jamesr

To give Jets fans nightmares?

Key thing for us is not what Oakland are thinking ... it's what teams below them THINK they're thinking. And the more we can influence the narrative around them moving on from Carr, the more chance a team would want to trade up to 3 specifically.

One thing I'll be interested to see is what sort of pre-draft rumours & smoke screens come out about QBs. The Jets could potentially influence this by carefully placed stories about trade interest. Having Oakland pick after us adds another element to this. Raiders may want to pick a QB - none of the current top 3 are likely to, having just signed / drafted "their guy" very recently. So if a team like Jax or Cincy etc are high on one QB in particular they may have to consider getting above Oakland. Hello Jets. How much can the Jets FO influence this? It'll be interesting to watch. Every rumour about the Carr / Gruden relationship can play a part in the overall game.

Well, the only ting worse than being talked about is NOT being talked about!

Never. Going. To. Happen.

There's lots of ways it could have gone. After the two minute warning, let's say NO run it three times, don't convert, kick a FG. Rams take their two TOs, so that burns the clock down to about 1 min left, and LA are down by 3. As it was, NO passed on 1st down (incomplete), ran on 2nd (TO by LA). Only 9 seconds have come off the clock, so (a) you pretty much have to throw on 3rd down, and (b) if you don't complete you've saved LA about 45 seconds PLUS a timeout. So yes, I'd argue that the first down pass was a killer. You keep time on the clock AND compel yourself to pass on at least one of your remaining downs. Any pass play there HAS to be a high % completion play, like a bubble screen. Now let's assume the flag gets thrown. 1st and goal at the 7 or so yard line. Rams with one TO, 1:45 on the clock. Three kneel downs take about 1:00 off, plus the FG itself, Rams have about 40 secs left, no TOs, down by 3. If at that point NO choose to run it rather than kneel, it burns a few more seconds each play but increases the chance of the deficit being 7 rather than 3. So do you play stout D, hold them to 3 with about 30 secs left, or do you let them score on 1st down, get the ball back with over 1:30 left and a TO, but down 7? I'd say the latter is the better option. So ... Payton could definitely have helped himself with a different 1st down play call. The PI would have given NO a better chance at the win, but LA still had a shot whichever way it goes. (If anyone says you can't score a FG with 30 seconds left ... KC did exactly that later that same evening ).

But how many timeouts did LA have at the 2 min warning? If it was only one, then that makes Payton's play call on 1st down even more baffling. EDIT - found it. Rams had 2 TOs. Payton's play calling allowed them to keep one for their own scoring drive.

Did they have 1 left at the 2 minute warning or 2? I can't find it on the game recap / play by play.

If the penalty had been called, and you want to milk the clock as far as possible, you'd take a knee and kick the FG as time expires (or close enough). If you do run it rather than kneel it, you risk leaving more time on the clock than you'd like if you score on first down. As it was, Rams got to the Saints 33 with 45 seconds left, that's plenty for four shots at the end zone (and maybe a blatant PI call to put you on the 1 and stop the clock). Would you trust the defense to hold? (Rams at that point gave up trying for a TD and played for the FG to tie).

I did consider that, but 1st down at the 13 with just under 2 to go and they called a short pass play - why not just run it three times there? Rams burn their last 2 (?) timeouts, NO kick the FG, Rams get ball back with just over 1 minute and no TOs. I'm not sure at all that they'd have taken a knee.

What's the alternative, at that point? Hope they miss a chip shot FG? It's a long shot to play for a quick TD drive, but the chance of that has to be better than the other guy missing a short FG (in a dome, no less). The smart play by the RB in those situations is to kneel on the 1 yard line, refuse to score the TD, and take the FG with no time left.

What if the Rams let them score on the first run? No clock milked, Rams have a chance to drive for a TD to tie it. Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

You can try, but if people can't complain that we didn't sign everyone for "short money" they won't have an outlet for their angst.

I still feel that in the post-season you need to somehow "raise the stakes" in overtime, so the game is decided on the field, not on a coin-flip. Both sides 1 possession minimum, guaranteed - no ifs & buts. In tennis, the 5th set never goes to a tie-break, it's played till one player wins by a clear margin. Do the same.

Interestingly, the most Jets media attention in the UK recently has come from a certain press conference involving a certain pair of eyes ... [emoji2] Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk