Should the Texans have kicked the 52yd field goal?

The skins weren't moving the ball like they were at the start of the game. Yes, they could still move it... but I don't think they would have done much had they been pinned deep (or had Antonio Smith not commited that stupid penalty).

And yes... the dude just missed. And we ended up winning with the short field. The fact that the same scenario could have played out against us (and didn't) even further shows you how many times you can go round and round with this decision... and still not come up with a consensous.

 

At first I wanted them to kick the FG, and when I saw that Racker's wasn't putting his helmet on I started to get really upset... but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Kubiak was simply making a calculated risk... sure you give the Skins a chance to punch it in for the win, but if you're going to risk that happening, you might as well give your team another shot (a better one at that). Granted, the punt wasn't a very quality one, but things worked out in the end; with the power of hindsight it would be a moot point to say it wasn't the "right" choice, because clearly it was.

 

i cant believe some people suggest the Kubiak deserved to get fired for not kicking the field goal.. NEVER MIND the fact that as a result we won the game ...

lets see he didnt kick a FG and shanahan did .. texans won .. hmm u tell me who made the right call.. are you ACTUALLY saying the coach who lost made the better call?

If I am Kubiak .. i am seeing that my defense has only given up 7 points and they were going to be without their starting LT but they have been able to move the ball on us .. so I dont want to give them any more field (good decision bc had rackers missed they would have had about 20 more yards and the dudes FG would have been a 34 yarder not a 54)

His kicker missed from 47 .. his leg was obviously getting tired bc his kickoffs began to suck .. AND he probably assumed that shanahan was gonan make him kick it twice (like he made the redskins kicker do)

He knows his personnel and rackers was not brough in to kick 50 plus yard FGs, he was brought in to make clutch under 45 yard FGs, which he did.

 

also this is the second game in a row, that a Kubiak Timeout saved the texans bacon .. In indy it was on that onside kick and today it was on the MADE FG that was negated bc of his Timeout....

He is also the engineer of the offense that now can beat you with either the run or the pass .. (foster didnt have a great game but he totaled 138 yards total)

Lets not forget that he has helped develop Matt Schaub (the one who was 3 yards short of 500 in a nfl game) into one of the best QBs in the game

 

They were moving the ball. They had 6 possessions in the 2nd half. 3 punts, 1 TD, a missed FG and a blocked FG. McNabb overthrew a wide open dude right before one of those punts (should have been a TD). Then they drove the field in OT, so that's moving the ball on over 50% of their possessions after halftime. They just didn't come away with points.

 

Terrible decision for kubiak if he trusted his defense then he would have taken the risk. but it shows that he doesnt trust his defense or his kicker. So what you put the skins at the 37. They got there very quickly anyway

 

I don't think he deserves to be fired for not taking the FG, but I do find it disturbing that he STILL seems to play too conservative instead of trying to end games. Here is an example. We got the ball with under a minute left and we played for overtime. The Colts got the ball with 1"07 left before halftime tonight, up 17-0, and they drove to try to put the game away...and they scored. Our coach is too conservative. Don't play to prolong games. Then wierd stuff can happen. If you have a chance to win it then take it. We had two chances to go for the win in the closing minutes and he passed on both of them. That is disturbing. Even more disturbing since it fits his mantra for playcalling.

 

Stop posting other peoples work as your own.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=5583678&postcount=1613

 

So what do you call Shanahan going for the FG in almost the exact same situation for the win, missing it, and handing the Texans a short field? Playing to win? Kicking a 50+ yarder is roughly a slightly better than 50/50 proposition in the best of situations, and who knows what the field and weather conditions (wind, etc.) were like. Kubiak played it safe, and it worked.

 

Here are the quotes from one of the better...arguably the best...FF board on our game, at the times Kubiak passed on going for the win.

'Hou still sucks at clock management. Took way too much time on that 2nd down"

"Punt? Really? At least go for it."

"Wow, no FG?"

"stupid"

"Kubiak Zorned it."

"That was one of the worst coaching calls I've seen. "No, we won't try and win...let's punt into the end zone." Terrible."

"Wow, Houston gave the game away"

"Washington tried hard to get the clutch L, but I guess Houston just wanted it less."

"Now I understand why Houston has never won an overtime game. They've screwed this up in every way possible."

"Kubiak: defining the term "playing not to lose""

"Kubiak obviously needed more fantasy points."

"And Kubiak is an idiot....on the road you kick the FG....idiot."

"51 yarder!!!!!!!! Skeletor will try it!"

"I hope WAS makes this FG. Kubiak deserves to watch this go through."

"shanahan > kubiak. was coming to post the same thing. proof that good coaching really does make a difference"

"Wow Kubiak goes from dolt to genious"

"Not sure if that is a catch or not, but some of Kubiak's decisions here in OT have definitely been pretty questionable."

 

clearly not... few plays later, rackers kicked one through without a redskins time out.

 

Turk put the ball in the endzone. The Texans gained 19 yards out of that total instead of getting a chance to win the game. That's pretty much an Antonio Smith penalty.

Should have kicked the FG.

 

Shannahan made the right call. Just because the situation happened to work out, does not mean he made the right call. Turk ended up punting it into the endzone and antonio smith got a penalty. The Redskins ended up 4 yards further back from when the kick would have taken place

 

But he makes the right call if the punt is executed AS IT SHOULD BE, and Antonio Smith doesn't make the stupid penalty LIKE HE SHOULDN'T HAVE???

50-50 call. Either way could have backfired, this time it worked out.

 

But the punt was not executed and the penalty did happen.

It DIDN'T "WORK", it just happened to not cost them the game. Had their kicker missed the first FG and hit the 2nd, Kubes wouldda looked like an idiot. When a realistic FG attempt can win the game for you, ya take it.

 

Can't use hindsight when judging a call. Which is why I presented the probable outcomes earlier.

Based on those outcomes, he chose the one with the least negative repurcussions, but also the least(zero) chance to win the game.

 

The more I thought about it, the more I was going a little crazy with some decisions. The idea that Kubiak wanted to punt the ball with 3 seconds left was one of them. I feel that Kubiak's last minute play call (in regulation) had that "no interception to end the game" feel a la the game vs. the Arizona Cardinals last year.

With all that said, I felt that with Washington pushed to the wall and the situation being what it is, the idea that they might jump offsides on a 4th and short might be worth burning a timeout on. I feel that you should either put out the offense or the kicking unit and see if you could make them jump offsides if you don't think the kicker has a better than 50% chance of making that FG, which I'm sure Kubiak didn't. In the postgame, he mentioned the wind condition towards the end of the game as part of the decision making process. AJ was fuming at the sidelines, which was uncharacteristic for him. Either way, I'd suggest trying to draw them offsides and/or go for the 4th down at the 35. I feel that the 35 is not a bad field position to start the defense. Of course, by taking the penalty and punting, you're hoping to pin them deep. That not happening made the decision much more questionable.

 

It's actually funny how psychology work. I feel that the worst feeling in the world as a kicker is what Fisher pulled on us last year. I believe that there's the anti-ice feeling when you expect them to call a timeout and they didn't. I think that's even worse. Center has to snap the ball and you half-heartedly kick the ball.

Or course, you're supposed to be ready at all times, but I think Fisher not calling the timeout and the Texans not having one caused our loss last year. Brown just wasn't ready to kick it.

 

Not kicking the field goal was the right call without question for me. NFL kickers hit 50+ yard field goals at about a 50% rate and Rackers is old and has below average leg strength compared to most kickers. Rackers himself is a career 48% kicker from 50+, but most of his makes from that distance we more than 5 years ago. In the last 5 seasons he's been a miserable 5 for 18 from those distances. I can't find any stats to back it up, but my assumption would be that those percentages drop drastically on "pressure kicks" as well.

He would have missed the kick, given the Skins incredible field position and tons of momentum again. They would have run about 5 plays and been in easy field goal range and won the game. You know, like exactly what the Texans did after Washington foolishly tried to kick a long one.

At the time, my preference would have been to go for it, but after looking at 4th down stats from last year (50% league avaerage success rate, Texans converted 42%), it would have been about the same coin flip type of situation as a long field goal. If Turk could have executed a decent pooch punt and pinned Washington inside their own 10, a likely necessitated conservative gameplan probably would have gotten the Texans the ball back with great field position and a great chance of winning. But making them go the extra 25 yards from the spot of the missed field goal made all the difference in the game anyway.

Kicking and going for the win right there would have been more exciting and "sexy," but it likely would have left the Texans 1-1. Kubiak made the right call, don't think you're smarter than him. Fans need to stop being so afraid of safe, smart, "conservative" calls sometimes. Trust that your team that has been far superior for the prior 30 minutes will continue to play well enough to win and don't go all-in hoping for what was essentially a coin-toss(although with Rackers recent history, a 50 yarder for him hardly gives you a 50-50 shot of winning).