The Fake FG

[Merchant]

Thoughts?

My initial reaction was enraged. I couldn't believe such a stupid play was called.

Then I thought back to the '09 Packers game when Tomlin called the onside kick when we had the lead. And we ended up winning the game.

And I thought to myself.. Tomlin usually knows what he's doing when he calls these seemingly insane plays.

[Count Steeler]

Don't mind the call, but the play left a lot to be desired. I didn't like the design.

[steeldawg]

It was insane, bad call. any play where sushi is running the ball with the game on the line is a bad call.

[polamalubeast]

dumb,dumb,dumb call

[tube517]

Didn't like the call on the road.

The defense bailed him out

[steelpride12]

It is what it is. If we would have converted that, everyone would be saying play of the year, best play ever, YAY!

[stillers4me]

His team just saved his butt. I hope he thanks them appropriately.

That being said, I still love the guy.

[steeldevil]

beyond stupid in my opinion.

Just line up in a power I and run with redman. They didnt stop it all game.

[Godfather]

I don't mind Mad Hatter type calls in general, but that was the wrong situation to use one. Good news is it worked out.

[X-Terminator]

I just saw the replay. Wow, what a horrible play design. Don't really have a problem with the decision itself. The one good thing it did do was pin the Giants deep in their own territory, and defense took care of the rest.

[GodfatherofSoul]

I hated the design too. We only had Heath out there blocking 3 guys.

[Seven]

It is what it is. No one would have minded it if it had worked. But if you were going to go for it in that situation I`d prefer to just line the battering ram up and earn the few inches that way.

But to me, down three with nearly an entire quarter left I don`t know why you don`t just take the points.

[fansince'76]

At the time I thought it was unwise to not take the points (and what would've been a tie) on the road, but it all worked out in the end, thankfully.

[SteelerFanInStl]

He did it because he had faith in the D but I still don't like the call. Take the tie and then put your faith in your D.

I also think that they should've given the ball to Redman before that instead of passing. He could've gotten that first or a TD.

[JayC]

please remove that page from the playbook and shred it. horrible play even if it works i hate it when you are in range to tie it with a kick

[GoSlash27]

I would've left the offense on the field, tried for an offsides, burned a timeout, and taken the 3... but I'm conservative that way.

The fake FG caught me off guard and it *did* almost work. Risky, but good call IMO.

[Devilsdancefloor]

I liked it, play to win, but as most have said bad play design i would have reather had redman lowering his shoulder, but the D was play at a high level, so why not take the chance

[Count Steeler]

I had a feeling he was going to go with a fake, but I never imagined the play would have been designed like that. I was trying to imagine how to do it and then they snapped the ball and I saw Butler flip the ball blindly, and I thought WTF is that? Swish can kick, but try to avoid a tackle or 2? No way.

[Godfather]

I had a feeling he was going to go with a fake, but I never imagined the play would have been designed like that. I was trying to imagine how to do it and then they snapped the ball and I saw Butler flip the ball blindly, and I thought WTF is that? Swish can kick, but try to avoid a tackle or 2? No way.

I've seen that play once before. LSU did it against USC in 2007.

[GBMelBlount]

When it is third and one in a goal line situation why hell doesn't Ben take it himself behind pouncey and colon.

Is it not a 90% given he will get it?

Anyway, I was shocked by the 4th down call.

[tube517]

Can you talk about the fake field goal and how it paid off on the defensive stop?
I took a shot and the guys backed my play like I knew they would. I appreciate that. They overcome bad coaching sometimes. That’s on me. The Giants did a nice job. I tip my hat to Tom Quinn and that group over there on the special teams unit. They were ready for it. They did a nice job.

http://blog.steelers.com/2012/11/04/coach-mike-tomlins-post-game-comments/

[86WARD]

Dumb. If you're gonna run with Suisham, you mine as well run it at
A shorter distance with Redman who is probably a better runner than Suisham. Terrible play call. Turned out alright, but that could've cost them the game.

[Steeldude]

I called it. My brother and I were watching the game. When they came up short I said, "Watch them do a lame fake FG". That was a very poor call. They expected Suisham to run wide around the Giants' defense? That was a horrendously designed play.

They should have handed it to Redman(maybe a QB sneak) or kicked the FG, but not a fake FG :crazy:

[Dino 6 Rings]

Actually it calmed me down. The fact Mike called that instead of the 'go for the tie' at that moment I was all, 'Damn he's confident in the team right now.'

[Psycho Ward 86]

just the fact that the play called for Shaun suisham to actually fucking run it in made me hate the play design :lol:. I wouldnt have minded us going for it if even if we didnt make it, as long as we were in our actual offense, and not some gimmick.

[Moose]

I liked the call. If you think about it, it actually set up our TD. From what I understand it's actually a play that was used before. It's up to the holder to decide whether or not to go thru with the FG or try for the end zone. Apparently Coach Tomlin had enough faith in our Defense that if the play didn't work they would be able to hold Eli and the Gman to 3 and out and we would get the ball back in great field position....which is what happened and a TD scored. I'm glad to see Coach Tomlin having the faith and using the tick play's. GO STEELERS !

[steeldawg]

Dumb. If you're gonna run with Suisham, you mine as well run it at
A shorter distance with Redman who is probably a better runner than Suisham. Terrible play call. Turned out alright, but that could've cost them the game.

lol im sure you didnt means this the way it sounds, is this really debatable?

[plenewken]

The idea was good but the design was lousy and the execution absolutely horrific.

[Texasteel]

The New York defences just could not stop us in the 4th qu. and ours was playing much better. I know what he what he was thinking, if we miss, we probably come out with good field position. Still I didn't like the decision, or the play.

[NCSteeler]

A terrible decision. If you really want to go on 4th and 1 you line up and run Redman over guard, been money all day. The team gave him no reason not to try a run, has Redman ever missed a 1 to go situation? I don't believe so. If he gets stuffed it's much closer to goal line than a fake FG which lost a few yards Minimum and cold have been disastrous with a botched toss or kicker fumble. Those are the plays that poor teams with no confidence in their O or D run when they are in trouble.

[BlastFurnace]

I didn't mind going for it, but put your best players out there to get that yard. A fake FG where everyone is bunched up together in that field position was incredibly stupid.

[steelpride12]

Like I said, if it was the other way around and we actually scored on that play, everyone would be gun-hoe and happy about the execution and decision to do it.

[ALLD]

1. Put the ball in the hands of your stars like Ben or Redman or Miller.
2. If Sushi got injured on the play we would be screwed without a real kicker.
3. That is the big risk factor Tomlin likes that I wrote about in another thread. I realize he was going for the lead, but an easy tie with another quarter to go is a no-brainer.
4. It was a bad call, it didn't work. Those low-percentage plays are low-percentage for a reason. Our high-percentage stuff was working, so no need to take the added risk.
5. I would have rather seen a QB sneak than that abomination.

[bayz101]

What if we take the three and the Giants return a kick into our side of the field resulting a touchdown that chews the clock? It was a good call. If it doesn't go in, the Giants are in their endzone.

[bayz101]

Here's my take: You can kick the field goal, take the tie, and give the Giants return man a chance to set Manning up for a touchdown.

Option two: Go for it with a power run or pass. If you get stuffed, the Giants have momentum.

Option three: Catch them off guard with a trick play. If it doesn't work, the defense has been playing well enough to keep them on their side of the field.

[HollywoodSteel]

Here's my take: You can kick the field goal, take the tie, and give the Giants return man a chance to set Manning up for a touchdown.

Option two: Go for it with a power run or pass. If you get stuffed, the Giants have momentum.

Option three: Catch them off guard with a trick play. If it doesn't work, the defense has been playing well enough to keep them on their side of the field.

How is option 3 better than option 2? If anything, the Giants snuffing out a trick play gives them just as much or even more momentum as stopping a run. Plus a power run will probably not yield negative yards so if you fail you're probably backing them up more than a failed trick play would. But the absolute worst thing about that particular play is what, thankfully, didn't happen. A blind toss to the kicker? Are you kidding me? That could have easily been a bad toss or a bobble that could have resulted in 7 points going the other way. It was one of the worst calls I've seen this team make.

[GodfatherofSoul]

The fact that the D 3-and-outted Eli and the offense marched right back down the field says a lot about Tomlin's read on the team. He felt like the team was in a position to bail him out if it didn't work, and they did.

[steeldevil]

It was the right decision to go for it on 4th down, just stupid to have the holder flip it to the kicker against a very laterally fast defense. Just run it with Redman. I mean how many times did they stop him for a 0 or 1 yard run? Like 2 or 3 times maybe? And if we don't get it? Same result. Giants have bad field position. Difference is Redman has a better chance of actually getting the first down.

[tube517]

1. Put the ball in the hands of your stars like Ben or Redman or Miller.
2. If Sushi got injured on the play we would be screwed without a real kicker.
3. That is the big risk factor Tomlin likes that I wrote about in another thread. I realize he was going for the lead, but an easy tie with another quarter to go is a no-brainer.
4. It was a bad call, it didn't work. Those low-percentage plays are low-percentage for a reason. Our high-percentage stuff was working, so no need to take the added risk.
5. I would have rather seen a QB sneak than that abomination.

That is a great point.

[bayz101]

If, if and if.

[ALLD]

I remember Garo Yepremian trying to throw a pass in the Super Bowl for Miami. At least he will be in the NFL highlights forever.

Tomlin would have looked smarter going wide and throwing to the back of the EZ or a QB bootleg. Kickers kick because they cannot pass the ball or run with it. If they could they would be QBs or RBs. He outsmarted himself again, but got away with it.

[zulater]

1. Put the ball in the hands of your stars like Ben or Redman or Miller.
2. If Sushi got injured on the play we would be screwed without a real kicker.
3. That is the big risk factor Tomlin likes that I wrote about in another thread. I realize he was going for the lead, but an easy tie with another quarter to go is a no-brainer.
4. It was a bad call, it didn't work. Those low-percentage plays are low-percentage for a reason. Our high-percentage stuff was working, so no need to take the added risk.
5. I would have rather seen a QB sneak than that abomination.

Good point about risking Sushi to injury. We've finally got a kicker playing at a high level and we throw him to the wolves like that. :lol:

It was a bad decision, and a worse play. Tomlin owned it afterwards, and luckily we overcame it, so you just thank your lucky stars and move on with life.

[stillers4me]

Good point about risking Sushi to injury. We've finally got a kicker playing at a high level and we throw him to the wolves like that. :lol:

It was a bad decision, and a worse play. Tomlin owned it afterwards, and luckily we overcame it, so you just thank your lucky stars and move on with life.

That was my thought, too. But just think of how awesome a Sushi touchdown would have been. :lol:

[86WARD]

lol im sure you didnt means this the way it sounds, is this really debatable?

Of course not...lol.

Suisham/Redman ... Whose the better runner?!?

[Craic]

Good point about risking Sushi to injury. We've finally got a kicker playing at a high level and we throw him to the wolves like that. :lol:

It was a bad decision, and a worse play. Tomlin owned it afterwards, and luckily we overcame it, so you just thank your lucky stars and move on with life.


Yep, I still had the urge to argue, "What? Sqeeze'em is a what?" :chuckle: I'm trying to live up to my pledge.

At first I thought the play itself wasn't bad, it was the decision to use it at the goal line. However, the more I think about it, the more I think it's a badly designed play. The defense is going to cue off the kicker. So if they see him running, it simply becomes a long sweep right.

And yeah, I really don't like the idea of exposing our kicker like that either.

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I didn't mind going for it, but put your best players out there to get that yard. A fake FG where everyone is bunched up together in that field position was incredibly stupid.

That's my biggest issue with it as well. Now, if the holder stood up and tossed it to a TE, we might be having a different discussion. But that play, there? Nope.