NFL coaches and the obsession w/delay of game penalties

[Valuist]

One thing I find interesting is the NFL coaches' obsession with not getting a delay of game penalty. They gladly sacrifice time outs to save those "precious" five yards. I've seen coaches do this when confronted with a 3rd and 11. 3rd and 11 or 3rd and 16, what is the real difference? Certainly not enough to burn a timeout.

Even deep in the red zone, SF didn't figure to run the ball. With the play clock winding down, Harbaugh panicked and called a timeout. The five yards made virtually no difference, IMO. But an extra timeout late in the game would've been real nice to have.

Reminds me of baseball managers always saving their closer to start the 9th inning, even though the game may dictate that the real fire needs to be put out with 2 outs in the 7th.

[cj]

One thing I find interesting is the NFL coaches' obsession with not getting a delay of game penalty. They gladly sacrifice time outs to save those "precious" five yards. I've seen coaches do this when confronted with a 3rd and 11. 3rd and 11 or 3rd and 16, what is the real difference? Certainly not enough to burn a timeout.

Even deep in the red zone, SF didn't figure to run the ball. With the play clock winding down, Harbaugh panicked and called a timeout. The five yards made virtually no difference, IMO. But an extra timeout late in the game would've been real nice to have.

Reminds me of baseball managers always saving their closer to start the 9th inning, even though the game may dictate that the real fire needs to be put out with 2 outs in the 7th.

I agree about the wasting timeouts most times, but the difference between the 5 and the 10 is a pretty big one. I don't have a problem with that particular timeout. I'd like to know the percentages though.

[Valuist]

I guess its as much on the QB, usually. The play clock is winding down and they usually panic. It could be on the first series of the game; it could be a 3rd and 12 where the 5 yards is 100% meaningless. But doesn't that still go on the coach? Isn't it up to him to educate his QB not to make bad decisions?

As for last night, it wasn't quite as bad as many, but I think (Jim) Harbaugh really wished he could've had one more timeout.

[Stillriledup]

One thing I find interesting is the NFL coaches' obsession with not getting a delay of game penalty. They gladly sacrifice time outs to save those "precious" five yards. I've seen coaches do this when confronted with a 3rd and 11. 3rd and 11 or 3rd and 16, what is the real difference? Certainly not enough to burn a timeout.

Even deep in the red zone, SF didn't figure to run the ball. With the play clock winding down, Jim Harbaugh panicked and called a timeout. The five yards made virtually no difference, IMO. But an extra timeout late in the game would've been real nice to have.

Reminds me of baseball managers always saving their closer to start the 9th inning, even though the game may dictate that the real fire needs to be put out with 2 outs in the 7th.

A Time Out in the 2nd half is worth way more than a 5 yard penalty. If i was coach, there would be no timeouts burned due to 'being confused' you run the play and punt if you dont make it, i can't tell you how many times i've seen a QB or coach call a precious T.O. in the 3rd or 4th quarter only to screw up the play anyway and end up punting. Jim Harbaugh calling that 2nd T.O. late in the game was inexcusable, he cost his team any real chance of getting the ball back, he had the Ravens pinned on their own 5 yard line, he gets the ball back with a minute left in the game if he has that one extra T.O.

[cj]

I guess its as much on the QB, usually. The play clock is winding down and they usually panic. It could be on the first series of the game; it could be a 3rd and 12 where the 5 yards is 100% meaningless. But doesn't that still go on the coach? Isn't it up to him to educate his QB not to make bad decisions?

As for last night, it wasn't quite as bad as many, but I think (Jim) Harbaugh really wished he could've had one more timeout.

What I can't believe is after the timeout, that was the play he called.

[Striker]

I agree about the wasting timeouts most times, but the difference between the 5 and the 10 is a pretty big one. I don't have a problem with that particular timeout. I'd like to know the percentages though.
Agree with cj here, the playcalling on both sides of the ball changes significantly from the 5 to the 10 yard lines.

[cj]

A Time Out in the 2nd half is worth way more than a 5 yard penalty. If i was coach, there would be no timeouts burned due to 'being confused' you run the play and punt if you dont make it, i can't tell you how many times i've seen a QB or coach call a precious T.O. in the 3rd or 4th quarter only to screw up the play anyway and end up punting. Jim Harbaugh calling that 2nd T.O. late in the game was inexcusable, he cost his team any real chance of getting the ball back, he had the Ravens pinned on their own 5 yard line, he gets the ball back with a minute left in the game if he has that one extra T.O.

I don't think it would have been a minute. Maybe 40 seconds, tops. And, they wouldn't have been pinned on the 5, it would have been the 10. That is a big difference also. They Ravens would have punted, not taken a safety, and the 49ers still would have needed a TD with little time and no timeouts.

I would bet that the percentage of scoring a TD from the 5 on one play is cut in half from the 10, at least. That is worth the timeout in that particular case. I'm not disagreeing many get wasted for no reason, but this isn't really one of those spots in my opinion.

[Valuist]

Agree with cj here, the playcalling on both sides of the ball changes significantly from the 5 to the 10 yard lines.

It didn't last night. If they are throwing from the 5, they certainly would've been throwing from the 10.

[Valuist]

What I can't believe is after the timeout, that was the play he called.

Agreed. Also, if coaches who are ex-QBs are anything like announcers who are former QBs, you can forget about the RB in crunch time. They tend to over emphasize the passing game. That could be a "tell" for Harbaugh. Gore was having a very good game. Think they could've tried him once down there.

[Stillriledup]

What I can't believe is after the timeout, that was the play he called.

Exactly. When you call a dumb play, you REALLY wasted that T.O. Its like they took the time out to 'rest' and catch their breath instead of coming up with a play that might actually work.

[cj]

It didn't last night. If they are throwing from the 5, they certainly would've been throwing from the 10.

Throwing is way too generic they way you use it. The number of plays you can run at the 5 is heavily reduced at the 10.

[cj]

Agreed. Also, if coaches who are ex-QBs are anything like announcers who are former QBs, you can forget about the RB in crunch time. They tend to over emphasize the passing game. That could be a "tell" for Harbaugh. Gore was having a very good game. Think they could've tried him once down there.

Especially true when you consider they were going to leave a lot of time on the clock for Baltimore by throwing so much. I would have run it again and make them chew up a TO or kill another 30 seconds.

[Robert Fischer]

I think it's an interesting question/topic.

There are likely/definitely some times when a time out is more valuable.

It didn't last night. If they are throwing from the 5, they certainly would've been throwing from the 10.

At the 5 Kaepernick puts a lot more pressure on the defense as a threat.

I didn't get their Red Zone play calling at all. It seems that between Kaepernick and Gore running and 4 downs, you should score touchdowns 75% of the time.
I think you said the 49ers were 2 of 6 scoring Red Zone touchdowns??