Ive been waiting for someone to fuck themselves over by icing the opposing kicker and it finally happened.
NO iced the ATL FG attempt except WAIT…they blocked the field goal, after which ATL got another shot at the kick and made it for the win.
Ive always thought that was a bitch tactic and has always screamed " we have no faith in our defense ability to stop the score". Good to see a team fuck themselves like this for once.
Not only that, but Atlanta subsequently had a false start penalty, so they won the game by kicking from 5 yards further back.
This happens all the time. My theory is that the kicker realizes a time out is being called as he’s kicking and doesn’t put 100% effort into it.
I don’t see the rationale behind this tactic though. The kicker should have the same chance to get the FG the second time around as the first try. The only advantage i see is that it doubles the chance that the offense will false start.
This happens like every other week. And in the other weeks it works out for the icing team, it’s a toss up.
When else has it worked against the icing team?
I think it would on average work in favor of the kicking team - you’d be able to judge the wind from that first kick and adjust. I wouldn’t pull that d-bag move if I were the head coach.
Correct. Icing the kicker doesn’t work
“Icing” the kicker is bad sportsmanship, a bush league tactic. And it PROBABLY doesn’t do any real good.
But it will keep happening because…
What ELSE is the defending team going to do with its time outs?
Coaches figure it MIGHT work once in a blue moon, so what the hell? And coaches will remember how it SEEMED to work for the Texans against the Redskins the other week (never mind that it was a 51 yard kick, which isn’t a gimme under ANY circumstances) much longer than they’ll remember how it failed for the Saints against the Falcons.
But I sort of wonder… if “icing” the opponent is such a good idea, why is it ONLY used on last second field goal attempts? When there’s OBVIOUSLY a last-second “Hail Mary” pass coming up, why don’t coaches try to “ice” the quarterback by calling repeated time outs before the snap?
My theory: teams wouldn’t do that because they RESPECT quarterbacks but don’t respect kickers, whom they regard as wimpy little guys who aren’t “real” football players.
I don’t think it’s bad sportsmanship any more than kneeling on the ball, or calling all running plays to run the clock down. The team has the time outs, they’re allowed to use them whenever they want. It’s part of the rules and the game. Even though it rarely works. You know what’s unsportsmanlike to me? Some of the shenanigans that are pulled when a team scores a touchdown. I’m all for a momentary show of excited-ness when a team has a great play; but anything beyond that, and certainly anything premeditated should be flagged.
I don’t have a problem with time-outs to ice the kicker. I don’t think they’re effective, but I don’t have a problem with them. I do have a problem with ice time-outs that are called from the sideline, so late that the snap goes ahead anyway. They’re douchey and they shouldn’t be allowed.
I really don’t get it in this situation. If Sean Payton doesn’t call the last-second timeout, the block is good and the Saints get the ball back with about 2 minutes and one timeout. That’s an awful lot of time for a team like the Saints to get into field goal range. Wouldn’t it make more sense to hope that your special teams can make a play or the kicker misses and give yourself a slightly better chance to win that way than if you try to ice the kicker, use that last timeout, and tie your hands if you do get a second chance?
Someone will have to help my memory, but there was a college game recently where the kicker made the kick, and everybody thought the game was over, only to find that the opposing coach had called time out.
So he kicked it again, but missed. But again there was a time out.
So he kicked it again, and it was good. Had to check with the coach to find out that he did not call a TO the last time.
Not sure if that proves the effectiveness one way or the other. Makes it seem kinda like voiding the coin flip while it is in the air… it’s still a 50/50 chance.
Or it could be because, while the QB in performing play after play, the kicker just paces the sideline and makes practice kicks before periodically coming out to perform his one job. The QB knows that 1 play doesn’t make or break a game… it’s the culmination of his entire performance. The kicker can’t really make himself believe that.
it almost backfired completely on Raiders Coach Tom Cable a couple of years ago.
Luckily for him the Raiders managed to win it in OT.
Pretty sure there was a college game this year with exactly the same situation…can’t find it now…hoping maybe someone has a better memory than me.
Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould loves it when the opposing team calls a timeout on him. It gives him more time to read the wind conditions and all.
http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ChalkTalkStory.asp?story_id=7077
I don’t know what his percentages are after a time out is called. That would be an interesting stat to look at – looking at it league-wide would be even better.
It seems to me something that’s done because it’s always been done. Maybe it works better on rookies who are nervous or something or maybe it worked in 1942 when the kicker was a lineman or someone who doesn’t actually SPECIALIZE in kicking field goals, but is seems antiquated to me.
I want to point out that two types of things are being conflated here. There’s “icing the kicker” where you call the timeout well before the field goal team is ready to kick, just to give him some extra time for the mental pressure to build. And then there’s… douchebagging the kicker where you call the time out a quarter second before the snap so the play goes through but doesn’t count.