Down 35-17 in the 4th quarter, with two timeouts remaining, the following happened:
| 1st and 10 at SD 24 | (4:05) (Shotgun) P.Rivers pass incomplete short right to V.Jackson. Coverage #20 McFadden, #94 Timmons. | ||
| 2nd and 10 at SD 24 | (4:01) (Shotgun) P.Rivers pass incomplete deep left to V.Jackson. | ||
| 3rd and 10 at SD 24 | (3:55) (Shotgun) P.Rivers sacked at SD 17 for -7 yards (J.Harrison). | ||
| 4th and 17 at SD 17 | (3:23) (Punt formation) M.Scifres punts 52 yards to PIT 31, Center-D.Binn, fair catch by M.Moore. |
Yes. Down three scores in the playoffs, with 3 and a half minutes left and with two timeouts - Norv Turner punted! Somewhere, George McFly was plotting to force Norv to do his homework. Ha!
Thats the humor. But moving on - lets do the math here. From Norv's point of view, the best reasonable scenario is that you stop the Steelers in three downs using two of your time outs, and the clock runs on third down since you can't stop it.
So, Norv is hoping - if the plan he's concocted works PERFECTLY - to have the ball, with no timeouts, down by 3 scores, with about 2 minutes left. From this point, Norv was presumably banking on the following sequence: quick strike touchdown, successful onside kick, quick strike touchdown, successful 2 pt conversion, successful onside kick, field goal.
Precedent? When I was little the Raiders were leading the Redskins 38-9 in the Super Bowl when I stopped watching the actual game and played out the end with my GI Joe guys. An absurd string of Raiders' miscues followed by unlikely touchdowns by RoadBlock and Gung Ho allowed for a shocking Redskins victory. The only comparable comeback (in your world) would be in 2003, when Indianapolis recovered from a 35-14 deficit - but Indy had 5 minutes left and went for it on 4th down every time. I went for it on 4th down every time too, by the way.
Anyway - so how did Norv's scheme play out? The Steelers, for some reason, threw incomplete on their 3rd down, stopping the clock, so the Chargers got the ball back with more than 2 minutes left (better than expected!) and were incredibly able to score at around the 2 minute warning. 35-24, so far so good! Unfortunately, the onside kick failed, and the game ended without the Chargers getting another possession, let alone two.
While a 4th & 17 is hard to convert, it is not impossible....it is significantly closer to impossible to win after punting the ball away w 3 minutes left in the game, down 3 scores, like Norv did. A coach trying to win tries to convert that 4th down. And that leads me to the following possibility...
Norv, notwithstanding rumors that he splices Smurf scenes into game films (Norv HATES Gargamel), was not envisioning a cartoonish GI Joe style comeback win. Norv was more concerned with not losing 42-17 and embarassing himself than he was with winning. And that is a shame.
In conclusion, Babe Laughenberg is currently on the Chargers practice squad.
I HATE NORV TURNER. HE SHOULD BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY. THE MOST INCOMPETANT AND UNISPIRING COACH EVER. FIRE NORV TURNER!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAre you Kidding me, the fact that Norv was able to get on the return flight back from Pittsburgh Baffles me. He needs to be fired immediatley, as in now. Poor clock managemet, poor play calling, poor leadership, poor execution of anything. He took a legit 14-2 team turned them into this. by the way last years success was not becuase of Norv, it was residual effects of what they learned from Marty, Mickey Mouse could have coached that team to victory last year... oh wait he did. This year.... this is the real Norv Turner. 4-8 and lucky. LOSER.
ReplyDeleteThat call right there showed that in addition to having less than desirable skin, Norv is a GAPING VAGINA! So to speak...
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