Thanks to Dan Quinn’s colossal clock mismanagement mistake, many other mistakes made by NFL coaches in Week 5 weren’t as visible as they should have been.
A possible error merits further investigation.
With 18 seconds left in the second quarter, the Seahawks called a running play. From their own four-yard line. Running back George Holani (who had dropped the ball without contact earlier in the half) fumbled and the 49ers recovered it for a touchdown.
During Live PFTSimms said the Seahawks should have just taken a knee and finished the half. It was indeed an absurd decision, on the surface, to run the ball. It’s not like the Seahawks are going to score a 96-yard touchdown. They opened the door to a possible turnover, and the turnover happened.
After the show, I took a closer look at the situation. The Seahawks had run out of timeouts when a 49ers drive into Seattle territory failed, forcing a punt with 27 seconds remaining. The fourth-down play at the Seahawks’ 42 resulted in a punt that was hit at the four and downed before entering the end zone.
At that point, the Seahawks had a problem. The 49ers had all three timeouts in hand. If the Seahawks had chosen to kneel and the 49ers had used their timeouts, Seattle would have left its own end zone with about 10 seconds left. And even if the clock had expired at the time of the punt, a good catch would have set the stage for a free throw on an untimed shot from the fair catch spot, and a potential three-pointer.
So the Seahawks tried to gain a few yards and gain time. The problem is that Holani fumbled.
The other question is whether the Seahawks should have refrained from calling their own timeouts. If that had happened, however, the 49ers could have let the clock run down to the final seconds, with either a Hail Mary toss or a 60-yard field goal attempt to end the half.
There was no easy way out of the maze, and the 49ers’ ability to put the ball inside the five put the Seahawks in a box.
The simple solution is not to fumble. The more important consideration is whether a guy who dropped the ball earlier in the half should have been trusted to possess the ball so close to his own goal line.
Regardless, it was a big moment that the Seahawks then had to fight to overcome in the second half. And even though they did take a 23-21 (and later 26-21) lead, it would have been much easier for the Seahawks to win if they hadn’t given up seven easy points to the 49ers right before intermission.
Gn sports
