10. Not a gutsy call by the Pats, just a plain old stupid one. They still got absolutely screwed on that spot, though.
9. Not really gutsy (it's 1st down and a corner toss so if the Cowboys don't bite you toss it out of bounds and it's effectively still a spike that took 3 seconds off the clock instead of 1 second). It's a really smart call that worked for them, is what it is.
8. Dumb. This is the worst sold fake spike in the history of the NFL, and the DB was playing man so even if Marino had faked the spike on this "fake spike" he was turned around and didn't see it anyway. This is basically a lazy comeback route that ended up working. Whatever.
7. Gutsy. This was in Week 1 too. Going for two there and calling a stupid fade route is particularly gutsy, and so gutsy it starts to border on stupid (read: gutsy going for two, and a stupid playcall that ended up working out).
6. Definitely gutsy, with just a a side-serving of desperation. Down 16-0 with 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter a FG can still help you, but it's so little time left it's more gutsy to fake the FG than to just go for it on 4th (a FG there or not would have still been a loss if the rest of the game played out the same).
5. Not gutsy. Just pure desperation (down by 10 in the 4th) that's pretty smart (most coaches don't do this because they're dumbly trying to avoid blowouts rather than trying to win late in the 4th.
5. Again, not gutsy, just desperation and smart football most coaches won't engage in.
4. Definitely gutsy.
3. How gutsy was it? Was this 4th down w/ no timeouts? If so, gutsiest of the bunch. If not, not gutsy.
2. Not gutsy. Pass is the right call on that down in that situation. Only mistake was calling a tendency play against the best in the business and getting outsmarted. Call your tendency play in that situation against Jim Tomsula. Call your tendency breaker against Bill Belicheck. Basically, not at all gutsy, but the right call of the wrong play.
1. Beginning of the second half onside kick when down? This happens a few times a year. Gutsy because it's the Super Bowl for sure, but a pretty standard play.
