NFL Special Report: The timeout that took the Indianapolis Colts out
How does it make sense to give the Jets a timeout when time itself was of the essence? It doesn’t as far as anyone can tell but that is exactly what Indianapolis Colts' Coach Jim Caldwell did for the New York Jets. Saturday’s playoff game between the New
York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts came down to the last minutes of the final quarter. At first, the Colts were trailing two points behind but Manning led his team to a field goal that put them over the Jets.
However, New York still had 57 seconds to mount a comeback. No one expected that to be time enough for Sanchez to do anything for the Jets but along came Antonio Cromartie with a 47 yards kickoff return. The Jets were still running out of time and called
their final timeout still short of the end zone and out of kickoff range.
New York’s quarterback Mark Sanchez threw 9 and 11 yards and Tomlinson rushed two yards to put the Jets on the 32 yard line with 29 seconds remaining. The Jets didn’t have a timeout at this point but the Colts did and Jim Caldwell took that timeout to the
surprise of everyone and great relief of the Jets. Without the timeout the Jets would have had to attempt a field goal from around 50 yards. Although, its possible but let’s face it, Nick Folk isn’t the best kicker in the league. He is 5 for 11 in field goal
attempts from the 40 yard line and Jim Caldwell should have known that very well.
After the game, Caldwell didn’t regret calling the timeout. He said that with a pass to Santonio Holmes the Jets were within field goal range. He added that the decision to call the timeout was made after careful consideration of their opponent’s abilities.
“We try to do a decent job at taking a look at the field goal kicker and see how they are doing in warm-ups, what is their range, all those types of things.” According to Caldwell, since the Jets were in the field goal range he figured that the best thing
to do was make the Jets take more snaps. Caldwell stated had the Jets ran the ball it would have also run down the clock. In the event of a pass attempt, the Colts would have had the opportunity to sack the Jets out of field goal range, thus force a fumble
or an interception.
“That is what our thinking was in that situation. They were able to make a play and it gave them a little bit shorter field goal,” Caldwell said. Except it wasn’t a little shorter but quite a lot. Sanchez threw 18 yards after the timeout and put the Jets
on Indianapolis’ 14 yard line. A field goal from the 32 yard line is a maybe but an attempt from the 14 is almost a given.
Even if the Jets had planned on making one more play before a field goal attempt if they didn’t have the time to plan out their next play, they wouldn’t have been able to take 18 yards. 5 or six yards closer would have still been a difficult field goal and
the probability of making a mistake would have been greater.
Caldwell was of the view that there was no way of knowing what the Jets would have done from the 32 yard line. He said that all options including a 50 yard field goal or a rushing/passing play to set up the field goal, had to be considered. In the end, Sanchez
settled for the pass and that cost the Colts the playoff.
This wasn’t the first questionable call Calwell has made this season. In October when the Colts were facing the Jacksonville Jaguars, Caldwell called two timeouts in the last minute when the scores were tied. There is no telling what he was thinking at the
time but he defended that call the same way as he has been defending this call.
Both were questionable calls and both cost the Colts the games. And the Colts aren’t pleased. “Anytime you lose on a last-second field goal in a playoff game, it stinks,” Quarterback Peyton Manning said.
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