End games

Rehashing some fantastic finishes, flubbed calls

Jimmy tells me that there have been queries about my annual column in which I rate the announcers; in other words, when is it coming? I'm sorry to tell you that the networks have complained about the tone of this feature, so to maintain harmony and goodwill I have decided to ... No, no, no ... just kidding. I will be back in force, ripping and slashing like a true berserker. Every week I figure, yeah, this is the week, but then interesting things happen in the playoffs that I want to comment on, so the announcers thing gets pushed further and further back. It's coming, don't worry. But first I'll have to clear away the live action. Be patient.

I'm told that many folks wrote in about the last play of the Cleveland-Pittsburgh game, which ended with the clock running out after a completed pass to Andre King. The question: Could he have heaved the ball out of bounds to stop the clock, thereby buying his team time for another play? Technically, yes, although an illegal forward pass gets penalized. But the clock was running down to almost zero as he squirmed to get out of bounds, and if he'd have thrown the ball, I think you'd have seen one of those, ball-out-of-bounds, 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... 0, tweet, game's over. Hey, wait a minute ... Sorry, too late, bye now, and then everyone's running on the field, so just try to convince anyone there's still time left.

I'll field Giants questions first. Tony of New York wonders why the Giants didn't pooch punt from the Niners' 24, instead of trying the field goal, when they were up by five with three minutes left. It was a possibility, but the way the Niners were moving it didn't look like they'd be stopped from any distance. And nobody knew at that point how badly screwed up the field goal unit was. Nope, I'd still have gone for the yard.

Tom of Monterey can't understand all the commotion about the blown call when the Giants just would have missed the field goal re-try. I, too, guess they would have blown it again, but you never know. It would have been interesting to see if they'd have turned the snapping over to Chris Bober and let him try one cold, rather than risk still another Trey Junkin botch. I'm old enough to remember when Trey Junkin was a goal line tight end. Here's a statistic for you: In 20 years in the NFL he caught 17 passes, seven of them for TDs. Anybody have a better percentage than that?

Ian of Trail, British Columbia, Canada, rightly questions the league office's habit of selectively admitting mistakes, and making a noise like an oyster concerning the misidentification on the fumbled punt in the Atlanta-Green Bay game. Yeah, they sure fingered the wrong guy in that one. And didn't admit it, except maybe privately to Mike Sherman. That's how these things usually get out. The club leaks it to the press. The league doesn't send out a release saying, "Guess what, we blew another one." The NFL is very big on image, and the image they try to project is of an officiating crew that's perfect. Admission of mistakes is rare, and there's no predicting when the league will come clean and when it'll stonewall. I have another gripe, and after more than 30 years of airing it I'm about ready to give up. How come the press was not permitted to interview Scott Green, the back judge who blew the call in the Giants game? I mean, popes and presidents get interviewed, but NFL officials are wrapped in cellophane. Maybe I'll win this one in the next world; it sure as hell won't happen in this one. Thanks, Ian, for the nice things you said.

Jun of Houston, and thanks once again, wonders whether the two-point conversion has led to closer games and more dramatic comebacks. Without thoroughly researching it, I'd say yes, for the simple reason that it makes wider margins more reachable. Jun says he would like to examine this scientifically, using his training as an economics and statistics educator, and then he says the magic words. He'd like to include how the various outcomes impact the Vegas line and the spreads. Careful when you mess with the spreads. Generally, most of the variables you can think of are built into the line ahead of time. Vegas is filled with bust-out statisticians spending 10 hours a day slaving over their computers, trying to find that one infallible system to beat the line. And when it's time for dinner, they're usually heating beans over the sterno can.

Still with the Giants, P. Schechter (any relation to Leonard, the New York Post columnist who, when Bill Bradley was a junior at Princeton, predicted that Bradley would be president of the U.S. some day?) says that not going for it on fourth-and-1 seems to be a kind of recurring, gutless thing with Jim Fassell. And does this fear influence most coaches? It's an interesting question. No coach ever went for it more often on fourth-and-whatever than Bill Parcells. I guess it's part of instilling an aggressive mentality in your team. I kind of like that fearlessness, but sometimes it just doesn't make sense.

Mike of NYC and Dave of Carrboro, N.C., take me to task for my rip of the turf in the Vet, mentioning, 1) it has been improved lately, and 2) I ought to find better things to write about. OK, maybe I did go a bit overboard. Sometimes we get tired of writing endlessly about how someone's offense will do against the other guy's defense, and vice-versa, ad infinitum, and search out a slightly different angle. Sorry. Your criticism is justified. It was a reach.

O.C. of L.A. wonders if all the rips of Steve Mariucci are reasonable. I don't think so. I think he's a good coach. I don't know why he constantly catches so much heat. It's not his fault that the defense has holes in it. Hey, there are no great teams anymore. The Niners have as good a chance as any of a half dozen teams to go all the way.

Victor of Livermore, Calif., feels I went overboard on the Jets (vs. Oakland) for no reason. He likes Oakland by more than 10. Well, the Raiders won by six against a Jets team that isn't as good as the current model. You wanna give me 10 1/2, Vic? I mean, do we have a wager here, or what?

Dennis of Edison, N.J., doesn't see how Julius Peppers can win defensive rookie of the year when he forfeited four of his games for using a banned substance. This is going to sound very na•ve of me, but I just can't get too excited about a guy getting busted for ephedra. We're not talking about hard steroids or crack cocaine. If anything, it's a penalty for dumbness, since he should know what's on the banned list. And how many missed games should disqualify someone? How about if he were injured? There are no guidelines. I'm not a selector, so I don't know who I would have given the award to. Sacks don't usually thrill me that much. Twelve sacks mean 12 good plays, and as you pointed out, Roy Williams' overall contribution was a lot higher.

Scot of Weaverville, Calif., wants my opinion of Titans' strong side LB Peter Sirmon. An eye-opener this year. Really has come on. He started off as just a guy and ended up on my list of people to monitor for possible all-pro. Unfortunately, he wasn't eligible for my team because he came out on the nickel, but he's a watcher. Another guy in the same category is Philly's Carlos Emmons, who also had a terrific season.

A big rip from Jon of Dayton for the unkind things I said about Butch Davis. First of all, there's nothing personal. I used to talk to him a lot when he was on Jimmy Johnson's staff in Dallas. Since his U. of Miami experience, Davis' hat size has grown a bit and he isn't as easy to talk to, but that's baseball. I know it was Foge Fazio's defense, but Butch is a defensive coach at heart and he should monitor what's going on, particularly when his team is getting eaten up and doesn't come out of that soft zone behind the mush-rush. Saw it happen earlier in the season, saw it happen against the Steelers. On the sidelines he looked lost ... Hey, what's going on here? That's what I wrote. Sorry if you didn't like it.

Michael of Rosamond, Calif., wants me to find him a sub-.500 team that's gonna break out next year, and I can't mention the Rams. Gosh, man, gimme a break. Let's see who comes and goes in free agency. Let's see what the draft brings. Too early, way too early. Part 2, and this question is echoed by Steven of Edmonton, Alberta: Should the Bengals go for Carson Palmer or try to pick up multiple choices or veterans or something? Well, Joey Harrington didn't bring instant riches to the Lions, did he, although he did give them something to look forward to. My primary instinct is yes, go for Palmer if they think he's the real thing. Receivers, etc., can be found lower down.

Kevin of Welland, Ontario, feels that more calls should be challengeable on instant replay -- interference, for instance, down by contact, blocking in the back. Me, too. But the league doesn't want judgment calls messed with, because it might show that the judgment wasn't too hot in the first place.

Vikki of Aubrey, Texas, wants me to name names re: the coaches I said would never outcoach anybody on Sunday. Hoo, boy, I hate to do this. How about if I mention just a handful? Marty Mornhinweg. Dick Jauron. Dick LeBeau (now gone). You know something? I don't like this. I'm gonna cut it off. Enough already.

After that I need an easy one, so I thank you, Vince of Carmel, N.Y., who asks which matchups I'd like to see in the AFC and NFC championship games, and the Super Bowl. Well, I picked the Jets to beat Oakland, but I'd still like to see the Raiders in the AFC championship for the simple reason that I've already invested in tickets to Oakland for myself and the Flaming Redhead and the airlines are positively vicious now -- make that more vicious than usual -- about changing flights and it runs into serious money. So make that Raiders against Tennessee. Eagles-Niners in the NFC title game. Eagles-Raiders in the Super Bowl. I'd be intrigued by Jim Johnson's blitz defense against Marc Trestman's Gnat Attack.

On the same subject, we bring down the curtain with Shaun of K.C.'s questions about Rich Gannon. Have I ever seen a QB blossom this late, and why did it take him so long to do it? No, I never have. It took him so long because he finally found the perfect offense for his talents -- brains, ability to read quickly and adjust on the go and scramble just enough to buy time. Plus, he has a coach who likes to throw the ball 50 times a game.

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