Mike McCoy Kills Chargers' Chances With Decision To Punt In Fourth Quarter
BOSTON (CBS) -- Coaching an NFL football team is hard, no doubt.
But it's not that hard.
Just about every weekend, the Patriots head into their matchup owning a distinct edge in the coaching department, yet the opponent's disadvantage doesn't always show in the course of the game. On Sunday night, it sure did, and it cost the Chargers their final chance to compete for a win.
The decision in question came from Chargers head coach Mike McCoy. He watched as Philip Rivers awkwardly scrambled for seven yards, setting up a fourth-and-5 at the 50-yard line with about seven minutes left on the clock.
The Chargers trailed by nine points at that point. They needed two scores. To score twice, a team typically must possess the ball twice. The odds of possessing the ball twice in seven minutes aren't terrific.
Yet McCoy sent out the punt team, giving the ball to Tom Brady's offense with 6:18 left.
The Chargers did not touch the ball again until just 2:05 remained on the clock. They trailed by nine, and knowing their chances of scoring twice in two minutes without any timeouts were slim to none, they failed to pick up a first down and turned it over on downs. The game was over.
After the loss, McCoy explained his decision.
"Yes, I called it. I'm the head coach," he asserted. "I did what I thought was best for the football team."
Had the Chargers been down by eight points or fewer, or had the Chargers been facing a fourth-and-long deep in their own territory, then McCoy's decision to punt (with three timeouts in his back pocket) would not have stood out as exceptionally poor. Yet punting at midfield accomplished essentially nothing. If the Chargers failed to convert the fourth down, they'd need to make a stop on defense. If they punted, they'd need to do the same, just 38 yards deeper in New England territory. (And this is leaving out the fact that you're relying on your place kicker to pin the opponent deep, on account of your starting punter exiting early due to injury.)
So why punt?
Sadly, McCoy seemed to fall victim to the common tendency for NFL head coaches to do whatever is safe, whatever will keep them out of headlines such as "Why did [Coach X] go for it on fourth down?" Unfortunately, such tactics often result in coaching to lose. McCoy learned that the hard way on Sunday night, while on the other sideline, Bill Belichick recorded his 209th career victory.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
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