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Ok, so it is typical by any coach to pull guys like Ball or Holliday when they fumble—the Pats did it with their RBs too.
But where do you draw the line on the tradeoff? Obviously Ball had 2 fumbles this year before tonight. But he also regained the confidence of the staff to be the clear #2. So why does one more fumble negate that all again?
Because suddenly we have Anderson spelling Moreno. And I like Anderson a lot, but he looked like a guy trying to learn on the go out there, asking Manning about his positioning every play. And then he, too, fumbled a handoff—largely due to unfamiliarity with the QB. And that really slowed down a vital drive in OT.
Similarly with Holliday, the tradeoff of putting in Welker who 1) didn't have the surest hands tonight and 2) isn't as practiced on the return squad, which may have cost us the game.
When does a coach just have to roll with the guys he's been using in practice, even after a costly mistake, instead of throwing a rustier, greener guy to plug that position? It's a question I've wondered about before, and this game seemed exhibit 1 for being slow to overreact on this issue.
But where do you draw the line on the tradeoff? Obviously Ball had 2 fumbles this year before tonight. But he also regained the confidence of the staff to be the clear #2. So why does one more fumble negate that all again?
Because suddenly we have Anderson spelling Moreno. And I like Anderson a lot, but he looked like a guy trying to learn on the go out there, asking Manning about his positioning every play. And then he, too, fumbled a handoff—largely due to unfamiliarity with the QB. And that really slowed down a vital drive in OT.
Similarly with Holliday, the tradeoff of putting in Welker who 1) didn't have the surest hands tonight and 2) isn't as practiced on the return squad, which may have cost us the game.
When does a coach just have to roll with the guys he's been using in practice, even after a costly mistake, instead of throwing a rustier, greener guy to plug that position? It's a question I've wondered about before, and this game seemed exhibit 1 for being slow to overreact on this issue.
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