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Around SBN: The Ten Worst Swings Of The 2011 Season

To Punt or Not to Punt: The Dilemma That Faced the Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals had several chances to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat yesterday, but in my mind, one play coaches decision stands out. First, please don't construe this as me calling for our coach to be fired because no one is a bigger fan of Ken Whisenhunt than myself. I admired what he was able to do in Pittsburgh and I'm positively giddy about what he's building here in Arizona. I think the future is bright and this franchises' best days are in the very near future, but we can still disagree with a decision right? After all, if we're not dissecting each and every decision the day after a loss, then we wouldn't be real fans? So with all that being said, here's the decision that irked me at the time and continues to itch my 'what if' button. Whiz3_medium

Scenario: The Cardinals get the ball in great field position (thier own 42) after the Redskins miss a field goal that would have put the game away. There's plenty of time on the clock (3:23) and they're down by seven points. The offense takes the field, knowing that they need a touchdown but with all three timeouts, there's plenty of time to run any kind of play. The first down play call is a nice six yard gain by Edgerrin James and the Cardinals switch to a no-huddle offense and the next pass is incomplete on a dump off pass to Tim Hightower. Facing a third-and-four the Cardinals again drop back to pass and again misfire on a short pass to Hightower. So what you want about the play calls leading up to this point but the decision comes down to this: a 4th-and-4 with at mid-field with 2:46 to go in the game.

Decision: Coach Whisenhunt decides to forgoe a fourth down attempt and instead punts the ball back to the Redskins. On one hand, I understand that he trusts the defense to give the offense one more chance. After all, they've got all three timeouts and the defense has done a decent job of holding Portis in check most of the day. On the other hand though, the Cardinals haven't exactly shut down the Redskins offense during the second half and they hadn't forced a three-and-out since the second quarter.

Result: Following the punt, the Skins' offense runs four plays (3 runs, 1 pass) and gains two first downs. The Cardinals use all of their timeouts and the game ends on two 'victory formation' kneel downs.

Why I Disagree With the Decision: We all know that hindsight is 20/20 so it's easy to sit here this morning and second guess a decision made in the heat of battle but I still think that Whiz should have played to his strengths. The strength of this Arizona Cardinals team is the passing game and if they can't pick up four yards when you need them the most, then this team is destined to fail. The defense is an improved unit, especially the front seven, but the passing offense is one of the top five or six units in the league and that's not something the defense can not say. In the end, it looked like they were 'playing not to lose' instead of 'playing to win.'

Thoughts? Agree/Disagree?

Poll
Punting the ball and relying on your defense, right decision or would rather go for it?
Punting was the right call
5 votes
Kurt is the QB, put the ball in his hands
28 votes

33 votes | Poll has closed

Comment 8 comments  |  0 recs  | 

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That was a "What the $%#&?" moment for me

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw KW heading toward the sidelines. I think I would have much rather seen them attempt the conversion and fail than to sit here wondering “what if”.

To me the call showed more of Whis’s lack of confidence in the offense than his confidence in the D.

by AJ BirdWatcher on Sep 22, 2008 3:29 PM MDT reply actions  

Second Guessing is tough

I thought the play on 3rd down should have been a run as getting any positive yards would have made the decision easier.
Though I would have preffered the ball to be put in KW’s hands at that point if he had failed we would probably be calling out Whis on that now.

by CardsIrish on Sep 22, 2008 4:11 PM MDT reply actions  

good point about the 3rd down play call

The second down call would have at least picked up a couple of yards if it handed had been batted down but the third down call was all messed up. Anytime Warner has to scramble, it’s bad news for the Cards.

by cgolden on Sep 22, 2008 5:20 PM MDT up reply actions  

Easy to vote after the fact

Most of the time the lead team runs the ball to kill the clock and usually gives the ball back. The Cards had 2nd and 3rd down to get 4 lousy yards and didn’t do it. What makes you so confident they would have been able to do it on 4th down. I agree with trying to pin them back and let your defense get you the ball back. The call wasn’t nearly as bad as the defense giving up 2 more first downs.

by allecli on Sep 22, 2008 4:15 PM MDT reply actions  

very true

It’s always easy to second guess after the fact, but I think there were a great number of fans who second guessed it at the time as well. Granted, the defense should have done thier part but if I’m depending on a unit to win a ball game for this team, I’d pick the passing game over the defense any day.

by cgolden on Sep 22, 2008 5:30 PM MDT up reply actions  

My question

would be why not run it again on 2nd and/if there was a 3rd down? Seems rather rudimentary to me. I’m actually against punting in general. Good article from ESPN breaks down the strategy. It isn’t comprehensive so the article’s internal links will help explain it further. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrookpreview/070904&sportCat=nfl

I still can’t get over that 4th and 1 delay of game in the 1st. F’ing ridiculous.

I love the smell of commerce in the morning

by Red Reign on Sep 22, 2008 5:17 PM MDT reply actions  

interesting argument

Football Outsiders has done stories in the past about the percentages would suggest that coaches go for more 4th and shorts in many situations. Whiz is one of the more aggressive coaches (in those situations) in the league which is another reason that I was so surprised that he decided to punt.

That delay of game does seem awful questionable considering that Warner and Whiz both say they were watching the clock closely.

by cgolden on Sep 22, 2008 5:34 PM MDT up reply actions  

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