Who Says Fans Can't Influence the Game? :-)

So Austin calls for a field goal instead of going for 3rd and 1 at the Als up 16-0 with about 1 minute to go in the first half and the crowd hates it. My wife and I head over for our "free coffee" (see other thread) but get stopped at the spot behind the end zone where the players leave the field.

There's a guy with a loud voice who waited for the Cats to came and began shouting, "Hey guys, you don't have to quite even though your Coach does." The he hits on Austin walking by and razzes him about the play call. Austin looks at the guy with a furious expression and stalks off.

Early in the second half the Cats have a third and 2 1/2 nearer midfield. Austin calls for team to go for it. Everyone in the stands is thinking, "Wha'.......?" Except me. I'm thinking that that guy got to Austin with the taunt. (Luckily for us all, we got the first down.) :smiley:

I liked the call. The best thing was to get the points, since we were shut-out at that point. If we got stuffed, Montreal gets even greater momentum. In the 3rd, with Masoli playing so well, Austin must have seen something they could exploit. Obviously, it didn't work later on with Lefever...

I doubt that influenced the 3rd down call. There are many factors to consider.

I too like the FG call at the end of the 1st half.

Whether or not you liked the earlier call, the one with more than 2 yds. to go was certainly odd.

I also liked the FG call at the end of the half. Put yourself in Austin’s position; after playing such a crappy
game last week, with the season running out and the poor play by the team in the first half, it was now or
never for these guys, (Ticat) so he made whatI thought was the right call.

It helped the guys to believe in themselves.

There are worse calls to make, I don't fault Austin for kicking it, especially since we ended up winning by 3.

I felt this game the coaching stepped up, after the first quarter we realized it was bad hank out there and started QB cycling to limit that issue and found ground game counters for Montreal's defense.

Don't let 'em get to you Austin, you did great.

Odd?

I thought it was flat out terrible.

Perfect example where fan noise can make the difference.

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If that left tackle tries to make that call and he isn't heard because of crowd noise, that play drastically changes.