Death to Google Ads! Texans Talk Tip Jar! 🍺😎👍
Thanks for your support!

DD's touchdown run at the end of the game.

gwallaia

Moderator
Staff member
I just wonder ......, did Fisher tell his defense to give up the score to stop the clock? 1:47 or so was left in the game, there was no way the Titans could stop the clock. All the Texans had to do was run out the clock and win the game.

The only way for the Titans to get the ball back would be to allow the Texans to score. This would put them down by 10 with a slim shot of scoring a quick TD themselves and getting an onside kick.

It sounds weird, but I think it was a desperate move by Fisher. They were guaranteed to lose if they just watched the Texans run out the clock. By allowing DD the easy td, they had a sliver of hope of tying it up.
 
i thought the same thing when i saw it, but after watching houston texans inside the game yesterday and seeing the replay, i dont really think so, guys were trying to get to him our O-line just opened up such a big hole for him, its not like fishers guys just stood there they were trying to get in there, after he got past the d-line there was no secondary to stop him, cause they were stacking the line !
 

Porky

Hall of Fame
The CBS announcers mentioned that as a possibility. I rewound my TIVO about 5-6 times looking for any indicators, and although I can't say for sure, to me it looks like the Texans just manned them up, and blew them away. I didn't see any definitive signs of quitting. It's possible though. Fisher is a brilliant coach imo, and I wouldn't put it past him. Really, that was the only way for them to tie the game. Although slim, their only hope was to get the ball back, and the only way to do that was to let the Texans score. The main reason I say no, other than the visual evidence, is that most coaches don't want to coach players to give up, or lose on purpose, even for one play. It runs counter to everything they teach. Does make you wonder though. :hmmm:
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
Porky said:
The main reason I say no, other than the visual evidence, is that most coaches don't want to coach players to give up, or lose on purpose, even for one play. It runs counter to everything they teach. Does make you wonder though. :hmmm:
The players aren't that dense. They can understand the strategy behind giving up the score at 1:42 remaining vs getting the ball back with 5 seconds remaining. I think there's little question the Titans gave up the TD purposely.
 

SBTexans08

Rookie
This isn't the first time I've seen a self induced opposing team score...it's not the second or third time either a "great" coach does this. Just because it looked like the Titans stacked the line means nothing IMO. Play action bootlegs makes the O-line move to one side and the opposing teams D-line follow in that same direction while the QB moves to the other.....the play is drawn up like that....to make it look like a run will be going one way when it isn't even a run. I'm not for certain he chose to give up the score in order to have a chance to tie....but Jeff Fisher is known for doing things like that. It's certainly something that can't be scratched out of possibility.
 
oh well he still had a really good game even before that 41 yard "gimme" run so i dont care, i was still happy with his performance !
 

Blake

MMQB
I think the team has more self respect than to give up a rushing TD like that. Im sure the plan was to get at the ball. Swat it, strip it, get it away from DD.
 

V Man

Pumpkinhead
TexansTrueFan said:
, after he got past the d-line there was no secondary to stop him, cause they were stacking the line !
That is it. They were all on the line trying to stop the run, and after you get past the line it is all open field. You see it often on short yardage runs, get past the line of scrimmage and you have a pretty big gain.
 

Eagle Fan

Practice Squad
Seems to me that the packers did the same thing in the superbowl the first year that Denver won. It didn't work THAT time either.
 

TEXANS84

Moderator
Staff member
I don't think so. I mean, it was a 2nd down run. If they were going to allow a touchdown, why wouldn't they on on the 1st down?
 
TEXANS84 said:
I don't think so. I mean, it was a 2nd down run. If they were going to allow a touchdown, why wouldn't they on on the 1st down?

Good point,,,i didnt think it was a gimme anyways, but very true !
 

TEXANS84

Moderator
Staff member
TexansTrueFan said:
Good point,,,i didnt think it was a gimme anyways, but very true !
But see, the only thing that baffles me (I forgot to TIVO it-Dang it!!) is that the two minuite warning came around the 1:47 mark. Now, did the INT take it to the two minuite mark, or was it DD's first run, or was their a timeout by TN?
Sorry, I forgot...was too busy jumping up and down in my seat.
 
yes it was about to be the 2 minute warning cause mcnair took a timeout at like 2:06 or something, than Mcree got the int and 2 plays later Davis ran it the 41 yards and tennesse only had 1 timeout left !
 

AcresHomesTexan

No Longer Arlington: Escaped From Jerry's World
Staff member
I thought it were possible that Titans allowed the score, but the way the offense of the titans came out with short throw to the TE, did not show the urgency that a team allowing such a run should display.
 

Str8tupg42k1

Waterboy
To me it looked like the Titans stacked up the line and were looking for a pitch and DD saw a huge hole and cut back and went straight trough it. When you look at the replay you see the defenders looking clueless on the left side as to where DD was. Either way whats done is done if they gave up the score it backfired on them.
 

kuno

Noob
I think there is little doubt they gave it up. They did not do it on first down cause of the chance of a turnover, and if they did not get one they could call timeout. After that their only chance was to let the run thru.
 

TheOgre

All Pro
I liked the TD because it allowed me to win my FF game. Hehe.

Seriously, I think giving up the TD would be the smart thing to do. Otherwise we run two plays and punt the ball. I think there is more chance of getting 10 points with 1:35 to play than there is to get 3 points with 5 seconds to play.
 
actually they would of had more like 20-30 seconds left if we hadnt gotten the first down, i'd rather be down by 3 with 30 secs than 10 with a 1:20 .
 

Speedy

Former Yeller Dweller
Why were the Texans running plays to begin with?? Couldn't they have run the clock out with 1:42 to go and no Titan timeouts left??
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
OK, let's go over the scenario if DD hadn't scored (Titans used their final timeout on previous play) .

1:42 2nd & 7 - Davis 3 yard run (rather than TD) – 0:05 to run play + 0:05 to spot ball + 0:39 until next snap
0:53 3rd & 4 - Davis 1 yard run - 0:05 to run play + 0:05 to spot ball + 0:39 until next snap
0:04 4th & 3 – Carr (-)10 yard run – time expires

The Titans never get the ball back.
 
Lucky said:
OK, let's go over the scenario if DD hadn't scored (Titans used their final timeout on previous play) .

1:42 2nd & 7 - Davis 3 yard run (rather than TD) – 0:05 to run play + 0:05 to spot ball + 0:39 until next snap
0:53 3rd & 4 - Davis 1 yard run - 0:05 to run play + 0:05 to spot ball + 0:39 until next snap
0:04 4th & 3 – Carr (-)10 yard run – time expires

The Titans never get the ball back.

u see how fast we ran that next play ? we didnt even let the play clock get close to running all the way down !
 

El Tejano

Hall of Fame
There were some real bad clock management issues in that game on the Texans' coaches part. Remember the 4th down thing where David kept looking at the sidelines?
 

TheOgre

All Pro
I really think that coaches should hire someone to be their clock and timeout advisor. I've thought that for a while. Mike Martz is the guy who should start that.
 

SBTexans08

Rookie
Another thing to take into consideration is that the Texans could have killed that T.O. the Titans had left by D.D. kneeling down at the one yard line with "class" since the Texans were up. Kneeling it from there on out would have given the Texans a chance to kill the clock for the remainder of regulation.
 

Ibar_Harry

All Pro
Game management as a whole has been a big problem for these coaches. You see the same situations over and over again and it makes you wonder. Many say the same thing regarding challenges. Actually I thought we won in part, because for once Tennesse mismanaged their time as well. They ran a number of runs at the end which ate up clock instead of passing the ball. They had a lot of game management problems at the 2:00 minute mark and I think McNair forced the ball as a result. They only had 1 timeout at that point. They wanted to keep the one time out to get their field goal unit on the field. We were able to kill about 4 minutes off of the clock in our last possession starting around the 10 minute mark. While that wasn't great we were able to get an assist from Tennesse as they used the run and we got the intereception. Again we won the game and the players tried hard, but I think there was an element of luck in winning this game. But as they say in golf, better lucky than good. May the good lord bring the TEXANS a wheel barrow full of luck.
 
i think the texans see how other teams run up the score on us so thats why they went ahead and scored, they are tired of getting kicked around !
 

ledzeppelin229

Hall of Fame
I wouldn't even call that running up the score. It was still a fairly close game up until the touchdown, if there's a free shot at 7 with the game in question at all then the smart team takes it.

That's a lot different than chucking bombs while up by 30 something.
 

Marcus

Windmill cancer survivor
Contributor's Club
The purpose of NOT scoring the touchdown on that play doesn't have anything to do with NOT running up the score. The purpose was to to take a knee after getting a first down, so they could run out the clock without giving them the ball back. Capers said that would have been the smart thing for DD to do, although he could understand how hard it would have been for him to not score after running thru the hole.
 

Hervoyel

BUENO!
Sure Davis could have stopped at the 1 and the Texans should have eaten clock the rest of the game taking a knee and getting a 24-21 win. That's probably how they'd do it if they had to do it over again I'm sure. I accept Davis' explanation though and believe him when he says that he saw a hole so big he couldn't fail to run through it and he went in the endzone without thinking about anything other than "Wow that was a big hole" (approx. He said something to that effect).

Here's a guy who's been in a slump all season long and who's having a very down year compared to what he wanted to do. You give DD a 41 yard clear path to the endzone right now and that's like holding out a Turkey leg to a starving man. One of those big ol' Ren Fair turkey legs you can barely get your hand around. He's gonna grab it without thinking and that's exactly what Davis did.

If this 129 yard day and the touchdown helps get Davis out of first gear for the rest of the season then it was worth whatever ill will it might bring from those who think it was classless. If the Titans left him a hole to run through to get the ball back then same thing. I just want to see Davis get his confidence back again no matter how it happens.
 

ledzeppelin229

Hall of Fame
Sure maybe running out the clock the rest of the way would have been better, but I will never fault a team for going up by two scores when theres still 1:30 left. I don't even think this should really be an issue. And Hervoyel is right, if this helps Davis regain some confidence and trust in his line then I'm all for it.
 

profan

Waterboy
SBTexans08 said:
Another thing to take into consideration is that the Texans could have killed that T.O. the Titans had left by D.D. kneeling down at the one yard line with "class" since the Texans were up. Kneeling it from there on out would have given the Texans a chance to kill the clock for the remainder of regulation.
Capers indicated on his radio show today that the running backs are instructed to take a knee after getting the first down in these situations, so the clock can run out without giving the opp. another chance to score and then on-side kick. I think DD forgot about that and i cant really blame him as he has not seen that much daylight all year.
 

Dhedluk

Practice Squad
First off, why is it so hard for some of you to belive that DD and the Texans were doing something right? Call it what ever you want. Team work, luck, good coaching or whatever. We have a good team and they've proven that they are able to beat any team they're up against. I love it when the announcers start saying "the Texans have never done this or that" because that's when they do the unexpected and WIN.

Secondly, with the NFL Tiebreaking Procedures I don't blame any team for "running up the score" especially with the AFC in close standings this year. It would really suck to hear that your team lost out on the division title or the playoffs because they were out played by another team. :twocents:
 
Dhedluk said:
First off, why is it so hard for some of you to belive that DD and the Texans were doing something right? Call it what ever you want. Team work, luck, good coaching or whatever. We have a good team and they've proven that they are able to beat any team they're up against. I love it when the announcers start saying "the Texans have never done this or that" because that's when they do the unexpected and WIN.

Secondly, with the NFL Tiebreaking Procedures I don't blame any team for "running up the score" especially with the AFC in close standings this year. It would really suck to hear that your team lost out on the division title or the playoffs because they were out played by another team. :twocents:

lol i remember when we played the patriots last season and the announcer said the texans have never blocked a field goal, and if the pats made it they would have won the game, and we blocked it,,,it was funny !
 

Mistril48

Rookie
profan said:
Capers indicated on his radio show today that the running backs are instructed to take a knee after getting the first down in these situations, so the clock can run out without giving the opp. another chance to score and then on-side kick...
While I understand DDs motivation, I would add two points:

a) the same thing happened with Petey (Faggins) in the Jags game. He could have made the interception and stepped out of bounds, to prevent a fumble and another change of possession (clock stops on the change of possession anyway). That would have ended the game with the victory formation for the Texans, without Leftwich getting the ball; and

b) if DD had taken a knee (or Petey) there would not have been any more live action (ordinarily, the victory formation is very tame). What if a starting defender tears up a knee during the live action after DD,or Petey scores? This would be a HOT issue then!
 

ledzeppelin229

Hall of Fame
And what if DD takes the time to stop, tries to kneel, gets hammered, fumbles, and the Titans run it back to win the game? I didn't see the run, but I'm just putting up a "what if" scenario.

Going up just 2 scores, call it wrong or classless or unethical or whatever, but I would never call it "running up the score".

What Faggins and Davis did is part of the game and is nothing compared to the "quick snap-catch em off guard" **** that buckethead was trying to pull off while up by 30.
 

HJam72

Hall of Fame
ledzeppelin269 said:
And what if DD takes the time to stop, tries to kneel, gets hammered, fumbles, and the Titans run it back to win the game?

:rofl:

Actually, I do think a guy with the ball in his possession should always try to score, in a general sense (I mean, have some faith in your D), but I would've been real proud of DD if he had tripped on his own feet and stopped at the one yard line.
 

SBTexans08

Rookie
HJam72 said:
:rofl:

Actually, I do think a guy with the ball in his possession should always try to score, in a general sense (I mean, have some faith in your D), but I would've been real proud of DD if he had tripped on his own feet and stopped at the one yard line.
Hey...Jabar Gaffney coughed up the ball against Jax at the 2 yard line without cause....well actually yes there was. He celebrated prematurely. In the Bears/Cowboys game, Thanksgiving Day....a Bears DB fumbled the ball after intercepting it....and he fumbled it without explanation. Another instance....Dante Hall was at the point of returning his first kickoff return of the season....what happens....he fumbles deep in Chargers territory....he had clear sail into the endzone. Later in the game he got what he wanted though....returned one to the house.....would've had two.

Anything is possible.
 

kuno

Noob
I really dont see what the big deal is. It was not running up the score. The Titans had one chance to win, a bad chance granted, but a chance. They needed the ball back, the let the Texans score and it did not help. It has been done many times before.
 

texan279

Hall of Fame
I don't think they let us score, they just had all of their men in the box with no safety support knowing we would run the ball and try to run out the clock and the O line busted open a hole you could drive a truck through and he took it to the house.
 

kuno

Noob
texan279 said:
I don't think they let us score, they just had all of their men in the box with no safety support knowing we would run the ball and try to run out the clock and the O line busted open a hole you could drive a truck through and he took it to the house.
But stopping the Texans would not have helped them. No timeouts.
 

texan279

Hall of Fame
I understand that, but being down by 2 scores unstead of 1 with less time on the clock and still no timeouts would be even worse, so why not but all of your men in the box and at least try to cause a fumble while you are only one score down, especially with Davis carrying the ball. If they really wanted to let us score, they would have had 8 men in the secondary and let Davis walk through the D line instead of putting everyone in the box, which is what teams do when they are trying to stuff the run, right?
 

SheTexan

Hall of Fame
You guys are giving the Titans to much credit! They hadn't scored in the entire second half, what makes you think they could come back and score TWICE in a little over a minute? NOT gonna happen with a fired up Texan team! DD got that TD fair and square!
 

TheOgre

All Pro
True SheTexan but the ONLY chance the Titans had was to let DD score. Whether they let him score or not, it was a mistake by DD. He should have let them tackle him some time between the first down marker and the endzone. Then they down the ball 3 times and there is zero chance that the Titans come back.
 

DOCTOR24

Practice Squad
This was Coach Fisher's response when asked about if he allowed the Texans to score late in the game to get the ball back:

(on if there was any consideration to let them score in order to get the ball back in the fourth quarter)

There was consideration but not at this point. It came up in the Jacksonville game. It was a different situation obviously we were ahead and this case we were behind. There was consideration there but no. We had people out of position. We were lined up in a front coverage and just had some younger players out of position and just didn’t get in the right gaps. It did give us a chance though.

www.titansonline.com
 
Top