Tavern talk: Learning from experience

National Football Post

Tuesday is always game management day in the Tavern—reviewing the events of the past weekend and learning from game experiences. Every NFL coach should keep a situational file in their computers to learn from the events of the past.

As Harry Truman once said, “The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.” So every game provides new ways to learn. In the NFL, there is a fine line between second-guessing and learning from the experience. We are not second-guessing here but rather pointing out alternative ways to achieve success.

Notre Dame at Michigan

Notre Dame at 3:07 ND 34 MICH 31

AP: Charlie Weis

1st and 10 at ND 16. Armando Allen Jr. rush for 13 yards to the ND 29 for a 1ST down.

1st and 10 at ND 29. Robert Hughes rush for no gain to the ND 29.

2nd and 10 at ND 29. Timeout MICHIGAN, clock 02:29.

2nd and 10 at ND 29. Jimmy Clausen pass incomplete to Golden Tate, broken up by Donovan Warren.

3rd and 10 at ND 29. Jimmy Clausen pass incomplete to Shaquelle Evans.

4th and 10 at ND 29. Eric Maust punt for 29 yards, fair catch by Greg Mathews at the Mich 42.

DRIVE TOTALS: Notre Dame drive: 4 plays 13 yards, 00:54 Notre Dame PUNT

How does Charlie Weis not get called on the carpet for this one? This is game management 101. He leaves the Wolverines with both of their timeouts and does not reduce the game.

With the college rules of the clock stopping for a first down, this makes his decision of not reducing Michigan’s timeouts, or the game clock, bizarre. When the drive starts, the timeouts and the clock are the opponent for Notre Dame, not the Wolverines. If he runs the ball in either situation, he wins the game. This is bad ball.

Denver at Cincinnati

Cincinnati Bengals at 6:21

1-10-CIN 9 (6:21) C.Benson left guard to CIN 11 for 2 yards (V.Holliday, D.Williams).

2-8-CIN 11 (5:41) (Shotgun) C.Palmer pass short middle to C.Ochocinco to CIN 23 for 12 yards (A.Goodman).

Timeout #2 by DEN at 05:01.

1-10-CIN 23 (5:01) C.Benson right end to CIN 20 for -3 yards (A.Smith).

2-13-CIN 20 (4:22) (Shotgun) C.Palmer pass short middle to C.Ochocinco to CIN 33 for 13 yards (A.Goodman; W.Woodyard).

1-10-CIN 33 (3:38) C.Benson left end to DEN 47 for 20 yards (B.Dawkins; R.Hill).

1-10-DEN 47 (2:55) (Shotgun) C.Palmer scrambles left end to DEN 45 for 2 yards (A.Smith).

2-8-DEN 45 (2:11) (Shotgun) C.Palmer pass short left to A.Caldwell to DEN 32 for 13 yards (B.Dawkins).

AP: Cedric Benson

Two-Minute Warning

1-10-DEN 32 (2:00) (Shotgun) C.Palmer pass short middle to B.Leonard to DEN 14 for 18 yards (B.Dawkins).

1-10-DEN 14 (1:32) C.Palmer pass short right to A.Caldwell to DEN 7 for 7 yards (A.Smith).

2-3-DEN 7 (:50) (Shotgun) C.Palmer pass short middle to A.Caldwell to DEN 1 for 6 yards (R.Hill).

The replay assistant challenged the runner broke the plane ruling, and the play was upheld.

Timeout #1 by CIN at 00:41.

1-1-DEN 1 (:41) C.Benson right guard for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

S.Graham extra point is GOOD, Center-B.St. Louis, Holder-K.Huber.

DEN 6 CIN 7, 11 plays, 91 yards, 5:43 drive, 14:22 elapsed

S.Graham kicks 74 yards from CIN 30 to DEN -4. E.Royal to DEN 13 for 17 yards (R.Maualuga).

Denver Broncos at 0:38, (1st play from scrimmage 0:34)

1-10-DEN 13 (:34) (Shotgun) K.Orton pass incomplete deep right to B.Marshall (J.Joseph).

2-10-DEN 13 (:28) (Shotgun) K.Orton pass deep left to B.Stokley for 87 yards, TOUCHDOWN. (Ball was intended for B.Marshall, tipped up by L.Hall)

Timeout #3 by DEN at 00:11.

(Pass formation) TWO-POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. K.Orton pass to B.Marshall is incomplete.

Tough loss for the Bengals, but once again they have themselves to blame. The timeout after the review at 41 seconds is a killer. Make Denver use its last timeout and then the game would come down to a jail-break field goal attempt.

It strikes me as a team not prepared to win, not thinking clearly, not having been in that situation before. Why do the Bengals need a timeout, other than getting organized, which is what happens in situational practice?

You cannot stop the clock at that point, as the game clock is an opponent. With three timeouts and four plays left in the game, if you do not score on the first try, maybe use one, but all this did was allow the Broncos to have 38 seconds, which is not much time, but it should have been 20 seconds.

Yes, Roy Williams should be worrying about getting the receiver on the ground and yes, they should have had a deep player in the deepest part of the field, and yes, why did they rush four defensive linemen? It’s a tough pill to swallow, and yes, luck played a part, but not as big as many might suspect.

Buffalo at New England

AP: Trent Edwards

Buffalo Bills at 0:50, (1st play from scrimmage 0:45)

1-10-BUF 21 (:45) (Shotgun) T.Edwards pass deep middle to T.Owens to BUF 40 for 19 yards (B.Meriweather, J.Wilhite).

Timeout #2 by BUF at 00:37.

1-10-BUF 40 (:37) (Shotgun) T.Edwards sacked at BUF 40 for 0 yards (D.Burgess).

Timeout #3 by BUF at 00:28.

2-10-BUF 40 (:28) (Shotgun) T.Edwards pass incomplete short right to L.Evans (M.Wright).

3-10-BUF 40 (:24) (Shotgun) T.Edwards sacked at BUF 30 for -10 yards (T.Banta-Cain).

4-20-BUF 30 (:01) (No Huddle, Shotgun) T.Edwards pass deep right to D.Schouman to NE 47 for 23 yards. Lateral to R.Parrish to NE 43 for 4 yards. Lateral to F.Jackson to NE 34 for 9 yards.

FUMBLES, recovered by BUF-R.Parrish at NE 40. R.Parrish to NE 44 for -4 yards (L.Bodden).

The first killer mistake was sending out the hands team to prepare for the kickoff. With NE having all three of its timeouts and being down more than three points, it needed to create vertical field position, and the only way to accomplish that was to kick it deep.

Never did it enter my mind that they would do anything else because of the three timeouts they held in their arsenal. The Pats were going to get the ball back, had the fumble not occurred, with no timeouts and around 1:25 to go in the game—assuming that they stopped the Bills and the Bills ran the ball three times in a row.

They spent all summer running the no-huddle, and for them to call a timeout after an 18-yard gain is a huge mistake. At this point in the game, timeouts are needed for the final field goal attempt and in case of a sack. Downs are not as important as timeouts as the amount of time left reduces the amount of plays.

Did anyone see any other ones from last week?

Follow me on Twitter: michaelombardi

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