Football coaches outthink themselves, especially on offense.
His team is running the ball so well that the opposition can’t stop those plays no matter how hard it tries. Instead of continuing to call runs until they don’t work anymore, the coach instead gets the bright idea that if he dials up a pass, it will work like a charm because the defense won’t be looking for it. The defense practically throws a party when the pass is called and intercepts the ball.
The same thing is true when a team is rolling down the field by passing the ball. A run gets called and everything falls apart.
Yikes!
Why do coaches do that? Why, why, why?
Because they outsmart themselves. They’re too clever for their own good. Thry lack common sensed.
Take your pick.
Think about it. If you like vanilla ice cream, then you keep eating it until they take the carton away from you. Would you stop in the middle of your eating fest and get some chocolate ice cream instead? No, of course not, because vanilla is working very well for you.
The same is true in football, and everything else, really. Why can’t coaches understand that? It’s not rocket science.
It – the coaches making the game a whole lot harder than it has to be — happens on the high school level.
It happens on the college level.
And it happens on the professional level.
It happened, in fact, in the Browns’ 27-24 loss in overtime to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field.
The Browns got the ball to start OT and drove to a first down at the Pittsburgh 2. If they could score a touchdown, then the game would be over and the Browns, who blew a 14-0 lead and fumbled the ball away twice near the goal line, would win their second straight game to end the season and would have their first victory in Pittsburgh since 2003.
Everybody thought the Browns would try to punch it into the end zone with the run. After all, Isaiah Crowell had rushed the ball effectively all day. He ran for 152 yards in the game, including a 67-yarder, and averaged eight yards per carry.
Instead of feeding The Crow, the Browns tried to pass on the first two plays. Head coach Hue Jackson first had Robert Griffin III throw a fade to Randall Telfer in the back right corner of the end zone that had no chance of being completed. Then Jackson had RG3 throw a bubble screen to Andrew Hawkins that the Steelers smelled out like a hunting dog looking for a rabbit. It resulted in a 14-yard loss and caused the Browns to eventually settle for a Cody Parkey field goal and a 24-21 lead.
The Steelers took the ensuing kickoff and marched for the game-winning touchdown.
The Browns, who finished with a 2-14 record, obviously have a lot of improving to do in the offseason. Much of that will be determined by the growth of their abundance of young players.
But some of it will be determined by the growth of their coaches, especially Jackson.
And Sunday was great proof of that.
