Smith Timeout Prior To Halftime

[Dominique is Manufique 638]

I hadn't seen this addressed so i thought i'd create this for discussion. i unlike many here am a fan of our front office and mike smith. however, sunday smith called a timeout with less than a minute left after a first down play. it was a run to the left that atlanta stuffed. we called a timeout immediately and sure enough next play was a 20 yard or so pass to help set up a fg attempt. i imagine had we not called that timeout that the bengals would have likely let the clock run.

i guess mike has confidence in his defense. it must be stubborn confidence because i thought to myself this is a bad timeout and we're only giving them more time to get into fg range.

[yae! dan Quinn 137]

My thoughts exactly, except I hate smith and think he should have been fired yesterday right after the game. reasons explained in other posts, just terrible

[Dominique is Manufique 638]

issues as a whole are a collective issue. one thing fans need to remember is you're rarely as bad or as good as the fans/media will lead you to believe. however, in this case no sacks in 2 games, dead last in ypg defense, and forcing 2 or 3 punts total in 2 games are telling statistics.

if this trend isn't changed, we may be looking for a new front office and HC by december.

[LookAboutFalcon 3,373]

Agreed, horrible timeout call. Just another example of Smitty's indecisiveness.

[laynepink 67]

That timeout was a complete boneheaded move by Smith. I can't even envision a possible scenario where that was a good idea.

[laynepink 67]

Reminded me of a similarly stupid timeout called by Jim Caldwell a few years back. Look at Manning's face:

[KamiKazee27 1,155]

That Was the dumbest move by a falcons head coach since Jim Mora jr did it against the Saints. I usually don't criticize Smith too much but he must not have been watching the same game we were. Our defense and offense were getting their butt kicked no reason to not let them run out the clock.

[Quarterback 4,244]

Want one even worse?

How about the first down call when we just took over possession down 14 with 6 minutes to play...a run! A freaking running play with 6 minutes left, down 14 points! Stupid!

Edit: and we had 90+ yards to go!

Edited September 15, 2014 by Quarterback

[slider 1,540]

Maybe we should just pay someone to stand on the side line during games and make mean faces and scream non-stop at the refs then berate the reporters at the press conference afterward while the football people handle the game! Seems like that's what impresses fans. If the results aren't there at the end, Smitty will and should be fired. To fire him now is to throw the season away after 2 games. You may even throw away several seasons while new systems are brought in and Matt Ryan has to learn a new offense and new personnel have to be gathered to operate in a new defensive scheme. If you want to give up, go ahead, that's your right but come on with this fire him now stuff.

[KamiKazee27 1,155]

Want one even worse?

How about the first down call when we just took over possession down 14 with 6 minutes to play...a run! A freaking running play with 6 minutes left, down 14 points! Stupid!

That wasn't that bad considering we couldn't stop their pass rush. Sneak a quick run in there hope for a 5-10 yard gain while their geared up to stop pass then hurry back to the line.

[doveboss26 239]

I don't think it was a bad decision, it just blew up on him.

In that situation your saying ok we can force their have here because why wouldn't they try an take advantage of us stopping the clock? And we all know we are playing pass, specifically looking for an opportunity at a turn over.

Unfortunately Lowery gets beat and it blows up in his face.

Gutsy call, didn't work.

[doveboss26 239]

That wasn't that bad considering we couldn't stop their pass rush. Sneak a quick run in there hope for a 5-10 yard gain while their geared up to stop pass then hurry back to the line.

The only reason I didn't like it was due to the fact that we were down 14 with 6 to go. Chances are limited and the chances of us winning the games dropped every minute at that point.

Was a safety truly going to hurt us that bad? And even then we were in the same boat with a safety. Punt it to them, hope for a 3 and out score and convert the two points.... still had to score twice either way.

[Big_Dog 7,159]

Maybe we should just pay someone to stand on the side line during games and make mean faces and scream non-stop at the refs then berate the reporters at the press conference afterward while the football people handle the game! Seems like that's what impresses fans. If the results aren't there at the end, Smitty will and should be fired. To fire him now is to throw the season away after 2 games. You may even throw away several seasons while new systems are brought in and Matt Ryan has to learn a new offense and new personnel have to be gathered to operate in a new defensive scheme. If you want to give up, go ahead, that's your right but come on with this fire him now stuff.

OK, I'll give you the credit for the 'let's not jump to conclusions too soon' theory..BUT.. If the Bucs beat us Thurs nite, he needs to be fired Thurs nite.

[Quarterback 4,244]

That wasn't that bad considering we couldn't stop their pass rush. Sneak a quick run in there hope for a 5-10 yard gain while their geared up to stop pass then hurry back to the line.

Are you serious?

We were down 14 points--that's two scores! This meant we need to drive the ball 90+ yards, score a TD, stop them, get then ball back, and score another TD...all in 6 minutes. What in the **** does a 5-10 yards gain do for you there other than leave you with 80+ yards to go and about 30-40 seconds less to do it?

[toadfishtom 5,526]

In a close game you can see the panic on Smitty's face ,if we do win a close game its rarely because he made the right move.

[KamiKazee27 1,155]

The only reason I didn't like it was due to the fact that we were down 14 with 6 to go. Chances are limited and the chances of us winning the games dropped every minute at that point.

Was a safety truly going to hurt us that bad? And even then we were in the same boat with a safety. Punt it to them, hope for a 3 and out score and convert the two points.... still had to score twice either way.

We had 3 timeouts if we led a TD drive, then stopped them we could have got the ball back with 2 mins and a chance to tie. 6 mins is a lot in a football game, our offense just couldn't get it done. That Bengals front 7 was too much for us.

[peoriabird 1,162]

Are you serious?

We were down 14 points--that's two scores! This meant we need to drive the ball 90+ yards, score a TD, stop them, get then ball back, and score another TD...all in 6 minutes. What in the **** does a 5-10 yards gain do for you there other than leave you with 80+ yards to go and about 30-40 seconds less to do it?

I wonder less and less everyday who is supporting Smith after reading these post...Birds of a feather flock together!

[Theyhateme : ) 2,883]

I hadn't seen this addressed so i thought i'd create this for discussion. i unlike many here am a fan of our front office and mike smith. however, sunday smith called a timeout with less than a minute left after a first down play. it was a run to the left that atlanta stuffed. we called a timeout immediately and sure enough next play was a 20 yard or so pass to help set up a fg attempt. i imagine had we not called that timeout that the bengals would have likely let the clock run.

i guess mike has confidence in his defense. it must be stubborn confidence because i thought to myself this is a bad timeout and we're only giving them more time to get into fg range.

Yeah...that was crazy...

[insight 1,806]

The timeout before halftime made no sense in that situation.

It was sad to see him attempt to run off the field when he created the issue by stopping the clock.

Edited September 15, 2014 by insight

[jeffro2000 1,799]

Seriously, it was dumb at that point. I mean, at best we were going to get the ball back, deep in our territory, no timeouts, with like 30secs before half when we haven't moved the ball much all half.

You never do that with the opposing team at midfield (unless the 4th qtr of course). This is elementary stuff. He gave them a scoring opportunity that they otherwise likely would not have had.

[doveboss26 239]

We had 3 timeouts if we led a TD drive, then stopped them we could have got the ball back with 2 mins and a chance to tie. 6 mins is a lot in a football game, our offense just couldn't get it done. That Bengals front 7 was too much for us.

Which made me think, as much as Matt would or could go to a screen when he wanted, why didn't we give matt the go ahead, or why didn't matt check to a screen when you could tell they were all coming?

One screen could have really got them off our *** at times.