There's been a lot of discussion about whether a pass interference penalty should have been called on McCollough for his contact with Carter on the last minute play in the EDSF game. If yo want to discuss that, please go to the thread devoted to that topic.
But that discussion started me wondering whether it would have mattered. Without the call, Montreal ended up kicking a field goal to tie the game, sending it to overtime. Had a penalty been called, Montreal would have had the ball on the one yard line with five seconds left. Would they have taken a chance on trying for a touchdown, knowing that if they didn't get it, they might lose the game? Or would they have still kicked the field goal to tie it, sending the game into overtime?
I suppose that decision depends on two things, how confident they were on getting the touchdown, and how much time they figured the attempt would take off the clock. We've all seen cases where teams can run a couple of plays at least in five seconds. But we've also seen teams burn that time running one play, although that's usually when the clock is running, which it wouldn't have been in this case.
I think with 5 seconds left, Montreal gives it one try to put the ball in the endzone. The clock stops on the snap they should easily get 2 plays off, but I don't think that is the point. Had the referees made the right call in my opinion, whether they got a touchdown and Montreal won, were stopped and Hamilton won, or kicked a field goal to go to overtime, we were all denied the chance to see the just outcome in my opinion.
Had the PI penalty been called, we would not be having this discussion because even the most ardent, myopic, or nepotistic Hamilton fan would have reluctantly agreed it was the correct call and the game would have taken whatever course it took.
My question was hypothetical, more a question of football strategy. Perhaps I should have posted it under the X's and O's forum.
And no need to look it up. I am familiar with his work on quantum physics, and with his cat in a box analogy. But yes, the summary in Wikipedia is pretty good.
Yes but you are conveniently ignoring the fact that when the correct call is made, there is no discussion. In this case the PI was so obvious, there would have been no discussion, the discussion is only due to the fact that the non-call was a terrible call.
Actually they only had 1
You can only use 1 time out in the final 3 minutes of the half or game..
I would have gone for it for 2 reasons
Sutton was having a good game and I feel that he have a great chance of getting in
OT TD requires that you go for 2...When was the last time you saw Montreal make a 2 point convert?
When was the last time you saw Montreal win in Overtime...have you ever seen them win in the new OT Format?
I cant remember them ever winning But I can remember quite a few OT loses
Consider this, then. If Montreal doesn't score a touchdown on their first play from the one, there's (probably) time left on the clock to go for the chip shot field goal. But they're on the right hash marks, with a serious wind at their backs. Maybe not so easy. But if Montreal does score a touchdown, there's now time on the clock for Hamilton to run a play. A low probability play for sure, especially against the wind. (I'm thinking whatever play they called, it would end up being put to Yakety Sax, the Benny Hill theme music. Multiple laterals, maybe a dribble kick or five to push it down field.)
Any time remaining would be eaten up by during the kickoff.
And yes...Even with the possibility of 1 hail mary play...even with the wind...I would go for it
I think people are under estimating how long a play takes. I think Montreal takes their field goal even with the PI. Unless it’s a clean run through the line, there’s a very good chance that if he gets stuffed the game is over and they lose by 3.
A typical line plunge takes about two seconds from the snap to the whistle. I'm sure Sutton would have been told to fall backwards or take a knee if he didn't make it on first or second effort, and Popp would have requested that the officials watch for this to make sure the clock stopped right away.
The worst scenario would have been a bobbled snap, which could have killed the clock. But again, it comes down to probability.
And if they went for it and got the TD, Popps a genius. Fact is the only gamble is not being able to get the play off in 5 seconds which is not a big gamble at all. That's like another poster saying that they don't make the PI call because it would get ugly if they didn't. Fan reaction and media reaction is not taken into account when a coach makes his decision.
This debate is getting beyond ridiculous,PI or no PI with only 5 seconds left,the Al’s kick the sure thing fg it goes to ot and Ham wins the game.There is way to many variables with only 5 sec left to suggest that Mtl if they did go for the T.D would’ve even made it,and if they didn’t make it would’ve had enough time left to kick a tying f.g. This we was robbed mentality is total B.S and nothing but sour grapes…for the 10000th time the Cats won…the Al’s lost…end of discussion…you would think that the game wasn’t 60 minutes long but only 10 seconds long,because apparently the other 59 minutes and 50 seconds played didn’t matter or count for anything.So in a nutshell…call or no call the final outcome is the same Ham-19 Mtl-16.