Babers' comment about a missed extra point

[BGSU33]

Watching the AFC Championship earlier today, I thought back to something Dino Babers said earlier this past season. I can't remember what week it was, but in his weekly presser Babers was asked about Tyler Tate's kicking struggles, particularly when the struggles carried over from FG's to his PAT's, and Babers made a comment along the lines of how they weren't going to worry about a single point and then he asked something along the lines of when has a missed PAT ever mattered. He brushed it aside as no big deal but John Wagner said he'd talk to him afterwards about when it did (I assume he discussed the Toledo vs Syracuse debacle several years ago with him). Anyway, well, today a missed PAT sure did matter. For those who didn't see it, New England missed a PAT in the first quarter that they essentially chased all game long and it loomed larger three times in the fourth quarter. They trailed by 8 in the fourth quarter and twice turned it over on downs pretty deep in Denver territory (well within FG range) going for it and later on a third trip eventually scored a TD with only seconds left but failed on the 2-point attempt and lost 20-18. Instead of needing that PAT to tie, that miss still had them behind by 2. Sure New England also could have kicked a FG on one of those drives, or Denver could have still won it in OT, but anyone who saw the game knows that missed PAT had a huge impact on the game. So yes Dino, sometimes they do in fact matter, even way back in the first quarter.

[Tech2000]

My thought or question in my mind is this his excuse for experimenting with extra pts ( and field goals) that led to Tyler's issues or so high on his offense that he really thinks games cannot be won or lost by that fraction.?

[jpfalcon09]

The concept for foregoing any points is silly. Speaking of which, the Patriots likely would have won the game if Belichick had kicked a FG on the possession with a little over two minutes left in the game. For as much as he's lauded as a mastermind, he really screwed the pooch on that one yesterday.

Coaches say stupid stuff to hide the flaws of their team.

[Flipper]

Every coach says stupid s**t...you need to figure out the percentage that's BS for each coach.

Dino's like 85-90% BS..

[TG1996]

The concept for foregoing any points is silly. Speaking of which, the Patriots likely would have won the game if Belichick had kicked a FG on the possession with a little over two minutes left in the game. For as much as he's lauded as a mastermind, he really screwed the pooch on that one yesterday.

As it played out, yeah, he looked clueless. But there was, what, 5 minutes left when they missed the first 4th down conversion? At that point, you still need a touchdown and I think getting the ball back once after that possession was questionable, not to mention twice (and both times in really good field position, IIRC).

I sure didn't think they would.