My 15 year old nephew is the national
chess champion for his age
group. The last time I beat him was 11 years ago when he was 4
and
that was a battle. He was so upset, he started to cry, so the
next
time I played him about a year later, he went New England Patriots on
my ass and crushed me without remorse or compassion. If you study
chess at all, you know about the end game. Just like it sounds,
you
use the rest of the game to set yourself up to put your opponent
away.
There are loads of books out there devoted to nothing but the end game
in chess. Watching the games today, I think several coaches
should
find one of these books and study it.
| First on my
mind is Andy Reid of the Eagles. Against the unbeaten and
invincible Patriots, his team played brilliantly through almost 4
quarters and trailed 28-31. They were moving the ball with
relative
ease against the Patriot defense and had the ball second and 3 at the
Patriot 35 yard line with 4 minutes left in the game. I was
thinking
they need too burn as much clock as possible. John Madden
agreed. At
this point in the game, I’d rather take a field goal with no time left
on the clock then take my chances in overtime, than get a touchdown and
a 4 point lead, but leave time on the clock for Brady. Instead,
the
Eagles call the worst play possible—a pass into the end zone which of
course was intercepted. The Patriots take over, burn up the
clock,
then give the Eagles the ball back with no time to do anything.
Game
over. Reid should have been thinking about the end game. |
|
Even if the pass had not been intercepted, and they scored a touchdown
on that play, that would have left Brady with over 3 minutes, the two
minute warning, and 3 timeouts. This would have been more than
enough time to drive down and score the winning touchdown. I
can’t remember the last time any team stopped Brady at the end of the
game in that situation. The smarter play would have been to run
Westbrook again and again mixed up with short passes. Work the
clock down to under a minute, then go for the touchdown, or take the
field goal. Andy Reid will be lambasted by the Philadelphia media
for that pass play. I doubt that his offensive coordinator would
have had the cajones to make that call without Reid’s approval, or that
A.J. Feeley audibled to that play. I’ve heard coaches argue that
you get the touchdown when you can because the opportunity may not be
there again. That may be true. Perhaps New England was
playing a defense which warranted a pass to the endzone against Asante
Samuel, one of the league’s best cover corners who had already run an
interception back for a touchdown earlier in the game, but the way the
Eagles were moving the ball, and given the time left on the clock, they
should not have taken the risk.
This could have been the Eagle’s biggest victory in years, possibly in
their history. Instead, Andy Reid will spend the next week
answering to the Philadelphia fans, many of whom are already screaming
for his head.
Earlier this year, Steelers at the Broncos,--the Steelers had just
orchestrated a magnificent second half comeback, having scored 14
points in the second half. They were trailing by seven with 1:10
to go, and were on a roll. First and ten at the 12 yard
line. The next play was a touchdown pass to Heath Miller.
While the rest of Steeler Nation celebrated, my only thought was “too
much time”. The Steeler defense had trouble stopping the Denver
offense all night. Add the atrocious Steeler’s special teams, and
this was a recipe for another Jason Elam game winning field goal.
Mike Tomlin and his offensive coordinator should have been thinking
about the end game. Denver got the ball back with over a minute
to go and two time outs. This, combined with the Steelers
traditionally poor special teams play, and Jason Elam’s accurate
kicking in the thin Denver air, gave the Broncos the advantage which
they used to win the game on a 49 yard last second field goal.
In the Oakland vs Kansas City game today, Oakland had scored the go
ahead touchdown and was up by 3, with 5 minutes to go. Kansas
City had just driven down to the Oakland 23 yard line, but it was
fourth down and 1. The KC kicker had struggled all season, and
had missed an earlier 33 yard attempt, so Herm Edwards decided to
eschew what would have been a 40 yard field goal, and went for it on
4th down. They lost a yard, and never saw the ball again, losing
by 3 points. Edwards has always been known for poor clock
management, even going so far as to hire an assistant to advise on
clock management decisions while head coach of the Jets. Even
with an inconsistent kicker, with 5 minutes to go and down by 3, you
have to attempt the makeable field goal.
Football, like warfare, is a game of chess. Sure, the results of
any given play are not as predictable as say a knight taking a pawn,
but over the course of a close game, if the teams have played
essentially to a draw, it’s up to the coach to make the proper
decisions at the most crucial times to put his players in position to
win. These coaches should have been thinking about the end game.
|
