I Playcall, Therefore I Am

Third-and-6. Less than 2 minutes to play. Leading by 4 points. Opponent has one timeout remaining. Quarterback takes the snap, turns and hands it to the running back who runs into the pile. No gain. 4th down. Opponent burns final timeout. 80 yards in 1:29. No way to stop the clock in the field of play. Rewind…

Much has been made of the offensive play-calling on the final possession of the Week 3 loss in Minnesota, specifically the fact that three consecutive inside runs were called. Against the league’s best run defense. Without your star running back and best player available. The sequence has led to questions. Not just questions about the play-calling itself, but about the entire philosophy behind the offensive system.