Timing is Everything

It's funny how only the most egregious of coaching timing/time out blunders draw any scrutiny (see Gibbs, Joe, second time out to freeze the kicker), while blatant but not definitive mismanagement of the game clock barely elicits a tut tut from the fans and media. And even then, most of the press get it wrong. The last three minutes of the Giants-Eagles game is a case in point.

David Aldridge wrote earlier this week about the Eagles last desperation drive that culminated in David Akers' 57 yard figgie clanking off of the right upright. "Starting from their 11, the Eagles had 53 seconds left and no time-outs. On first down, McNabb completed a 19-yard pass to Reggie Brown, who was tackled inbounds with 47 seconds remaining. Coach Andy Reid opted to call another play from scrimmage rather than have McNabb spike the ball to save time," writes Aldridge. "McNabb then hit Greg Lewis over the middle for 18 yards to the 48, but there remained only 26 seconds. Again, the offense had to scramble...Making matters worse, Westbrook still was 20 yards upfield, having been corralled by Giants cornerback Sam Madison. By the time Westbrook extricated himself and sprinted downfield, and McNabb spiked the ball, only 12 seconds remained."

You would think, reading this, that the Eagles totally squandered the last 53 seconds. Note Adlridge's desription, "the offense had to scramble" after Lewis caught an 18 yard pass. Well....yes. The Eagles had no timeouts and Lewis was tackled in the middle of the field. Of course they had to scramble. Here's the timing sequence as I reviewed it:

:53 seconds - ball snapped
:47 tackled after pass completion to Reggie Brown
:30 snap
:24 tackled after pass completion to Greg Lewis
:12 snap
:06 Reggie Brown completion out of bounds.
 
In short, each pass play takes 6 seconds from snap to tackle. It takes 12-13 seconds from the time of the tackle for the offense to run up the field, get set and for McNabb to spike the ball. So in deciding to run another play rather than spiking it after the first Reggie Brown reception, the Eagles cost themselves 5 seconds. I'm not discounting that 5 seconds. If they had had the extra time they would have been able to run one last play to get Akers a couple of extra yards before sending him out for the field goal. And even 3+ yards would likely have meant his kick would have cleared just inside the right upright. But my larger point is that all in all, Aldridge is arguing over the difference between spiking the ball and running another play which in the end was the difference of 5 seconds.

If Aldridge really wanted to highlight Andy Reid's clock ineptitude, he should have focused on the prior series that ultimately and needlessly left the Eagles only :53 seconds for the last drive.

On 2nd and 5 from the Giants 43 with 2:55 to go, Reid called a running play - Westbrook off right tackle for no gain. Inexplicably, Reid called another running play to Westbrook - over left tackle on 3rd and 5 with 2:20 to play (rookie TE Brent Celek missed his block and totally blew the play up). Inexplicable cause the week earlier Reid had called a pass play against the Seahawks on 3rd and 1. It is downright bizarre that the pass happy Reid called three straight running plays with under 4 minutes to go and down by 3.

The net result of the three straight running plays was that the Eagles had to run their 4th and 5 play AFTER the two minute warning. This was absolutely critical because the Eagles only had two time outs left.

The end result was that after the Eagles failed to convert on Antonio Pierce's pass interference on Jason Avant, the Giants took over with 1:57 to go. The Eagles called their last two timeouts to make it 3rd and 5 with 1:47 to go. After stopping the Giants run one yard short on 3rd down, the Giants were able to take the clock all the way down to 1:03 before punting. Westbrook's return left the Eagles :53 seconds.

Had Reid called a pass play on 3rd and 5 with 2:20 to go, the Eagles would have likely gotten the first down or if it was incomplete been left with 4th and 5 with 2:15 to BUT WITH THE CLOCK STOPPED. (note, the other pass possibility was a dump off to Westbrook, but if that occurred I'm assuming that it would have been in the flat and that Westbrook would have gained approximately 3 yards to make it at least 4th and 2 and/or gotten out to the sideline rather than being tackled in bounds.)

Game planning it out from there, the Jason Avant pass interference play takes the clock to 2:10 but stops it with the change of possession. The Giants first running play then takes the clock down to the 2:00 warning. The Eagles would have called timeout after 2nd down, say 1:55. After the last Giants run, the Eagles would have called their last timeout with 1:50 to play and the Giants facing 4th and 1 would then have punted.

If the Eagles had passed on 3rd and 5 with 2:20 to play and everything played out the same after that, the Eagles would have gotten the ball back with 1:40 remaining and not the :53 seconds they actually did. That was the clock blunder of the game. Not the final frantic seconds of the last drive. But because Reid's time mismanagement didn't result in a 15 yard penalty a la Gibbs, or because it occurred in the series before the last drive,  and it was merely the difference between a pass and a run, his gross incompetence has been overlooked.