Do You Agree With Jim Harbaugh's Decision to Keep Points Instead of Penalty?

[Kuzzy Powers]

Because its the 49ers, I keep the points. If its any kind of decent offense with a confident coach, I take the penalty and assume my offense is good enough to atleast hold on to the ball and at worst kick the FG again. If my QB is Alex Smith its tough to have that confidence.

 

[NAHSTE]

Anybody who answers with anything other than "keep the points" bases their football knowledge off of playing Madden in the East lobby.

This is black and white. NEVER TAKE POINTS OFF THE BOARD. EVER.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Anybody who answers with anything other than "keep the points" bases their football knowledge off of playing Madden in the East lobby.

This is black and white. NEVER TAKE POINTS OFF THE BOARD. EVER.

Yeah, I don't know what these guys are thinking. I don't care if it's Joe Montana or Alex Smith, you take the two score lead with 9 minutes left. No brainer. Make them score twice and stop you at least once more.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Anybody who answers with anything other than "keep the points" bases their football knowledge off of playing Madden in the East lobby.

This is black and white. NEVER TAKE POINTS OFF THE BOARD. EVER.

Bill Belichick has 3 SB Rings.. I can almost guarantee hes taking the penalty. Just saying..

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Yeah, I don't know what these guys are thinking. I don't care if it's Joe Montana or Alex Smith, you take the two score lead with 9 minutes left. No brainer. Make them score twice and stop you at least once more.

Yeah considering the time of the game it would make it difficult not to take the long FG and trust your D for 10 minutes definitely. I was more speaking in general terms of the game.

 

[Fox1994]

Too much time left on the clock to take the penalty. Take the points, and - like W2BTD said - attempt the onside. Even if you don't get it, the defense isn't in terrible position. If the Cowboys score, you have a three point lead.

I'll chalk it up to a difference of opinion, I just don't really understand how that can not be the right decision. It's the smart thing to do, which is much more important than being gutsy.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

In this situation I take the penalty and run the clock. Not knowing if Romo was going to come back into the game or not, you give your defense more of a chance to hold onto a lead if you run 3-4 more minutes off the clock.. I could see the call going either way in this situation though. It was a 15 yard penalty afterall. If it was just a 5 yarder, I'd take the points.

I believe Romo was back in by that point.

 

[mgoblue2290]

Anybody who answers with anything other than "keep the points" bases their football knowledge off of playing Madden in the East lobby.

This is black and white. NEVER TAKE POINTS OFF THE BOARD. EVER.

So say you've got the ball on the 15 yard line, its 4th and 2. You make the field goal but there is a 5 yard penalty on the defense resulting in a first down. You aren't going to send your offense back out there with 1st and goal from the 10 to take the 3 shots and try to get a touchdown, when even if you fail its just another chip shot for your kicker?

I know I would and any coach who didn't is a complete fool.

 

[Aso]

Was it a 15 yard penalty? If so I would take it.

 

[NAHSTE]

So say you've got the ball on the 15 yard line, its 4th and 2. You make the field goal but there is a 5 yard penalty on the defense resulting in a first down. You aren't going to send your offense back out there with 1st and goal from the 10 to take the 3 shots and try to get a touchdown, when even if you fail its just another chip shot for your kicker?

I know I would and any coach who didn't is a complete fool.

Never take points off the board. It's a pretty universally applicable rule. I've seen a team take the penalty and end up fumbling on the next play.

 

[Realist]

Obviously people ignored this post so I'm going to post it again. Keep in mind that this is pretty much the exact same team from last year. Harbaugh made the right call.

Also, if you want to know why it's smart to keep the points, read this article from last years team and coach

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page...1221_tuesday_morning_quarterback&sportCat=nfl

Ho Ho Ho: In the process of getting pounded into fine dust by the San Diego Chargers, the San Francisco 49ers -- who did a lot of boasting in the preseason, then have backed it up by losing games 34-7, 21-0, 31-10 and 31-6 -- had a drive on which they scored three points, then scored six points, then ended up with no points.

With the Bolts leading 7-0, the Squared Sevens kicked a field goal. San Diego was called for "leveraging," the second time in three weeks this unusual call has been made. Accepting the penalty took points off the board but gave San Francisco first-and-goal at the 10. Three snaps later, Alex Smith ran for what officials signaled was a touchdown, but San Diego challenged and the six points came off the board, too. Mike Singletary went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1. High first-round draft choice guard Mike Iupati air-blocked -- he made contact with no one -- as undrafted Bolts defensive tackle Ogemdi Nwagbuo shot into the backfield to drop the runner for a loss, San Diego ball and zero points for San Francisco.

 

[young2rice]

I thought it was weird when it was clear Dallas was going to kick the FG at the end and the 49ers didn't take a timeout to stop the clock and at least give Ginn a chance to maybe return the kick.

 

[mgoblue2290]

Never take points off the board. It's a pretty universally applicable rule. I've seen a team take the penalty and end up fumbling on the next play.

It isn't though. Most NFL coaches would probably agree with me in that scenario. Most of the time you aren't going to turn the ball over or miss that field goal again.

 

[Awesometrax]

With 11 minutes left you take the points, especially when your kicker just made a 55 yarder. If it was 4-6 minutes left that's a different story.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

With 11 minutes left you take the points, especially when your kicker just made a 55 yarder. If it was 4-6 minutes left that's a different story.

With 4-6 minutes left, that's even more reason to leave the points up, because now the opponent only has 5 minutes to score twice.

This is a goofy thread. This wasn't even a hard decision, there is no logic to take the points off in that spot.

 

[EmpireWF]

This wasn't even a hard decision, there is no logic to take the points off in that spot.

Not even to drive and go for a TD or settle for another field goal?

 

[Len B]

Since when can teams kill the clock inside the 40 with 11 minutes left?

Best case scenario the clock is at about 7 minutes.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Not even to drive and go for a TD or settle for another field goal?

It's absurd. You take the two score lead. If i'm the opposing team i'm jumping for joy if you take those points off the board and gamble.

 

[Realist]

With 11 minutes left you take the points, especially when your kicker just made a 55 yarder. If it was 4-6 minutes left that's a different story.

That made no sense..

Not even to drive and go for a TD or settle for another field goal?

There is no guarantee that you would have either.




I'm wondering if people even watched the game to even understand the reasoning, or they are just giving an blind opinion.

 

[EmpireWF]

It's a gamble to take the penalty and go for more points. With so much time, it's not as egregious as not using a timeout before Dallas kicks the go ahead field goal.