DownSwinging.com

Now before you laugh and tell me I’m a gamer and that I simulate NFL games by playing a video game, hear me out. Yes, I do love Madden, and yes, I do believe that NFL coaches, NCAA coaches, and for all I know high school football coaches can learn from the “awesomeness” that is Madden.

So let me ask you this question: how many times have you found yourself watching a football game thinking to yourself, could (insert coach’s name here) possibly manage the clock any worse than he just did? I’m no stranger to coaches mismanaging the clock late in games or during the closing minutes of the half, but sometimes there are cases where football coaches display such atrocious clock management (cough, Herm Edwards, Norv Turner) that it’s nearly inconceivable that aforementioned coach even knew how much time he had left.

Now let me preface this by saying that most coaches manage the clock correctly most of the time, either giving themselves as much time as possible to score or the opposing team as little time to score. However, it seems like, at least once a week, one coach makes a major blunder during a critical time in the game. And can I please be the first one to say; adept clock management really isn’t that difficult. Especially when you consider all the other immensely more difficult things that head coaches deal with on a daily basis, clock management really shouldn’t be a problem. And despite my consternation, coaches continue to make simple mistakes with major consequences.

For example, this past Saturday night, the Washington Huskies traveled to Tempe, Arizona to play the Arizona State Sun Devils in a very important Pac 10 matchup. With 1:17 to play in the 4th quarter and a 17-17 tie, Washington returned the ball to it’s own 10 yard-line. With 1:17 in the game, ASU had just one time out to spend, while Washington had two. Now, most coaches and most quarterbacks would be content to simply run out the clock and go to overtime. But not Washington coach Steve Sarkisian and his phenomenal quarterback, Jake Locker. Two weeks ago Sarkisian and Locker orchestrated an incredible 53-yard drive with 51 seconds left in the first half of their previous game at Notre Dame, completing 3 passes for 58 yards (5-yard penalty) in under a minute to set up a 40 yard field goal to take the lead at half time. Knowing this, Husky fans were shocked and upset when Sarkisian called running plays on first and second down. The Huskies then lined up for a 3rd and 1 play with 0:27 left in the game… And promptly threw the ball down field. The clock stopped with 22 seconds left to play and Washington still had two timeouts.

They punted the ball away to ASU who returned the ball to midfield with 13 seconds left in the game. On the next play, due to poor play-calling and severely blown coverage, the Sun Devils threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to win the game. Defensive mishaps aside, this loss can be put squarely on the shoulders of the Washington play-caller, Steve Sarkisian. Now, so far, the young former USC coordinator has done an excellent job at Washington, but his clock management late in this game was nothing short of appalling. In my mind, he has one decision to make: attempt to win the game with the time remaining or run the clock out and head to overtime. Sarkisian seemingly attempted to do both. And in the end, his Washington Huskies ended the game with neither.

But Steve Sarkisian isn’t the only coach who potentially cost his team the game in the past weeks. If you were lucky enough to tune into the incredible Monday Night showdown between the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts two weeks ago, you would have witnessed an even worse display of clock management by Dolphins coach Tony Sparano.

With over three minutes left in the game, the Dolphins trailed the Colts by a score of 27-23. In other words, the Dolphins have three minutes and three chances to stop the clock (two minute warning and two timeouts) in order to reach the end zone. The Dolphins started the drive (from their own 20-yard line) by calling two running plays to Ronnie Brown. This may have been salvageable, but the offense was so slow that after two running plays and calling a time out they had reached the two-minute warning. How in the name of Don Shula is that humanly possible? Here’s how. After Ronnie Brown’s first run, a gain of one yard, Sparano waited almost 45 seconds to call the timeout, just to save his offense from taking a delay of game penalty. Can you believe that? The Dolphins are down by 4 points with less than 3 minutes in the game and they spend 45 seconds doing absolutely nothing?!

But again there’s 2:26 left in the game and the Dolphins still have a time out and the two-minute warning. Plenty of teams have gone 80 yards in 2 minutes. In fact two of Peyton Manning’s touchdown drives went 80 yards in less than 2 minutes for touchdowns. This should all lead you to believe that the Dolphins should still have plenty of time to score. Until Sparano calls another running play that develops so slowly that it takes the Dolphins all the way down to the two-minute warning. I kid you not, the Dolphins managed to call two plays and a time-out in 1:13.  Now I think you know where this is going. After the two-minute warning, Sparano finally decides, hey, maybe throwing the ball is a good idea… But unfortunately for Dolphins fans who had a legitimate shot to win this game, the Dolphins had already lost this game. After gaining 46 yards and a devastating sack by Robert Mathis, the Dolphins finally run out of time and attempt one desperate throw to the end zone, which is subsequently picked off by Antoine Bethea.

This very evening, (editors note: there was a delay in the posting of this article) Norv Turner continued his tradition of what I like to call, “The Norv Turner School of Clock Management”. Truthfully, I didn’t coin this phrase, but it is most certainly an excellent one. With 1:59 left in the fourth quarter, losing by 11 points, the San Diego Chargers had the ball on the Denver Broncos 26-yard line. Philip Rivers had just completed a first down pass to Antonio Gates and I was pleading with Turner to have Rivers hurry to the line, spike the football and have Nate Kaeding, the most accurate kicker in NFL history as of tonight, kick a 43 yard field goal.

Now I understand the Chargers are trailing by two scores and need an onside kick recovery to even have a chance, but regardless of the situation, as a head coach you are supposed to give your team the best chance possible to win the football game. Down by just two scores, (touchdown, successful two point conversion, and a field goal) Turner’s best option with the limited time that he had would have been to, after spiking the ball on first down, take two shots to the end zone and, if unsuccessful, kick the 43 yard field goal. Then with just more than a minute and a half left in the game attempt an onside kick and score a touchdown. My logic for this argument is this: as it stands, you are already in field goal range, so kicking a field goal now takes no extra time off the clock. If you instead decide to attempt to move the ball further downfield, it will take time off the clock, but even worse puts you in danger of being sacked or caught in bounds. Taking two shots at the end zone and then kicking the field goal at this moment would have allowed the Chargers to save their remaining time out in case they needed it after recovering the onside kick and would be the most time-efficient strategy. Perhaps most convincing is that a 43-yard field goal is basically automatic for Nate Kaeding who, as I mentioned earlier, just passed Mike Vanderjagt as the most accurate kicker of all time. Instead, Turner decided to keep his offense on the field, and in doing so lost 45 seconds of precious time and 11 yards after succumbing  to Denver pressure and taking a sack. Kaeding then missed the 55-yard field goal.

Again, I understand that the Chargers had little hope of winning this game, but like I said, a coach’s job is to put his team in the best situation to win the game and in my eyes, Norv Turner, much like Steve Sarkisian, and especially Tony Sparano did not do that.

My solution? NFL coaches should play Madden. I’m dead serious about this. I know I’m not the only person saying this too. I love the game of football. I’ve watched more football in the past five years than just about anyone I know. But my intricate knowledge of clock management comes almost solely from the game of Madden. I can’t fathom how many games of Madden I’ve played in my life (the true number being slightly too telling of my sad lifestyle) but what I’ve learned by putting myself and my opponent in countless late game situations is that clock management isn’t that hard to figure out. It just takes a little practice. And where better to do it than inside the friendly confines of EA Sports where the worst that can happen is a painful punch to the kidneys from a friend after a thrilling victory due to excellent clock management?