Bucs vs Giants end of game (Page 2)

Bush league? No place in the NFL? Unwritten rules? Are we talking about throwing deep in the final seconds when you are up by three touchdowns? No. We are talking about competing until the very end when you have an actual chance to score. I am really surprised that some people here who I normally respect and agree with are coming down so hard on this.

Let's just take one small point; the Giants were "vulnerable", they couldn't "protect themselves". Bull! Anybody with any football experience could see the Bucs were lined up aggressively and were planning on coming hard. If the O line didn't recognize that, then they have no place in the NFL.

OMG... no, you have no chance of knocking the ball out of the QB hands and creating a fumble and scoring a TD on a kneel down. Do you even notice a kneel down... the o-line is not spread out...it is bunched together, protecting the QB, snap, kneel.

Take this to it's logical conclusion... every player on every team knows that it is not over until the clock hits zero. Everyone knows that the other team will try to get a turnover in the last 4 second of a game you have won... do you honestly believe for one second if an offense protects the ball at all cost in every single instance that a D-line has any hope in h-e-double toothpicks of ever creating a turnover and scoring on the last play of a game from now on when everyone knows this is how we are going to play the game??? No chance, no how, no way.... EVER!

What it was was a team taking advantage of a gentleman's agreement and resorting to a sucker punch to do what they could not do in the course of the game, beat the other team fair and square. For 59:56 minutes the defense had their chance to defend, and keep the opposing team from scoring more points than them, or create a turnover... but instead they resorted to a sucker punch.

No.  Maybe a one-in-a-million chance to score.  But no actual chance.  And I watched the play multiple times.  The Bucs lined up as they normally would for an end-of-game kneel-down as did the Giants.  The expectation is the snap, the knee, no one goes hard or does anything stupid, no one gets hurt, shake hands, and head into the locker room.  And then about HALF the Bucs went in hard at the knees.  Watch it again - only about half the Bucs actually obeyed the coach and did it.  The other half followed normal protocol.

In hockey when you're in the 3rd, down by a goal or more, the puck's in your defensive zone, controlled by the other team, 4 seconds left, and there's no chance of getting it down ice to shoot on goal, the players don't take cheap checks on unsuspecting wings.  It's just not done.  Protocol.

In baseball when it's the 9th, you're losing by a lot, there's 1 out, you're on first, and there's an easy double-play ball hit to the shortstop.  You DON'T slide with your feet up looking to spike and take out the defender to break up the double-play.

In NASCAR when you're a lap down, coming around the final curve on the final checkered-flag lap, you don't purposely hit the lead car so your teammate can win the race.

And in football, when you're losing and there's less than the playclock left and the offense takes a knee, you DON'T charge in hard after players knees trying to cause a fumble.

There's hard, tough play and then there's sportsmanship and decades of common protocol.

Further proof it was a bush league move, He could have called the time out and done it again. All this talk about playing to the last second and this is the only example he gives us as a coach, sounds more like he was trying to cover up for a frustration call that he made at the end of the game

So zero chance of a bumbled snap?  Come on be realistic...

See my link above.  It happened 2 times for him at Rutgers.

He said, "when you have an actual chance to score". No you do not have an "actual" chance to score, you have a remote snow balls chance in he11 of scoring. And that chance depends on sucker punching your opponent... because you allowed them to score 20 points on you in the 4th quarter...way to play to finish out a game.

That is a chance. 

Sucker punching? Wow, you guys are so dramatic.  It's football, not ping pong.

We should just decide games by flipping a coin now.  Sheesh.

What I find interesting on this debate, is for the folks who say play to the final whistle are the same folks who say it wouldn't be ok if the G-man were up by 14 and this happened.  Why the difference in opinion? 

It was a dirty play, glad nobody got hurt.

Then again I will ask... play it out to it's logical conclusion. All teams now play every down to 0:0. Still do the kneel down. Have no chance of surprise, no sucker punch... you tell me the odds of a d-line causing a fumble, recovering the ball, scoring a TD on the last play of the game. I think I would have a better chance of winning the power ball....twice.

The point is, you had your chance, the game is over, sorry sport, better luck next time. Hint... don't give up 20 points in the 4th quarter.

You can debate this one play all you want. There were a hundred plays. 60 minutes. Several key plays the Bucs blew. Several key plays the Bucs could have changed the game... they didn't. And they still didn't even with the "Victory" formation. It's pathetic... "I know I can't beat you, but it's all I got". Silly rookies.

Just because it worked does not mean it wasnt bush league then to. Playing with 12 men on defense is a bush league technique but coaches try it all the time

This is just like the wall that those retards made for the punt gunner and the coach tripped the guy yes it worked but bush league

I'm glad you're not coaching my football team.

Many NFL players did not have an issue with it either.

http://online.wsj.com/article/APca58c5b7b99d4b0b8ba3f4ee4e39745d.html

I'm glad you are able to determine my views on sportsmanship so easily.  Careful up there on that high horse.  You might fall off.

As for your example one is padding a lead when you already have the game sealed.  The other is playing to the game's conclusion when you do still have a chance to win.  All be it small.  But look at the NFL, week after week small surprising things make the difference between a W and a L.

Point I was getting at. It had a chance at working it may have worked before but that dosent change the fact that it was bush league. My favorite player dante robinson corner for the falcons is a bush league player leads with his helmet dosent do any one a favor as far as player longevity but thats why I like him and now we've got samuel on the other side and just wait till we get grimes back. we gonna concus everybody's wide outs. But I understand its bush league

That's the problem with "unwritten rules".  They are unwritten.  And the team did not all get together and agree that taking a knee means the other team will not keep playing.

They did not try to win "at all costs".  They played a down of football harder than the other team wanted.

And remember... my other team is the Giants.  So I can see both sides of the coin.

Do you think it would have been bad form if the Giants had faked the knee from the victory formation and thrown a pass for a touchdown?

We've gone over this.  The difference is one is padding a lead, the other is trying to win.  Not sure you can compare apples to apples.

That being said it's their prerogative to try for it.