In Case You Missed It - Dan Quinn Made The Single Dumbest Head Coaching Decision I Have Ever Seen In My Life Yesterday

“Live look at Dan Quinn still standing in Levi Stadium waiting for that second field goal” 

In case you missed the afternoon slate of games yesterday there was quite possible the worst coaching decision I have ever seen in my life. I know we hyperbolize on this website from time to time but I am having a hard time figuring out a more boneheaded call by a Head Coach in my lifetime. I’m talking about a decision that would make Marc Trestman and Jim Caldwell laugh out loud at its stupidity.

To set the scene. The Falcons, losing to the Blaine Gabbert led 49ers by 4 points, drove all the way down the field in the 4th quarter to 1st and goal at the 49ers 8 yard line. First down, 4 yard pass to Julio Jones, 2nd down incompletion, 3rd down 3 yard pass to the 49ers 1 yard line. 4th down…..they kick a field goal. What?!? Down 4 points with 2:56 left in the game and 2 timeouts the Falcons elected to kick a Field Goal and make it a 1 point game while standing on the opponents 1 yard line. Now obviously I know that in Dan Quinn’s block head he thought, gee, I’ll just go down 1 point, get a stop and then kick another field goal and win by 2 points. I get that was what he was thinking, he even tried to explain his idiocy to us after the game as if a 5 year old couldn’t see his basic flaw in logic.

“The fourth-down play, I chose to kick it there and thought we were getting the stops defensively,” Quinn said. “We’d get the kick, get the stops, use our timeouts and then go attack on offense. We’re a really good two-minute team on offense. So, that was the reasoning for it. We didn’t stop them on the third down. They converted.

So I guess my follow up to Dan Quinn would be, how do you have a job? If you go for it from the ONE YARD LINE, what’s the best case scenario? You score a touchdown and go up 3 and make Blaine Gabbert win the game. And if you don’t score? Well you just gave Blaine Gabbert the ball on his own 1 yard line and forced him to get a first down from a very tough spot for a career backup. Instead the Falcons kicked the field goal then kicked away, thus still making the Defense get that one stop they would have had to get if they had gone for it and missed, only this time you gave the 49ers some breathing room. I honestly think Dan Quinn is still standing on the sideline right now wondering when he’ll get the ball back to kick that second field goal. I’ve never seen anything like it. I actually said it a few days ago but we somehow underrate the importance of NFL Head Coaching, and when I said that I was more talking about the difference between the great coaches and the mediocre ones. This isn’t even mediocre, this is the most basic level of competency that Dan Quinn doesn’t possess. And if anyone wants to argue that it was actually a smart decision, hold your breath and just look at this.

The Falcons win percentage after the 3rd down play, 50.48%

The Falcons win percentage after they kicked a Field Goal, 9.14%

Or ask yourself this very basic question. If you were a 49ers fan would you want the Falcons to go for it or kick the field goal? It’s kick the field goals 100 times out of 100.

Dan Quinn shouldn’t be fired, he is just in year 1, but he should have to take the most rigorous neurological exams known to man. Also, he should 100% be fired.