I am apoplectic all over again.
“Not a gentleman’s agreement,”
Bowles said Monday. “They were in field-goal range, they had 12 seconds calculated after using that timeout to come back from it, then we would’ve been down 11 points, it’s kinda pointless. You kinda know when the game is over. The game was over.”
No, Todd. It was like a 47 yard field goal. Kickers can miss. And there were 36 seconds on the clock.
I think what he's referring to is what his calculation was at the start of the Lions' drive. Which is fucked up because it wouldn't have been 12 seconds. The Lions could have run the clock out. A kneel down takes 2-3 seconds. If you take the step backwards, it's 3 to 4 seconds. So, what the Lions should have done is:
1:33 first down, kneel. Bucs call time out.
1:30 second down, kneel. 2-3 seconds for the play, 40 seconds for the play clock.
:48 third down, kneel. 2-3 seconds for the play, 40 seconds for the play clock.
:05 fourth down. Roll out and throw the ball away.
So, I can see Bowles' point
at the beginning of the series, and it's a completely rational decision to me not to call the time out after the first or even the second play. It's a useless act. I understand the "make 'em play it out" idea, but teams don't fuck up victory formation.
But if there was no agreement, once the Lions fucked up on third down, you absolutely have to call time out. To me, the Lions' fuck up is the far more significant one. If there was no agreement, that was as boneheaded as decision as you'll ever see. Just an absolute brain fart that could have cost the game.
It's also bad the Bowles did not capitalize. Best guess is that he was on the sideline taking off his gear and never imagined that the Lions would fuck up that bad. But that's not an excuse. The game is not over until it's over.