The Miami Dolphins were down by just three points heading into the final four minutes of the first half against the Los Angeles Chargers before Justin Herbert and company went 90 yards in 13 plays to put them up by 10.
On that drive, Miami’s defense had their opponents in a third-and-goal from the 17-yard line – an advantageous situation to force a field goal or a long fourth-down attempt.
Instead of playing a normal defensive look, defensive coordinator Josh Boyer opted to put a majority of his players around the goal line, essentially allowing for plays to be completed underneath. The Chargers did exactly that, as Herbert hit Austin Ekeler, who then ran 16 yards, setting up a fourth down from a yard out.
Head coach Brandon Staley, being the gambling man that he is, went for it, resulting in a rushing touchdown for Ekeler.
Throughout the week, Boyer has had that play call questioned by fans and analysts alike, so when he was given the opportunity to speak on the decision, he took it.
“Yeah, so there was a timeout on that play and look, let’s start with every play call of every game, I would say that there’s nobody more critical of it than myself,” Boyer said. “Like I would say the first play of the second series, I wasn’t very happy with that play call, but nobody that’s watching the game is going to think much of that call one way or the other.
“But to reference the third-and-17, yeah, I definitely think that I probably could have put the guys in a better situation than that. It was third-and-17, I didn’t want to give them a one-on-one shot into the end zone. That was kind of the thought process. We had a personnel grouping out there before that probably would have been a better call. Similar concept, but probably would have been better call. The timeout, I probably overthought it a little bit and obviously you’d like all your calls to work. I’m fine with the thought process. I wish I would have put them in a little bit better situation on that, but at the end of the day, we still had an opportunity to come off the field with no points because there was a play after that.”
A swing of four-to-seven points in the second quarter could’ve made a huge difference in the contest.
That play call is about knowing the opponent. Ekeler has been one of the best receiving backs in the league, and Staley is a risk-taker. It shouldn’t have been unimaginable that they would settle for picking up yards and making it a four-down possession. That mistake isn’t something that can happen again down the stretch.
