Steelers' coin toss, anyone?
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Steelers' coin toss, anyone?
Probably no one noticed because the mistake happened at the beginning of the fourth quarter when time wasn't yet a concern for either team.Quote:
Originally posted by Falix
I find it extremely weird that this was allowed to happen without anyone at the time noticing.
Its also worth remembering that if the Patriots hadn't had time to kick the field goal, the score would have still been tied at 20. The Steelers would have needed to find a way to beat the Patriots in overtime to win the game.
Still, its a pretty embarassing mistake for the NFL.
I hardly think it's fair to say that the Patriots benefitted from the mistake. It was clearly unintentional, and neither team caught it during the game. The Steelers obviously played the best game they could on the time they thought was remaining and couldn't crush it out or leave the Pats with not enough time to get into position for a FG.
I think it's a little dramatic to simply boil the whole situation down to "Brady couldn't have done anything in 29 seconds!". The entire fourth quarter would have gone differently. I hope (and suspect) the game will stand, and not just because I like the Patriots, but because it was an uncalled mistake that was not in favor of either team.
Even if you do look at it that way, Tom Brady actually did manage to get them in field goal range in less than 29 seconds.Quote:
Originally posted by Darion
I think it's a little dramatic to simply boil the whole situation down to "Brady couldn't have done anything in 29 seconds!".
The kickoff used only 4 ticks, giving the Patriots the ball on their 38 with 1:14 left on the clock (which should have been :22).
On the first play of the drive, Brady completed a pass to Kevin Faulk who was pushed out of bounds at the Pittsburgh 45. The play used only 8 seconds, bringing the clock down to 1:06 (should have been :16).
On the second play of the drive, Brady completed a pass to Patrick Pass who got out of bounds at the Pittsburgh 31. The play used 9 seconds, bringing the clock down to :57 (should have been :05).
If the clock had been correct, Adam Vinatieri would have had to attempt a 49 yard field goal (instead of the 43 yard field goal he made after Brady completed another pass to David Givens).
Maybe that extra 6 yards would have caused Vinatieri to miss the field goal and force overtime. Vinatieri doesn't miss often though....
I think this was just an embarassing mistake for the NFL. Its possible that it would have changed the outcome, but I doubt it. The Patriots with Brady and Vinatieri are just too clutch. (Damn them.)
I will definitely give that one to you, Damieux. It didn't occur to me to go back and see how long the Pats' drive had actually taken. I hope you didn't quote that all from memory! :eek
But I would have liked to see Vinatieri hit a 49 yarder, just to hold the record. :D
It will definitely be interesting to see how this all turns out. I agree that it's a bit dramatic (and foolish) to look at the situation and say that the Pats would have simply had 29 seconds instead of 1:21 to score. Time would have played into previous decisions by both teams, and it's unlikely that everything would have gone exactly as it did if there was close to an extra minute to work with.Quote:
I think it's a little dramatic to simply boil the whole situation down to "Brady couldn't have done anything in 29 seconds!". The entire fourth quarter would have gone differently. I hope (and suspect) the game will stand, and not just because I like the Patriots, but because it was an uncalled mistake that was not in favor of either team.
I can't decide if I'd rather see the game stand or not. On one hand, human perception/error is part of the game. I'm reminded of the 1982 Stanford/Cal game, where Cal ran a kickoff back for a touchdown with 4 seconds left...through the prematurely celebrating Stanford marching band. In both cases you have a fuckup outside of the players/coaches/refs clearly impacting the play of the game. It's unfortunate, but it happens.
Hmm. You know, when I started writing this post I had an 'on the other hand...' argument in my head. Now that argument doesn't make sense to me. Especially after considering the can o' worms that'd be opened by messing with the game after-the-fact, I hope they just let it go. Perhaps the NFL can sacrifice the clock operator's soul to Pittsburgh to appease the natives.
Of course, I quoted it from memory! I didn't look at the Official play-by-play in the NFL Gamebook even once. ;)Quote:
Originally posted by Darion
I hope you didn't quote that all from memory! :eek
Seriously, though, I didn't even realize it either until I read this article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
By the way, the NFL record for the longest field goal is 63 yards (Tom Dempsey, 1970 & Jason Elam, 1988).
I love how the internet can make a sports idiot like me seem knowledgeable.
I think it is HIGHLY likely that with only 29 seconds there is no way they would have gotten in field goal range.
There would have been a lot more pressure on them and they would have known how little time they had. Also, defensively, it is a lot easier to play just to run off 29 seconds than to have to defend when you know the other team has PLENTY of time to get in field goal range.
Furthermore, I think you can definitely conclude that there would indeed have only been 29 seconds on the clock at the end. On the Steelers final drive, they were doing everything they could to eat clock. They were definitely draining it all they could, and certainly would have done the same if the clock had been correct.
I think without this error, it is about 80% likely that the game would have gone to over time. That doesn't mean the Steelers would have won by any means. I'd actually give favorable odds to the Pats in that situation.