pector@ihuxw.UUCP (Scott W. Pector) (10/11/83)
Remember the question about what is the best move to make when you're down by 8 and on your opponents' 16 yard line with 39 seconds to go in the game? Well, I got to see the situation for real this past Sunday on TV when the Vikings were playing the Bears. The Bears had the ball on the Minnesota 12 yard line with 32 seconds left, no time outs left, and losing by 9 points. They elected to go for the touchdown first, rather than the field goal. As a result of this decision and an unreliable offense, they succeeded in getting neither and instead ended up on the "1 foot line" when time ran out. I really feel that the appropriate strategy for such circumstances should be to go for the field goal first if you do not have enough confidence in your team to believe that it can score in less than a few seconds (i.e., 1 or at most 2 plays). However, if you are the Washington Redskins or perhaps the Dallas Cowboys, go for the touchdown first. I suspect that coaches like the Bears' Mike Ditka go for the touchdown first because they don't think about it and/or (more likely) the vast majority of fans on first impression (if not at all times) don't think about it either and would excoriate a coach that would go for the field goal first (particularly if the field goal was missed). Other than the aforementioned considerations, I agree with the rationale given for going for the field goal first. Scott Pector (I was visiting my father when I saw the game and he had a good answer: "You shouldn't be in this situation to begin with." For the Bears, this was correct. Earlier in the game, they tried to go for a touchdown with the ball on the 1 yard line on 4th down and failed. A competent offensive line or a decision to go for the chip shot field goal would have prevented the ensuing debacle against one of the most overrated (on a year to year basis) teams in the NFL: the schlocky Minnesota Vikings.)
hstrop@mhuxt.UUCP (10/12/83)
Of course, the real answer to the question of whether or not you go for the touchdown or field goal first depends upon what the betting spread is for the game! Rozelle is fuming! Harvey S. Trop mhuxt!hstrop