NFL Week Five has provided us with a lot to think about. Several teams made baffling decisions in critical moments this weekend, revealing one concerning trend across the league. Let’s dive deep.
NFL Week Five had a weird trend of teams mismanaging the clock and situation. I point to three games in particular. The first contest is the obvious one between the Washington Commanders and the New York Giants.
It is inexcusable that the Commanders did not win this game. They were situated at the Giants’ 26-yard line with just over 50 seconds left in overtime, tied at 27. They had no timeouts but still had plenty of time to make any decision.
Washington could have run a play and let the clock dwindle to 15 seconds, spiked the ball, and kicked the field goal. It also could have kicked immediately after the play ended instead of waiting 30 seconds, because a score ends the game. Instead, they went with option one without spiking the ball.
The clock dwindled to 12-ish seconds, and the Commanders ran a play for some reason. On the play, Jayden Daniels displayed little awareness of the situation and took a sack. They had no time to get back on the ball, and the game ended. It was a head-scratching moment.
The second example of clock mismanagement at is the London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles. Philly was down 16-14 with the ball at the Jags’ 34-yard line. The Eagles were set with 1st and 10 with 25 seconds left.
Jacksonville had only one timeout remaining. All Philadelphia had to do was run the ball on two plays straight. The first one burns the final timeout from the Jaguars. The second play should take the clock down to around three seconds.
Instead, the Eagles decided to throw it on first down. The ball ended up out of bounds as Jalen Hurts had to throw it away. At this point, Philadelphia still has the upper hand, as it is only second down and the two-run-play philosophy still applies.
The second-down play ended up being even more baffling. Hurts completed a pass to Makai Lemon, and he made his way to the sideline inexplicably. That ended up stopping the clock with 17 seconds left. Now, it’s third down, and Jacksonville can stop the clock earlier than the Eagles want.
On third down, Philadelphia ran the ball, and the Jaguars took a timeout immediately. The Eagles ended up making the field goal with eight seconds left. Those eight seconds proved costly as Jacksonville returned the kickoff all the way to Philadelphia’s 39-yard line with one second left.
Moments later, Cam Little boots it from 57 yards to win the game for the Jaguars 19-17, and the Eagles suffer a should-be crushing defeat that could have been easily avoided.
The final NFL Week Five blunder was between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. This one was not as egregious as the last two, but given how the game turned out, it was not Mike McDonald’s finest moment.
The Seahawks were trailing 14-13 with the ball on their own four-yard line with 13 seconds left in the half. There is enough space behind Sam Darnold to kneel the ball. The 49ers had three timeouts, so they may have called all of them to get any shot at decent field position. Even then, there is only 18 seconds left.
Kneeling three times and then punting does not hurt. Instead, Seattle decided to hand off the ball to their fourth-string running back, and he fumbled, and the 49ers picked it up in the end zone to go up 21-13 at halftime. That ended up being a big play in the game. It was also an unfortunate situation, but with only 18 seconds left in the half pinned in your own side of the field, the Seahawks have to be a bit more careful.
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NFL Week Five was not a kind week for situational awareness. Three games were arguably lost/not won due to poor clock management. Why is that happening?
Is clock management not being a priority in practice anymore? Do teams take it for granted and think they’ll figure it out? In the heat of the game, it’s difficult to always think straight.
Situational football requires preparation. When games come down to a handful of seconds, knowing what to do with them can be just as important as executing the play itself. NFL Week Five can be a teaching moment for future games.
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