Not running the ball

[Cbus cardsfan]

I see a lot of complaining that Arians should have ran the ball on 3rd of 4th down. It seems like many think it was horrendous play calling and would have been a slam dunk 1st down.


Here's a reminder:

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And that was with probably the best short yardage RB in the league.

It wasn't the play calling. It was the execution.

 

[Garthshort]

Cbus, a valid point. But Passing is in BA's DNA. He'll talk about running the ball, and will do so to a point. But while he LIKES running, he LOVES passing.

 

[WisconsinCard]

Cbus, a valid point. But Passing is in BA's DNA. He'll talk about running the ball, and will do so to a point. But while he LIKES running, he LOVES passing.

I would guess it is because of all the rule changes. The rules are so geared to the offense that the risks of throwing are now very low. I mean we all saw the open receivers, they were open CP just flat out missed them. If CP hits Jaron Brown on the 15 yard line in the numbers is anybody complaining then? My guess would be....NO! If CP hits DJ in stride, and he appeared to have some room to run and could have gained substantial yardage, would anybody be complaining about the play calling then? NO!

 

[BurqueCardFan]

I don't have a problem with them throwing it on 3rd/4th downs. My problem was with the plays. Both throws were 10-15 yards down the field. All they needed was 2 yards! All day long Fitz and John Brown were picking up big yards on quick throws.

 

[kerouac9]

Seattle has a terrible OL. We have a top 10 pick and 2 high-dollar FA. Didn't Arians say that we wanted to tell you we were running to that left side, and there's nothing you can do to stop it?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

The Rams lining up to stop Lynch on a 4th down play when everyone on the planet knew it would be a run does not equate to us passing on 2nd and 2, 3rd and 2, and 4th and 2.

Just one of those downs - we should have run it with our backs DJ or CJ who were getting 5 to 6 yards per carry at the time.

It's an entirely different discussion when you are referencing one down versus three separate downs.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Another important question - how did we get to 2nd and 2 in the first place?

Answer: An 8-yard run by David Johnson.

Which just adds more fuel to the fire - why didn't we run it again?

 

[Buckybird]

I think you guys are just inviting Thesmel back to the board so we can hear his 400 page rant of how stupid our HC is with this thread

 

[WisconsinCard]

Another important question - how did we get to 2nd and 2 in the first place?

Answer: An 8-yard run by David Johnson.

Which just adds more fuel to the fire - why didn't we run it again?

It's not uncommon to run the ball to get to the 2 minute warning. I would guess it was the surprise factor that most teams bank on. Also if we run and don't get it or lose yardage people would rant. Not saying you would, I just see many on here complaining about the play calling, but they would complain either way.

 

[WisconsinCard]

I don't have a problem with them throwing it on 3rd/4th downs. My problem was with the plays. Both throws were 10-15 yards down the field. All they needed was 2 yards! All day long Fitz and John Brown were picking up big yards on quick throws.

Does anybody have tape of the 4th down play? I swear he was only a yard passed the line to gain when the ball went over his head.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

It's not uncommon to run the ball to get to the 2 minute warning. I would guess it was the surprise factor that most teams bank on. Also if we run and don't get it or lose yardage people would rant. Not saying you would, I just see many on here complaining about the play calling, but they would complain either way.

I would feel a lot better had we at least run it on one of those 3 downs. Personally, I feel we would have gotten 2 yards the way we were having success running the ball that game.

I think we get too cute trying to pass to our running backs rather than just letting them run it from scrimmage.

 

[daves]

Seattle has a terrible OL. We have a top 10 pick and 2 high-dollar FA. Didn't Arians say that we wanted to tell you we were running to that left side, and there's nothing you can do to stop it?

Bolded part seems a moot point with regard to this particular play call, since Humphries isn't playing. And if Iupati wasn't playing as well as expected in his first game back from injury, that likely impacted the decisions to run wide twice at the goal line and to throw twice in short-yardage situations on the last drive.

Of course, the facts that Humphries isn't playing and that Iupati was starting despite not being able to play up to expectations are other issues for discussion in their own right. But those are other threads.

...dave

 

[kerouac9]

Bolded part seems a moot point with regard to this particular play call, since Humphries isn't playing. And if Iupati wasn't playing as well as expected in his first game back from injury, that likely impacted the decisions to run wide twice at the goal line and to throw twice in short-yardage situations on the last drive.

Of course, the facts that Humphries isn't playing and that Iupati was starting despite not being able to play up to expectations are other issues for discussion in their own right. But those are other threads.

...dave

Cooper is a top 10 pick, Dave.

 

[daves]

Cooper is a top 10 pick, Dave.

D'oh! Brain fart... thanks for the reminder!

...dave

 

[Dude]

It's not uncommon to run the ball to get to the 2 minute warning. I would guess it was the surprise factor that most teams bank on. Also if we run and don't get it or lose yardage people would rant. Not saying you would, I just see many on here complaining about the play calling, but they would complain either way.

We had 3rd and short in the red zone and lost 4 or 5 yards running it in that game. Who knows. I still would have liked to see 1 run out of the 3.

 

[Finito]

It wasn't the play calling the right plays were called Palmer had open guys he just threw bad passes it happens and it sucks but it happens.

If Palmer just completes those passes everybody is talking how great it was to throw when everybody is expecting run.

It's like people here are just so anxious to start pointing the finger at somebody. No our really good QB just threw two bad passes at the wrong time. I'll still take him on my team anyday

 

[Buckybird]

It wasn't the play calling the right plays were called Palmer had open guys he just threw bad passes it happens and it sucks but it happens.

If Palmer just completes those passes everybody is talking how great it was to throw when everybody is expecting run.

It's like people here are just so anxious to start pointing the finger at somebody. No our really good QB just threw two bad passes at the wrong time. I'll still take him on my team anyday

Yep

 

[gmabel830]

Cooper is a top 10 pick, Dave.

And Humphries is not a top 10 pick, for the record.

 

[Cardiac]

I almost never complain about play calling and yes those who say players were open so the right plays were called have a very solid point. My point is that it just felt like we needed to run the ball to me. We were having success, we needed to burn some clock so that when Catman kicked the game winner there was no time left on the clock for the Rams.

My counter point to the right plays were called is that we didn't get the first down. That's the concern with passing the ball, the QB has to throw it accurately and the receiver has to actually catch the ball. So while Greshem, DJ, Fitz and ......all had drops we were running the ball effectively.

I'm not going to post about this again because while I wanted us to run the ball on one of those 3 downs I still believe BA is fantastic at calling plays. It's just this time while he made good play calls there were better ones to be made. IMO.

 

[Darkside]

I almost never complain about play calling and yes those who say players were open so the right plays were called have a very solid point. My point is that it just felt like we needed to run the ball to me. We were having success, we needed to burn some clock so that when Catman kicked the game winner there was no time left on the clock for the Rams.

My counter point to the right plays were called is that we didn't get the first down. That's the concern with passing the ball, the QB has to throw it accurately and the receiver has to actually catch the ball. So while Greshem, DJ, Fitz and ......all had drops we were running the ball effectively.

I'm not going to post about this again because while I wanted us to run the ball on one of those 3 downs I still believe BA is fantastic at calling plays. It's just this time while he made good play calls there were better ones to be made. IMO.

This is a fair post IMO. I still think it's hard to say though. BA got burned running it in the red zone, but I agree with cheese that we should have run it up the gut or off tackle in those situations.

That being said, they were loaded in the box, expecting run, and they have the best D line in football.

The plays called were open. My only regret is that DJ was the slant receiver we targeted on 4th down. To me that's so idiotic. Rather do Floyd or Fitz in that situation.

 

[PACardsFan]

It wasn't the play calling the right plays were called Palmer had open guys he just threw bad passes it happens and it sucks but it happens.

If Palmer just completes those passes everybody is talking how great it was to throw when everybody is expecting run.

It's like people here are just so anxious to start pointing the finger at somebody. No our really good QB just threw two bad passes at the wrong time. I'll still take him on my team anyday

Palmer is a good QB, but no way the really good QB's miss those throws. That's why I've always questioned Palmer taking us to the promised land. At critical junctures in the playoffs, will he complete those passes? Maybe, but maybe not. Roethlisberger, Manning, Brady, Brees. Those guys have won SB's & they complete those passes 98% of the time.

 

[BiggestFanEver]

Palmer has no playoff wins. He is a borderline top 10 QB at best.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Palmer is a good QB, but no way the really good QB's miss those throws. That's why I've always questioned Palmer taking us to the promised land. At critical junctures in the playoffs, will he complete those passes? Maybe, but maybe not. Roethlisberger, Manning, Brady, Brees. Those guys have won SB's & they complete those passes 98% of the time.

this is the biggest reason I lament the step backwards I fear our D has taken. this Palmer with last year's D... and ESPECIALLY two years ago would be a true Super Bowl contender, if not favorite. But jury's out right now this year.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

I almost never complain about play calling and yes those who say players were open so the right plays were called have a very solid point. My point is that it just felt like we needed to run the ball to me. We were having success, we needed to burn some clock so that when Catman kicked the game winner there was no time left on the clock for the Rams.

My counter point to the right plays were called is that we didn't get the first down. That's the concern with passing the ball, the QB has to throw it accurately and the receiver has to actually catch the ball. So while Greshem, DJ, Fitz and ......all had drops we were running the ball effectively.

I'm not going to post about this again because while I wanted us to run the ball on one of those 3 downs I still believe BA is fantastic at calling plays. It's just this time while he made good play calls there were better ones to be made. IMO.

Why would they be thinking FG when they were at midfield with an entire 2 minutes left? Running out the clock shouldn't have been a factor until they were already well inside FG range. This isn't me saying that the run shouldn't have been a consideration, but only that it shouldn't have been used with the idea of burning clock. At least not quite then anyways.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Seattle has a terrible OL. We have a top 10 pick and 2 high-dollar FA. Didn't Arians say that we wanted to tell you we were running to that left side, and there's nothing you can do to stop it?

Using that theory, we should never run the ball. Doesn't St.Louis have 4 first round draft picks on their DL?