PLAYOFFS! Wild Card Game: Ravens @ Bengals (Greg Roman's Last Stand)

[AngusMcFife]

1 hour ago, SalvadorsDeli said:

Maybe unfair to include a kick but it's still Billy Cundiff to me, if only because that team would have won the Super Bowl and this team inevitably had an expiration date. 

 

56 minutes ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

I think this is what I was talking about with another poster. If Huntley freelanced, ultimately that falls on the head coach. You practice plays and run them a certain way for a reason, and if Huntley just on his own, as a backup QB decided to go completely off-script it still falls on the coaches for not POUNDING into his head why you need to run that play a certain way and a certain way only.

It was still a braindead decision by Huntley for even thinking he could stretch the ball a full yard+ into the endzone, though.

That play happened with 12 minutes left in the game. Cundiff's kick literally lost us the AFCCG (IIRC, I'm not going to look it up right now lol), and it was a chip-shot field goal.

Cundiff's kick is definitely up there. 

I just think this play was worse because if Huntley just runs the play as practiced, it is a TD. But he tries to do something extra for no reason, and it turns into a 14 point swing. 

Players are going to drop passes, miss blocks, miss kicks, etc., it's part of football. But to actively go outside the structure of the play like Huntley does and for this to be the result is what makes this so brutally bad. 

Also part of what makes the Cundiff miss so bad was that Lee Evans had the ball in his hands for a TD the play prior before it was punched out. So I consider Cundiff's kick just the brutal end of a sequence of plays, but not a singularly bad play. TBH Cundiff missed a lot of kicks in 2011 so that miss wasn't that shocking to me. 

[diamondbull424]

3 hours ago, AngusMcFife said:

Dobbins final 4 carries went for 0, 0, 9 (on 2nd and 18), 0. He averaged 4.8 y/c. I think he is overrating himself a bit. 

If he really feels that way, hopefully he has no problem going up to Gus and telling him that he doesn't deserve barely any carries anymore. 

I haven’t commented on the play yet and you’re right the pile did push into the endzone. The problem however is two fold:

1) We could’ve ran QB sneak on 4th down.

2) We could’ve used Andrews as our QB sneak, he’s bigger with more ability to move the pile and it’s a play we’ve clearly used in critical situations before. He’s one of our playmakers, put the ball in his hands.

3) We could hand it off the Dobbins and still have 4th down.

I get your point about execution being the problem here. I’m sure the coaches were thinking we could QB sneak and worst case scenario we go for it 4th and inches from that same spot to get the final few inches.

But the whole point is certain guys are playmakers and others are not. Snoop can make plays, but he’s not someone we trust to legitimately get the job done. In critical situations, you turn to your playmakers whereas for Roman he thinks the opposite, he thinks “well it’s a critical situation, the defense will expect me to go to my playmaker, so let me go to my 3rd string TE” or something like that. It’s a problem, he’s overthinking it and it’s led to more issues than just yesterday.

The plays are cringe because what do we expect when we’re not putting the ball in the hands of our playmakers. Playmakers have been executing plays their entire lives and that’s why they’re the stars of a squad. Huntley isn’t terrible, but in critical situations the ball should never be tasked for him to win the game (unless we have no other choice)… that’s what makes it a bad playcall. Not the play itself IMO but the decision making around the play. K.I.S.S.

[AngusMcFife]

59 minutes ago, diamondbull424 said:

I haven’t commented on the play yet and you’re right the pile did push into the endzone. The problem however is two fold:

1) We could’ve ran QB sneak on 4th down.

2) We could’ve used Andrews as our QB sneak, he’s bigger with more ability to move the pile and it’s a play we’ve clearly used in critical situations before. He’s one of our playmakers, put the ball in his hands.

3) We could hand it off the Dobbins and still have 4th down.

I get your point about execution being the problem here. I’m sure the coaches were thinking we could QB sneak and worst case scenario we go for it 4th and inches from that same spot to get the final few inches.

But the whole point is certain guys are playmakers and others are not. Snoop can make plays, but he’s not someone we trust to legitimately get the job done. In critical situations, you turn to your playmakers whereas for Roman he thinks the opposite, he thinks “well it’s a critical situation, the defense will expect me to go to my playmaker, so let me go to my 3rd string TE” or something like that. It’s a problem, he’s overthinking it and it’s led to more issues than just yesterday.

The plays are cringe because what do we expect when we’re not putting the ball in the hands of our playmakers. Playmakers have been executing plays their entire lives and that’s why they’re the stars of a squad. Huntley isn’t terrible, but in critical situations the ball should never be tasked for him to win the game (unless we have no other choice)… that’s what makes it a bad playcall. Not the play itself IMO but the decision making around the play. K.I.S.S.

Good points, but when it comes down to it you have to trust the QB if you want to have any chance to win the game. Ultimately Roman called a game that gained 360 yards, 23 first downs, and should have netted 24-27 points if Huntley doesn't mess up the sneak. 

I'm fine with moving on from Roman because of the lack of development of WRs and passing game. But he called a pretty good game given he's working with the backup QB and lack of WRs, on the road against a solid D.  

[diamondbull424]

2 hours ago, AngusMcFife said:

 

Cundiff's kick is definitely up there. 

I just think this play was worse because if Huntley just runs the play as practiced, it is a TD. But he tries to do something extra for no reason, and it turns into a 14 point swing. 

Players are going to drop passes, miss blocks, miss kicks, etc., it's part of football. But to actively go outside the structure of the play like Huntley does and for this to be the result is what makes this so brutally bad. 

Also part of what makes the Cundiff miss so bad was that Lee Evans had the ball in his hands for a TD the play prior before it was punched out. So I consider Cundiff's kick just the brutal end of a sequence of plays, but not a singularly bad play. TBH Cundiff missed a lot of kicks in 2011 so that miss wasn't that shocking to me. 

This doesn’t even make my top 3. You have to factor in stakes. This is a wildcard game and not much was on the line as we still had time remaining.

Lee Evans drop is absolutely up there within the top 3, but he did catch the ball, but partly a great defensive play and partly ineptness from him lost us that game.

However Cundiff was kicking an extra point. It was like a 35 yd field goal kick, Koch didn’t completely get the laces all the way around, but he got them mostly around, but Cundiff missed WIDE left. It never had even a chance. If he kicks it true and it’s because Koch’s mistake with the laces hindered the kick and he slightly missed, it would’ve still sucked heavily, but might’ve been understandable, but the fact was that he simply choked. That was our team of destiny in all reality. We still turned despair into a ring and it led to us securing the GOAT kicker, however 10 years from now I won’t remember the Snoop fumble 7, but I will still remember the harrowing feeling from Cundiff, even if it’s faded over time. It only ties the game and we might’ve still lost that game, but it just reminds me of this scene from the Matrix. That’s not how our destiny was supposed to end.

https://youtu.be/QGc-iPc-9dE

[AngusMcFife]

24 minutes ago, diamondbull424 said:

That’s not how our destiny was supposed to end.

I think winning the Super Bowl the following year makes the memory of this play sting less. It's like the feelings of despair over this incident motivated them the next year. 

For me, missing a kick or dropping a ball are very common plays, though. A backup QB trying to leap over the pile over a yard away and having it returned for a TD is such a shocking and stupid play, it will stick with me for awhile. 14 point swings are very rare plays. It's the combination of clutch situation (playoffs, tied, 4th quarter), point swing, rarity of play, and freelancing stupidity that make this play so incredible for me. 

But I acknowledge we all experience plays and moments differently, and to each their own. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by AngusMcFife
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