Mike Smith's Mistake

So I actually had a completely different football related post planned for today, but after watching the Packers-Falcons game last night, a certain key play could not be ignored. With 10 seconds left in the first half, Packers up 21-14, and the Falcons on the Packer 35, Matt Ryan dropped back to pass.

You all know what happened next. Tramon Williams picked off an out route intended for Michael Jenkins, took it 62 yards to the house, and the air came out of the Georgia Dome. Ballgame.

Some people may say this was a bad decision by Matt Ryan (which it was) or a great play by Tramon Williams (which it was), but really this play started with Mike Smith and the Atlanta coaching staff. In my mind, this was one of the dumber decisions/play calls in recent memory, and I’ll tell you why.

(On a side note, who would’ve thought on a day where Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu were playing, Tramon Williams would be the DB with the biggest impact? You’re either a liar or a diehard Packers fan if you say you did.)

Anyways, back to Mike Smith and Co. The first reason why this was such a stupid call is because there was no need to even call another play. Without gaining another inch, the Falcons would have had a 52 yard field goal attempt in a dome. Matt Bryant was kicking 55 yarder’s in Pre-Game, so it wasn’t like this was out of his range.

The second stupid reason behind this play was the play call itself. The Falcons tried to throw the ball six yards. What the hell is six yards going to do for your kicker, when you’re already in his range? When you’re kicking from long range, whether it’s from 46 or 52, it really becomes all about accuracy; the six yards don’t make any difference. It comes down to risk/reward. Atlanta really had nothing to gain from trying to get those risky six yards, and I think it’s safe to say they had quite a bit to lose.

Why is it a risky six yards? Glad you asked. This is reason number three, and the biggest reason why this decision should haunt the Falcon coaching staff for a long time.

Atlanta had no timeouts left, and therefore no way to stop the clock, unless they got out of bounds. Because of this, the Packers go into the play with a Vince Wilfork sized advantage; they know the Falcons have to throw an out route to the sidelines. At least they don’t know which receiver Ryan was targeting though, right? Wrong. The play called for Ryan to roll left, and once Matty Ice took his first step that way, he basically put a huge spotlight on Michael Jenkins, with a sign that said “Hey, we’re throwing the ball over here”. Once Ryan started to roll left, the whole Packers defence could’ve made a beeline straight to that sideline, which is exactly what Tramon Williams did.

The rest is history.