What was Carson thinking???

[iamstevenlopez]

2:09 left on the clock and the hand off goes to Carson, he goes outside and with a blocker ahead of him (Lockett) decides to slide instead of getting the first.

Not sure if that was just a brain fart or what he was thinking but that kind of lapse of judgement could cost us a game. I’m all for getting a goal line stop (And an instant classic) but I prefer avoiding a heart attack if it’s preventable. Lol.


What’s your take?

Go Hawks!!!

 

[KinesProf]

I didn't mind it.

 

[hgwellz12]

Yeah, his brain farted. It wasn't as loud & foul as Schott/Pete/Russ going for the homerun on 3rd & 1 tho.

 

[lukerguy]

I'm pretty sure that the 2 minute warning was going to be reached regardless of going out of bounds too. Could have turned up and if he got pushed out of bounds it wouldn't have been the end of the world. He could have gotten 8-10 yards on 1st down instead of a 4-5.

 

[Jerhawk]

He was thinking about making sure he went down in bounds than risk being forced out of bounds.

He should've been more aggressive, but it makes sense why he did it.

The 3rd down call is much more of a debate imo

 

[PaltryWings7]

I believe momentum was taking him out of bounds so decided to go down to keep the clock turning. The real problem was not giving him the ball at 3rd and 1

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[andyh64000]

He wouldn't have made the first down and there would have been time before the 2 minute warning (which isn't that big of a deal since they had multiple timeouts and the next play would have gone through the 2 minute mark).

 

[Ad Hawk]

The real problem was not giving him the ball at 3rd and 1

Nope, that would have been "too cute."

Or something meaningless like that.

 

[Smellyman]

He had a lot left to get more yards and stay inbounds. he messed up.

good idea, executed very badly.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

Yeah, his brain farted. It wasn't as loud & foul as Schott/Pete/Russ going for the homerun on 3rd & 1 tho.

Going for the deep shot was on Russ. Whatever his 2 short reads were they were taken away, as per Pete in the post game presser. I won't argue it was a strange call in that decision. However if it works it's looks great like in Phili last year. It would have been much worse if Russ tried to thread the needle into tight coverage and had the ball tipped leading to a pick or something.
All that being said I still would have preferred Carson running on the play.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

Another devil's advocate comment on what Carson did. If he actually gets the first down and runs OB is the situation that much different than when the Hawks scrimmaged after the kick-off? Whatever time that play took is off the clock but once again it's 1st and t0 with the clock stopped, so I don't think it was that big a mistake for him.

In hindsight the best strategy for him would have been turn it straight upfield, wrap that ball up firmly in both hands and power forward for all he can get.

 

[onanygivensunday]

On the 3rd and 1, Tyler's a great receiver but he doesn't have the catch radius of DK, which equates to the window Russ has on that pass to Lockett is considerably tighter than the one DK offers. In other words, run that play but target DK over Lockett.

 

[Erebus]

I'm pretty sure that the 2 minute warning was going to be reached regardless of going out of bounds too. Could have turned up and if he got pushed out of bounds it wouldn't have been the end of the world. He could have gotten 8-10 yards on 1st down instead of a 4-5.

If he would’ve gone out of bounds, there would’ve been a few seconds left before the 2 minute warning. And since it was within 5 minutes of the end of the game, the clock would’ve stopped and not started up again until they ran another play.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Was actually smart.

He gained 6 yards. At that point, Seattle has a very manageable 2nd and 4 at the 2:00 warning.

If he gets the first down, and is pushed out of bounds, then Seattle would have to actually do better than 6 yards on the resulting play before the 2:00 warning to have the exact same result (2nd and 4 or less at the warning break). That likelihood is low.

I had no problem with it at all. Could he have run it up more aggressively? Sure. But then he's exposing the risk of fumbling because you know that NE is going after that ball. Ultimately, it was the smart and strategic option and I wouldn't have been surprised that the players were reminded of the situational strategy.

Looking at the All-22, the pass to Lockett deep was the right decision. NE loaded up to take away the run and short passes. The only option was a late breaking crosser that opened up just as Wilson was letting it fly. NE Exposing themselves intermediate and deep passes. Basically the defense gambled on the chances that a longer pass is harder to complete and gave us that. We've seen Wilson convert many times on those passes late in games to seal wins.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I was OK with Carson staying in bounds to make sure he didn't stop the clock right before the 2:00 warning, but he should have just leaned inside and got tackled for a 7-8 yard gain, not slid down and lost those 2-3 yards by sliding.

Not a huge deal, still should have been able to convert a 3rd and 1. So if we lost that game, Carson's slide wouldn't have been in the top 5 things we're complaining about this week.

 

[Optimus25]

Was actually smart.

He gained 6 yards. At that point, Seattle has a very manageable 2nd and 4 at the 2:00 warning.

If he gets the first down, and is pushed out of bounds, then Seattle would have to actually do better than 6 yards on the resulting play before the 2:00 warning to have the exact same result (2nd and 4 or less at the warning break). That likelihood is low.

I had no problem with it at all. Could he have run it up more aggressively? Sure. But then he's exposing the risk of fumbling because you know that NE is going after that ball. Ultimately, it was the smart and strategic option and I wouldn't have been surprised that the players were reminded of the situational strategy.

Looking at the All-22, the pass to Lockett deep was the right decision. NE loaded up to take away the run and short passes. The only option was a late breaking crosser that opened up just as Wilson was letting it fly. NE Exposing themselves intermediate and deep passes. Basically the defense gambled on the chances that a longer pass is harder to complete and gave us that. We've seen Wilson convert many times on those passes late in games to seal wins.

I don't care if they didn't even cover lockett split out and stacked the box with all 11. You run the damn ball. We pride ourselves as a power team, which yes, probably has shifted now that Russ is taking the reigns, but that mindset is not gone. You go out and get the 1 yard the old fashioned way and there is no way possible that you can convince me a 27 yard pass is high enough percentage to warrant straying from the most obvious decision of just running.

Haven't we been down this road before?

:34853_doh:

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Haven't we been down this road before?

:34853_doh:

You mean like NE with Cam last weekend on the goalline?

Not sure why fans think certain situations demand certain playcalls 100% of the time. NE stacked the box so Russell checked to a pass play to try and take a shot........just like he did in Atlanta on 4th and 5, no one complained about that TD pass to DK.

Some of you guys are amazing hindsight playcallers.

 

[Ad Hawk]

Haven't we been down this road before?

:34853_doh:

You mean like NE with Cam last weekend on the goalline?

Not sure why fans think certain situations demand certain playcalls 100% of the time. NE stacked the box so Russell checked to a pass play to try and take a shot........just like he did in Atlanta on 4th and 5, no one complained about that TD pass to DK.

Some of you guys are amazing hindsight playcallers.

Agreed, Sgt.

The right plays are the ones that work. Second-guessing makes fans seem powerful and "right" but it's not that simple after-the-fact.

 

[SeaWolv]

Carson was trying to run clock, I get it, but in that scenario with 4 seconds to go before the 2:00 minute warning there's no way the Pats are gonna burn a precious TO to save that little time left. They're gonna use the two minute warning as a 3rd TO and save their 2 for their last drive. The only reason to slide in bounds there is to force them to burn a TO, it was a dumb move and could have cost them the game.

As for the 3 & 1 thirty yard bomb, I would rather have seen Russ run off left tackle after a fake down field as Collinsworth was saying pre-snap. If he felt throw was his best option then I think he had better options for shorter gains but higher probability. He had Olsen breaking toward the left sideline with his defender on his right hip for a 10 yard gain, Metcalf breaking left of the left hash mark with his defender on his right hip for a 15 yard gain or Moore breaking toward the middle with his defender on his right hip for a 10 yard gain as well. Russ decided to go for the knockout and I think it was a little too cocky there. Get the first down and then, if you must, take a shot downfield for the knockout and if it fails just run the clock out.

You can't give Cam a 5 point deficit, 1:55 to play and 2 TO's and hope your porous D will hold, the odds are they won't. If the Hawks got the first down there the worst case scenario, w/o a turnover, is you go 3 and out but now Cam has less time and no TO's.