Tag: fourth down

Chargers’ Brandon Staley shares philosophy behind aggressiveness on fourth down

The method behind the madness.

Aggressive, effective, and efficient is the best way to describe Chargers head coach Brandon Staley.

The reason for that is because Staley has built a reputation for going for it on fourth down situations on a consistent basis.

However, he’s been successful at doing so.

Los Angeles has converted 7 of 8 fourth downs this season for a rate of 87.5% – third-best in the NFL behind the Cardinals (3 for 3) and Broncos (8 for 9).

Most recently in Bolts’ victory over the Browns, Staley went for it on fourth down three times, including once from their own 24-yard line, and he was successful on all attempts.

Staley recently said his philosophy attributes to quarterback Justin Herbert, and an analytics team that prepares with detailed risk assessment of various fourth-down opportunities.

In addition, the coordinators, the weather, field zone, where the ball is, and how far they have to go are all factored into the decision-making.

“In all those fourth-down situations, they all had a life of their own,” Staley said. “That needs to be expressed. Just because you make one, doesn’t mean you are playing with house money and are more likely to go with it. You treat each as its own, but we’ve done a good job of assessing risk.”

Herbert’s dominance coupled with Staley’s ability to keep him on the field for long durations has led to an average of 411 yards per game (7th), 28.4 points per game (tied-7th), and 24.8 first downs per game (5th).

The Chargers are set to take on the Ravens this weekend. Facing the No. 1 offense, Los Angeles will need to control the time of possession to keep the ball out of the hands of QB Lamar Jackson, which could mean more fourth-down attempts.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid sees big changes in NFL landscape on fourth-down attempts

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid spoke on how willing opponents have been to go for it on fourth down this season and why the league is trending that way. | from @TheJohnDillon

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Opponents have attempted to test the Kansas City Chiefs defense on fourth downs in recent weeks.

Amid defensive struggles in every facet of their performances, the Chiefs have conceded six of eight attempts for a fresh set of downs through four games. Though it could be argued that the lackluster plays on the first three downs are the bigger issue, teams are keying in on ways to beat Kansas City in any way possible, and seem to have found an edge they can give themselves by going for it on the final down.

While their opposition has been judicious on their make-or-break calls against the Chiefs, the defense’s bottom-tier reputation could give coaches and coordinators second thoughts about trotting out the punt unit in the coming weeks. Nobody is certain that they can afford to turn the ball over to Patrick Mahomes, but by that same token, most are hesitant to leave points on the board to a defense that is likely to concede a touchdown if they manage to make it into the red zone.

Kansas City’s head coach Andy Reid only knows if teams are trying this newfangled fourth-down strategy against his team now, they’re likely to keep trying later. In comments to the media on Monday after his 100th win in a Chiefs uniform against Philadelphia, Reid told reporters that the trend is part of a wider movement in the NFL, and described it as a function of the offensive-centric mentality most teams bring to the table.

“It’s happening all through the league. It’s crazy,” Reid said. “Teams are more willing to go for fourth downs now than ever before. And we’ve always been a willing team to do it depending on situations, but you’re seeing it on the plus-side of the field and the minus-side of the field. So, it’s football today, it’s kind of crazy. But they wanted it to be an offensive game and it’s leaning that way where people are taking more chances.”

It might not be ideal to take chances and potentially play with fire against a team like the Chiefs, but in order to win most teams will be content to take any edge presented to them, even if the stakes are high. With plenty of time left for the opposition to test the Chiefs’ strengths and weaknesses defensively, it is a safe bet that teams on their schedule will take notice of the high success rates on fourth downs. They should also attempt to capitalize on every bit of advantage they can gain from a bold strategy against Kansas City.

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Twitter roasts Tom Brady after apparently losing track of what down it was

An incomplete pass. Tom Brady holding up four fingers thinking it was still fourth down. Oops.

It happens to everyone. Even the G.O.A.T. One’s body can defy Father Time. However, age will catch up on your memory.

And it appeared to happen to Tom Brady in the final seconds Thursday night as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Chicago Bears, 20-19.

Brady looked stunned and held up four fingers after throwing an incompletion. He seemed to think that pass was a third-down play. However, it wasn’t. It was fourth down and the Bears were on their way to their fourth straight victory.

Here is the sequence:

  • 1st & 10 at TB 25

    (1:13 – 4th) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass short left to M.Evans ran ob at TB 37 for 12 yards.

  • 1st & 10 at TB 37

    (1:06 – 4th) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete short right to M.Evans.

  • 2nd & 10 at TB 37

    (1:01 – 4th) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass short middle to K.Vaughn to TB 41 for 4 yards (R.Smith).

  • 3rd & 6 at TB 41

    (0:42 – 4th) (No Huddle, Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete short left to R.Gronkowski.

  • 4th & 6 at TB 41

    (0:33 – 4th) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete short middle to C.Brate (D.Houston-Carson).

Twitter was quick to jump on the G.O.A.T. How about Magic Johnson jumping on the bandwagon?

 

Chiefs HC Andy Reid wants to continue being aggressive on fourth down

The Chiefs converted a big fourth-down in Week 1 and that could be the new normal in Kansas City.

In the past, we might have seen a more tentative Andy Reid when faced with a fourth-down situation. Now, he appears to be letting it all hang out.

When the Kansas City Chiefs faced a fourth-and-1 at their own 34-yard line in the first quarter against the Houston Texans, what did Reid do? Uncharacteristically, he kept his offense out on the field and went for it. The results were a successful conversion for his football team. The drive would lead to the Chiefs’ first touchdown of the game and things just snowballed from there.

Reid’s decision drew universal praise and he spoke about the fourth down call on Wednesday.

“Well, listen, that’s one that could go either way and you know that,” Reid said. “So, if you don’t get it then you don’t look so good, but I just felt like we needed to do that there and I thought we had a good play, so we ended up doing it. I’m not going to tell you that we’d do that every week, but we’re going to try to stay as aggressive as we can on fourth downs. We’ve been pretty good at that over the years, but anyway, I just felt that was a subjective decision on my part, right or wrong. If you talk to stats people, analytics people, they’d tell you it’s the right thing. If you talk to other people, they might tell you something different, but I just felt in my gut that was the right thing to do.”

Reid is right, had the play gone sideways and cost Kansas City the game, the headlines would have probably read, “Baffling fourth-down call costs the Chiefs.” But it didn’t, and now he’s getting every bit of credit for his gutsy call. It was something that no team had done during the first quarter throughout the entire 2019 season.

From the sound of it, Reid will continue to be aggressive on fourth down calls throughout the 2020 season. But what has changed for Reid? Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes probably has something to do with it.

Mahomes has always maintained an aggressve approach on fourth down. He reiterated his stance from last season, that he’d go for it every single time if it were up to him. Perhaps Mahomes’ aggressive nature is rubbing off on Reid?

“I think the conversation happens during the week,” Mahomes said. “We prepare for those situations during the week and in training camp. Coach puts us in those situations so that when he calls the plays, we know exactly what we need to do and go out there and execute. If it’s up to me, I would want to go for it every single time. I just try to stay out there as long as possible. If it gives us the chance to go out there and make it happen, we’ve got to make it happen so that we get more chances later on in the year.”

Maybe this paradigm shift for Reid has something to do with his first Super Bowl win. He doesn’t have to chase perfection in pursuit of his first title any longer. He can afford to be a little more loose and gutsy with the play-calling in situations where there might be risk, but a greater reward. Whatever the case, an aggressive head coach is good for this offense and a welcome departure from what Kansas City has seen in previous seasons.

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The NFL adopting an alternative to the onside kick totally makes sense

This seems like a no-brainer.

Onside kicks are thrilling when they work in the NFL. But let’s be honest — they almost never do.

That’s why it’s a great thing that it seems like the league is seriously considering turning the Philadelphia Eagles’ alternative onside kick proposal into a reality.

The league will vote on potential rule changes that were proposed in March on May 28 and it seems that the main one gaining steam is the Eagles’ proposal. The rule change would allow teams to maintain possession by going for it on 4th-and-15 at their own 25 yard line instead of trying to recover an onside kick.

The league seems to be into it, according to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

This absolutely needs to happen. Not only would it be a safer, more sensical alternative to the onside kick. But it’ll also be more exciting, more often than not!

It turns out teams are pretty good at 4th-and-15 plays, according to data from NFL research.

This seems like a pretty good idea to me. High-octane offenses going for it on fourth and long with the game hanging in the balance? Sign me up.

Come on, NFL. Do the right thing.

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Bill O’Brien’s fourth down decisions may have doomed the Texans versus the Chiefs

Coach Bill O’Brien’s fourth down decisions may have been the big reason why the Houston Texans lost the lead to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Leading 21-0 and facing a fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City Chiefs’ 13-yard line, the Houston Texans were about to put the AFC West champions in a world of hurt on their home field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Lining up and seeming to go for it, the Texans called timeout. Perhaps they were going to get the correct personnel grouping they wanted for the fourth-and-1 attempt.

Instead, coach Bill O’Brien sent kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn on for a 31-yard field goal to extend Houston’s lead 24-0 with 10:54 in the second quarter.

After the Chiefs scored their first touchdown of the game, Houston faced a three-and-out after quarterback Deshaun Watson’s pass didn’t connect with receiver Will Fuller on a third-and-4 from the Texans’ own 31-yard line.

Here is where O’Brien decided to go for it, to make a bold statement, and it quite possibly turned the momentum of the game.

Kansas City safety Daniel Sorensen tackled safety Justin Reid, who took a direct snap from punt formation. The loss of two was a turnover on downs and the high octane Chiefs would have it at the Texans’ 33.

The Chiefs scored three plays later largely due to a 28-yard pass interference call against rookie cornerback Lonnie Johnson. The second touchdown drive was part of eight consecutive scoring drives with the final one being the lone field goal from Kansas City on that Sunday.

O’Brien needed to do something recapture the momentum that the Texans were starting to lose after Kansas City scored their first touchdown. Going three-and-out on the ensuing possession wasn’t ideal. However, there would have been no issue with punting it away and playing field position game, which maybe would have resulted in a punt or a field goal more likely than the Chiefs having it at the Texans’ 33.

The right fourth down call was fourth-and-1 from the Chiefs’ 13-yard line. If they would have failed, Kansas City would have been backed up inside their own 15, which would have tied for their second-worst field position of the game.