball on 2nd. Why? Because, according to your bias, when you pass the ball bad things happen (an incomplete pass, a stopped clock and "disaster"). You say the Lions "knew" Stubby had to run the ball. I say they "knew" it because either they have the same old school bias against passing in that situation or they "knew" Stubby has that bias. I would think, with everyone expecting a run, a pass in this situation would have a higher chance to succeed. But Stubby does as expected, rushes the ball up the middle and Starks loses a yard. Then, on third down, Stubby does as expected again and passes to Starks who runs out of bounds after a 9 yard gain.

You contend passing incomplete on 2nd down would probably be "disastrous." I say if Arod would have thrown that 3rd down pass to Starks on 2nd down it would have resulted in 3rd and one, a very favorable position from which to make a 1st down (by the run, or, god forbid, another pass). Plus, if Starks stays in bounds, the clock keeps running. Hardly a disaster.

You contend "Davis just needs to catch it and all is good." True. But failure to execute is not a one-way street. You old school guys ( ) never take into account failure to execute on the part of the rushing game. With regard to Stubby's 2nd down play, I could just as well contend "the O-line just needs to block and Starks just needs to hit the hole and all is good."

Failure to execute is, IMO, a simple fact of life. It happens on pass plays, on rush plays and on onsides kick plays. As such, it shouldn't be used to justify one strategy to the exclusion of another.

After a failure to execute causes a disaster, a coach can either insist that the play would have succeeded if only the player would have executed, or the coach can go back and take critical look at the play called in the context of time, down and distance, and see if he really put his players in the best position to succeed.