MM's Decision to Accept the Penalty

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I think we know what I'm about to talk about. But, midway through the second, 49ers had an illegal formation play that still resulted in us stopping them, leaving them 4th and 1 at the 5. MM accepted it. After the fight and extra play, Kaep finds Bolding for a TD. It was a tough decision and hindsight is 20/20, but I think you have to decline. Harbaugh is aggressive. But, I don't think he passes on the points at that stage of the game. Still, 3rd and 6 should favor the defense and we did stop them until Clay launched at him. What do you guys think?
 

tynimiller

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I took it with a grain of salt to be honest....but that's based solely on the fact I 100% felt in my mind if 4th and short 49ers were gonna run the ball and get the 1st. I too would have taken the down though and not the penalty for sure!
 

JBlood

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We couldn't stop them on 3rd down the whole game, which is the reason we lost. Why do you think we'd stop them on 4th? I don't think MM's decision had much to do with the outcome. The defense gave up almost 500 yards, against probably the best offense we'll face this year. If the defense had gotten off the field with ~2 min. remaining, we had a chance to win it.
 

Ceodore

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we just turned it over and immediately put them in the RZ, I didn't understand why we wouldn't just cut our losses with the 3 points. If we accept the penalty, the best case scenario (barring an unlikely turnover) is that they still get a fieldgoal. so what was the point in accepting the penalty to give them another play.

The only rationale I can think of is, like tyni says, MM thought they were gonna go for it on 4th and short. I know Harbaugh is aggressive, but I think that early in the game, they'd have to be thinking to take the 3 points.

Tough call I guess, but I think i'd make SF make the decision to go or not instead of giving them another play, knowing that we're horrible on 3rd downs.
 

GoPGo

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It was stupid vs a good team I would always take the down over the yards.
Disagree. With barely a yard to go, they would have gone for it and they probably would have picked it up. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation so it really didn't matter much either way.
 

Ceodore

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Disagree. With barely a yard to go, they would have gone for it and they probably would have picked it up. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation so it really didn't matter much either way.

I think you have to make them make that decision though. And with the say the line was playing as compared to the secondary, I think I would have had more confidence for the Pack to stop them from getting one yard than 5 or 6 or whatever it was.
 

GoPGo

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We couldn't stop them on 3rd down the whole game,

They were only 50% on third downs (9-18). Not sure where this idea that we couldn't stop them on 3rd down is coming from but the facts don't support it.
 

GoPGo

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I think you have to make them make that decision though. And with the say the line was playing as compared to the secondary, I think I would have had more confidence for the Pack to stop them from getting one yard than 5 or 6 or whatever it was.
And we DID stop them. But that retard Bill Leavy decided to give them an extra down.
 
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12theTruth

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They were only 50% on third downs (9-18). Not sure where this idea that we couldn't stop them on 3rd down is coming from but the facts don't support it.

The 49ers did however convert TWICE as many 3rd down opportunites as the Packers. Huge advantage. You wouldn't be trying to spin a good performance out of the D would you. They stopped the run but got destroyed through the air.
 

HyponGrey

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I didn't trust our D against the 49ers on 4th and 2, why would I trust them on 4th and 1. If I had been SF I'dve gone for it.
 

GoPGo

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The 49ers did however convert TWICE as many 3rd down opportunites as the Packers. Huge advantage.
Which has nothing to do with the fact that we stopped them on 3rd down half the time. How many 3rd down opportunities we had is irrelevant. Guess what, the more you convert on 2nd down, the fewer 3rd down "opportunities" you're going to get.
 

GoPGo

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That early on, SF would have kicked a FG.
You can't know that. It would have been a prime position to go for it. They would have trusted their defense to stop us and provide them with a short field if they had not gotten the first down. The chances they would have kicked the FG would have been 50% at best.
 
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12theTruth

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Which has nothing to do with the fact that we stopped them on 3rd down half the time. How many 3rd down opportunities we had is irrelevant. Guess what, the more you convert on 2nd down, the fewer 3rd down "opportunities" you're going to get.

If you would have quoted the entire post it would have provided the context needed. 9 for 18 isn't a number to really celebrate for the Packers D. Not sure why you're nitpicking about that. Relax!
 

Brandon

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In my opinion this was a truly terrible call by MM. There was really no logic in accepting this penalty. If you accept this penalty, which he did, you run the risk of not only SF getting a first down, but potentially a touch down, where WORST case scenario is they don't convert and then either; A) Kick the field goal or B) Go for it on 4th down anyway, since there's a good chance if they DON'T convert that they are close enough on 4th down anyway next time to consider going for it.

If you decline the penalty you put the pressure on San Fran. It's fourth down off a turnover and you're risking not getting any points by not kicking the field goal. Harbaugh is aggressive, but at this stage of the game I just don't see him doing it. If he does go for it then you beat them up front and make a play. MM's got some genius in him, but this was probably one of the worst calls I've ever seen him made. As Vikings vox Paul Allen put it, "Most idiotic call I've ever seen."
 

Ceodore

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They were only 50% on third downs (9-18). Not sure where this idea that we couldn't stop them on 3rd down is coming from but the facts don't support it.

I'd be curious to know what the % was in the first half though. I swear at one point they converted about 5 in a row after being stopped on their first drive.
 
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12theTruth

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People were saying McCarthy made a horrible call. I don't think it was horrible. I can see the argument both ways for it.
 

Oshkoshpackfan

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You can't know that. It would have been a prime position to go for it. They would have trusted their defense to stop us and provide them with a short field if they had not gotten the first down. The chances they would have kicked the FG would have been 50% at best.

And like you said...you can't know that either. A FG is the most likely of senario at 4th and 2 early on.
 

HyponGrey

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SF was well within the red zone, worth the risk on 4th and 1. I didn't trust our defense to stop 4th and 1, and it seems neither did MM.
 

Ceodore

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You hear announcers say pretty frequently that the general rule of thumb is to take the points when they're available to you. Obviously this isn't always the case, but I think in that scenario, they aren't playing from behind, it's the first half, etc. I think they take the field goal. But obviously, we'll never know.
 

jaybadger82

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The 49ers did however convert TWICE as many 3rd down opportunites as the Packers. Huge advantage. You wouldn't be trying to spin a good performance out of the D would you. They stopped the run but got destroyed through the air.

Condemning the defense by pointing to third down conversions is pretty myopic.

San Francisco converts more third down opportunities because they manage down-and-distance well through the run and more often face manageable third-and-shorts. On the flip side, our offense relies so heavily on the pass that we tend to move the ball in fits and starts, often bypassing third downs.

Agreed that they beat us through the air. Nonetheless, I was impressed by the nasty shown by our defensive front in forcing them to do so. The absence of Heyward and Burnett make me optimistic that the secondary is better next time around...

P.S. I would have declined the penalty. The home favorite will settle for the field goal 99% of the time under those circumstances.
 
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12theTruth

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Condemning the defense by pointing to third down conversions is pretty myopic.

San Francisco converts more third down opportunities because they manage down-and-distance well through the run and more often face manageable third-and-shorts. On the flip side, our offense relies so heavily on the pass that we tend to move the ball in fits and starts, often bypassing third downs.

Agreed that they beat us through the air. Nonetheless, I was impressed by the nasty shown by our defensive front in forcing them to do so. The absence of Heyward and Burnett make me optimistic that the secondary is better next time around...
I was merely pointing out another posters contention that somehow the defense by holding the 49ers to 9 for 18 in 3rd down conversions was not really a point to celebrate.
 

Ceodore

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Condemning the defense by pointing to third down conversions is pretty myopic.

San Francisco converts more third down opportunities because they manage down-and-distance well through the run and more often face manageable third-and-shorts. On the flip side, our offense relies so heavily on the pass that we tend to move the ball in fits and starts, often bypassing third downs.

Agreed that they beat us through the air. Nonetheless, I was impressed by the nasty shown by our defensive front in forcing them to do so. The absence of Heyward and Burnett make me optimistic that the secondary is better next time around...

Maybe it was just because these hurt more, but I actually thought most of their 3rd downs were fairly long (>5 yards) that they converted. No stats or anything to back that up, just felt like it.
 

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