How Teams Win Close Games.

[@ryanevans371]

I'd say this is strangely early for a Bootleg drop, but I strongly suspect someone might have done an overnight, thus it's actually just even later-"night" than normal.

[@zachmelgoza2051]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1607">26:47</a> Dan Campbell took over play calling duties from Anthony Lynn and the offense immediately improved. Ben Johnson was the passing game coordinator at the time, and took over as OC the following season.

[@hunteranfinsen6655]

I swear there was a time when he took it over when Ben Johnson was OC and then gave it back to him a few games later

[@JoshuaBLowery]

Yeah I wanted to mention that too, I think the same thing kinda happened with McDermott. At the time both of them needed to take over those duties cause those areas were underperforming, but when they needed a long term fix, they delegated.

[@Jdmerrill1986]

Came here to post this! Thank you

[@ethanyuki2654]

​@@hunteranfinsen6655 he maintained play calling through the entire year with Ben Johnson as a key assistant for him. Then he promoted Ben to the role fulltime.

[@thestormofwar]

Agreed. They literally had a TD per game improvement and went .500 the remainder of that season. I think something to remember is that MCDC was the Assistant HC & TE Coach under McVay for years. Dude knows his stuff.

[@nblaw95]

Brett, as a fellow Bears fan, I can appreciate your need to make sure to point out the Bears' failures at literally *every* opportunity 😂😂😂

[@kman9884]

Trash owners who don’t want to spend money on winning coaches. Mccaskeys need to go

[@matbettez3495]

​@@kman9884 and just how would that happen? If someone told you to sell your car because they didn't like the color are you gonna sell it?

[@williamhermann6635]

​@@kman9884Poles is a bum too. Also, who tf is Kevin Warren and why is he involved in any football related decisions? Rotten trees bear rotten fruit and the bears are a rotten organization from top to bottom.

[@nick-ib2hf]

Great video! The point about Dan Campbell giving the play calling back after not doing well was incorrect tho. He took over for Anthony Lynn in 2021 with about 6-7 games left and they were much better. Lynn got fired and Ben Johnson became OC in 2022 and has been calling plays ever since

[@ejsnyder5734]

I appreciate the correction/extra detail.

[@GageRyanVideo]

Marty Schottenheimer is a perfect example of elite coaching with horrific luck.

[@BenEnlet29]

Im heart broken he never got over the hump

[@85isaboat53]

@GageRyanVideo bro omg imagine if the Bengals had Marty. omg it would be awesome rip to the king

[@CreamyPesto505]

Not giving the Ball to LT in the second half of a playoff game the year LT won MVP... not sure how that's a luck problem.

[@eduardooneal]

DC fired Anthony Lynn and took over the playcalling it wasn’t like Ben was always our play caller!

[@orush-co1dy]

Think having a good kicker is underrated in this aspect. Especially for the Chiefs with Butker. Most of these close games comes down to field goals.

[@franciscoduran4618]

"Kickers win championships"

[@reaperking2121]

Yeah . Butker is the chiefs ultimate weapon . Without him they would be missing at least 1 ring

[@Eidenhoek]

@@reaperking2121 akshually, it's Blake Bell. They have *only* won the Super Bowl when he is on the team, and they have lost/not gone when he is not.

[@trekkiexb5]

Legatron aka Bates has won 2 games for the Lions.

[@fionnmaccurtain8896]

I only discovered this pod recently, the analysis is outstanding.

[@ejsnyder5734]

Welcome aboard. Happy to have you along for the ride.

[@yellowblood5818]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="471">7:51</a> I wanna add one thing about having a cohesive team: the best cohesive teams don’t care about stats, only wins. Players that love to see their teammates succeed knowing their time will come. I.e not Stephon Diggs

[@kman9884]

Basically Philadelphia.

[@Eidenhoek]

Dude, Lions are a friggin *unit* and friggin love each other, and are there for each other. They deserve the win, dang it, but I'm scared they won't actually get there. It's the *perfect* culture.

[@Nrbooth14]

In addition to the commentary on Dan Campbell and taking over play calling -- that was after he had made the decision to fire OC Anthony Lynn, someone who he had a relationship with and it just wasn't working. He then was able to identify Ben Johnson (TE Coach I believe) and elevate him to that level. Ability to find and identify talent as well as being humble enough to know where his short comings are is a huge Dan Campbell trait that gets lost when people discuss his coaching.

[@Kuhlayo43]

Was about to complain on the last video that you didn’t mention the Steelers but this morning I was blessed 🙌🏽

[@cmd31220]

I think a big thing about winning teams is the mentality shift to total self confidence. "Learning how to win" is the mental transition from "ive got to do X" to "they have to do X to beat me". An example being on a 3rd&10 with 2 minutes left, a defender on a bad team will think "ive got to break up this pass" whereas a defender on a good team will think "hes got to make a play on the ball to get the first down"

[@PenskeRacingDodge]

This is huge

[@jabarwright4333]

As a Steelers fan, I actually wonder how much input Mike Tomlin is putting both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. I have never thought Teryl Austin was a great defense coordinator, but on the flip side for the offense we are scoring more points and playing better with Russell Wilson, but I wonder why we didn't open the playbook up as much with Justin Fields. Was that a Arthur Smith decision or was that Mike Tomlin not wanting to take their training wheels completely off of Justin Fields? Either way you can't argue with the results, but I'm just curious and I've always been on how much Tomlin actually lets his coordinators do what they want.

[@stevedomique9278]

From watching them I think Tomlin gives the OC the general philosophy he wants to follow (Go get us a touchdown, burn some clock, don't turn it over etc.) and let's them handle the playcalling. And then I think he's a lot more hands on with the defense.

[@t4d0W]

I assume Tomlin has an input in also why the playbook wasn't opened much to Fields. One because Fields would have to prove that he's not as much of a negative play magnet with what he was working with. And two Tomlin probably has more trust in Russ given he also won the starting role in preseason. Part of that trust has paid off where Arthur Smith can still throw enough run looks (not as explosive) into play action. Then Russ turns that into moon shots to Pickens whose been a jump ball terror this season and recently acquired Mike Williams. Just more positive and explosive plays that work in the best case scenario than Fields at his best (at this point at least). Which then feeds into a strong Steelers defense that is performing at a top 5 level.

[@darkxzero13]

Luck is one way to put it. But I prefer to believe that Mahomes & the Chiefs got that anime main protagonist plot armor

[@kchandaman3012]

And we have the refs. Don't forget the refs.

[@rkbelmont1138]

So Mahomes is Luffy or Seiya.

[@rickpaton7538]

I LOVED this!! I may actually use it as a leadership resource completely unrelated to football. So many quality insights. Well done to you both!

[@ejsnyder5734]

That's awesome. I'd love to see what you come up with.

[@rickpaton7538]

@ejsnyder5734 do you have an email I could send it along to? I appreciate your work on this and would love to see even more content like this from insights you and Brett have gleaned from your study of the league.

[@BKABeloved]

Imagine telling a Lions fan in 2008 they’d be on the positive side of one of these videos

[@t4d0W]

I mean it would only take 3-4 years for them to be paper tigers with a good draft for franchise players along with a living legend wide receiver. The problem then was underachieving and following up getting those players with bad roster building and surrounding them with equally bad/mediocre coaching. Things really wouldn't change until Campbell came into the building with an eye for the modern game.

[@Snoil]

That was pretty damn astute Brett and E.J.! Seriously good stuff

[@ejsnyder5734]

Thanks for checking it out! ...and saying so.

[@louienrskov2406]

Am I the only one who heard a scream at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2764">46:04</a>

[@caelsherrod9540]

As a broncos fan imma need an hour video telling me everything is okay 😭

[@obtusemooose]

yall have a realistic shot at the playoffs in a year where you should be rebuilding, so yeah

[@thestormofwar]

You currently have the 7 seed, control your own destiny, and have winnable games in 6 out of the next 7 (7 if you groin kick the Chiefs). You are doing this in a "rebuilding year" and will have 56 million in capspace next year. You have a good, violent defense and a very promising young QB. No matter what happens, you guys will be fine.

[@t4d0W]

The good news is your team pivoted away from a volatile future with Russ. The bad news is the ceiling of the team also ends with Sean Payton.

[@samuelcecil1660]

@@t4d0Whis playcalling drives me insane along with “his guys” that he loves so much

[@haveagreatday6952]

@@t4d0Wthat was more a sean payton problem than a russ problem imo

[@10ALundstrom]

Always a good day when a new episode drops. Love hearing these guys talk football more than anyone on the Internet

[@JayStaCruz]

Every random shot taken at the cowboys this year especially makes me laugh so hard

[@Franchise_Revival]

That jags game for the Eagles was insane with decisions Nick made. Just take your points and save the aggressiveness for good teams you know you need to score against. A team like the jags will eventually eat itself, instead Siriani kept trying to give a team DOA mouth to mouth.

[@85isaboat53]

talk about the bengals! i hate having to watch this team that isn't good enough or bad enough to be worth anyone talking about

[@dagand0]

I understand your pain - a bucs fan

[@Kuhlayo43]

GMFB loves you guys 😂😂

[@dagand0]

@Kuhlayo43 not after losing 4 in a row lol

[@85isaboat53]

@@dagand0 I like the bucs too 😔

[@jakobcounts]

The Eagles coaching part is hilarious 😂 and true

[@Fkavirus]

Lmao I let out depressed chuckles every time Brett took a shot at the bears for not even being average offensively.

[@IamDevron]

Love these more conceptual videos

[@domagojtrninic2637]

My man Brett with no break at all. Good video on main channel as well as this one 🍻💪

[@osirisapex7483]

It’s not a Bootleg episode without a Sirianni diatribe, I love it

[@TheWalterNolen]

This whole episode was a Shot at Dennis Allen I just know it was Every talking point felt like something he was failing at😂😂😂😂

[@miles4270]

@<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="2036">33:56</a> Dan Campbell had a flashback to uncontrolled aggressive right away in the Vikings Lions game in the 1st Quarter first drive I believe.

[@anthonyrosas158]

Such a great comment about burning timeouts. If you were a head coach is it better to take a 5 yd penalty for delay of game than burning a timeout? Is there a way to measure that? If there is I’m sure Brett will find a way lol

[@Eidenhoek]

My view: If burning the timeout gets you a touchdown, cool. If it doesn't, you happened to do a dumb thing (though that's only after the fact). If you go out next play with something moronic? I'ma fire you right the **** now. For KZbin, the "you" refers to a hypothetical coach, not anyone in these comments. Unless they're a coach that burns a timeout, then does like...QB sneak on 3rd and 15 from their own 10. Then yeah, it's you.

[@t4d0W]

Depends on the situation. I forgot if I heard a similar wisdom from watching an episode from QB School about clock management. But if the winning team has the last possessions very late in the game while ahead, being able to use penalties and such to control the clock gives more opportunities technically to run more plays. Especially without having to burn a time out before the other team does which is burdened to try use their resources to make something drastic happen.

[@DerekForde]

Haven't watched the episode yet but from watching Chargers all my life, it's simple as running the DAMN ball. Control the clock and get the win.

[@benjiman7259]

If you haven’t done pick’ems recently, I would recommend checking them out rn because the format has gotten super interesting and surprisingly dynamic

[@Scyon13]

I'd love to see a graphic of some of these lists just to see where each team sits, also Phillys defense improved once Jalyx hunt and Dejean got more snaps, avonte maddox is so bad 🤣 and huff just isn't living up to his contract. I already know about sirriani

[@tim-jwells8353]

Thanks for taking a shot at my cowboys, we might be the sole reason this season isn't #1 since 95

[@mattmueller5687]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1860">31:00</a> that fumle from saquon wasn't actually a fumble tho, I understand it was ruled that way but that's far more flukey than it's being talked about

[@miles4270]

The Lions also were damn close to losing their game this past week too Brett!! :)

[@Hahlen]

Brett’s dedication to hating on Nick Sirrianni is an inspiration to us all

[@EthanSchaner]

Why would you jinx the Vikings like this with that thumbnail

[@scooterxx901]

A lot of Chiefs innuendoes on this vid guys lol!!

[@maxgibson6567]

Brett couldn't resist some Sirianni slander

[@RavenTD46]

Big change in Ravens strength and conditioning staff seems to be working out for the best.

[@Zboy5z5]

Do you think a Game manager similar to baseball could hold any merit for teams that struggle with decision making and clock management? Eagles Fan here getting frustrated with Sirianni week in week out.

[@rodrigoa1990]

When the team has a great record but they win the vast majjority of games by 1 score, it's very likely that the team isn't actually that good and will lose early in the playoffs, specially if they don't pass the eye test.. Example: 2023 Eagles, 2022 Vikings, 2020 Steelers.

[@ScholarlyHiccup]

But.. doing for 2 when up 12 makes sense. Whether 12 or 13 doesn’t rly matter, not like they’re gonna score 4 fIeld goals. Once u hit 14 2 TDs doesn’t beat u. That’s a smart time to go for 2

[@JoeFromCincinnati]

Honestly, you should rename this episode, "ATTN: Zac Taylor"

[@TobyElmendorf]

I feel that so many teams in the NFL have horrific clock/game management, for most teams they need to seriously reconsider head coaching hires if they don't know how the candidates manage the clock/game. Hire some specific positions to do those jobs, hell hire any decent madden player and they can manage the clock and a game far far better than some of these head coaches

[@stlegion-px1wo]

Great teams also always believe they are going to win I.E Chiefs, I.E Lions teams that never lose confidence in victory

[@blahdblah0007]

I’ll watch this but I’ll also do the thing “you should not do”: judge a book by its cover. The Lions and Vikings really don’t belong with the Chiefs and Steelers. You could easily make a video featuring those franchises called “How to lose a game.”

[@yetieddie8429]

The random scream lol..

[@kategrant2728]

you didn't mention the bucs in this video, and yet everything you said hurt my soul as a bucs fan.

[@BENgalFan1369]

So the Bengals basically fall apart at point #1 Edit: ESPECIALLY POINT 2 Edit 2: Especially for D-line we're cooked in #4 Edit 3: holy sh*t Bengals absolutely sh*t the bed in category 5 we cant catch a break bro 😭

[@CrimSonNoJo]

Well said. Philly is winning IN SPITE of Coach Sirianni, not because of him.

[@ClutchCity71]

Nick Sirianni is a good coach. He has his warts but i can't convince myself everything bad with the Eagles is him and everything good is everyone else.

[@BENgalFan1369]

Ok so i wasnt wrong Zac Taylor using timeouts without it being for time management being asinine...

[@craves7215]

Jacksonville aren't even being blown out. They have lost 6 one score games. They have only had 2 games where they lost by more than one score.

[@connorsimpler3773]

I’m glad that games are getting closer blowouts are no fun most of the time

[@Eidenhoek]

The Denver/Seahawks Super Bowl was *hilarious* literally, *literally*, from the first snap.

[@garrethboland]

"How teams win close games (not the Bears)"

[@Eidenhoek]

I'm not going to say it's luck and regression to the mean, but I actually *am* going to say that. Edit: The better team on-the-day doesn't always win. The way easier example is in boxing: if I'm up 110-99 on the cards, and you last ditch haymaker me and I get ktfo, you're not the better fighter on the day. You *won*, sure, but that's a fluke. Ignoring counterexamples to the point I'm making, please, in football, we tend to think that time of possession implies which team is playing better (with the obvious counterexample of me saying, out loud, that Derrick Henry isn't the best running back anymore, he's thirty now, and the Ravens scoring in 12 seconds on one play of that drive, the longest run of Henry's career, *immediately* afterward). To a degree, your offense, the active part of your team, is playing the game. You're, to a degree, the better team. Or, y'know, John Heisman *hating* news reports talking about margin of victory as if it meant anything, and please watch the "Pretty Good" episode about 222-0. Yes, that's advertising another channel, but it's a *really* good watch, also funny, *and* a dude gets his face broken, so like -to the point, are we just describing how teams win games? Or what makes a good team? Kinda sounds like it.

[@curtisrogers2721]

Harbaugh’s challenges drive me up a wall

[@ShaneDahmen]

I like Brett, but he was way way off on the Eagles under controlled aggression. Going for it on 4th and 1 from the 25 late 3rd qtr is about +1% win prob, and going for 2 when up 12 to make it a 14 point game is the only decision you can make. Kicking the xp to make it 13 means they still win if they score 2 7pt td's, which is the same as if it was a 12 pt margin. Really dumb from Brett here.

[@BENgalFan1369]

Also you forgot the cheifs have two teams working for them on those third downs they help with

[@ZachC01]

Love the episode but Brett can you stop punching your table, it leaves a booming sound in the audio

[@archiveacc3248]

No talk about how subjective penalties/selective officiating can influence one score games. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, this is sponsored by a gambling company lmao

[@georgeway2092]

by scoring more points ... than the other team ...

[@sprawlz6466]

This is really interesting to listen to as a Bills fan. Sean McDermott is an excellent coach until the kickoff. He’s excellent at coaching up young players and designing a system that works for every player’s particular skill set. But on game day the dude will do some of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen. McDermott will instruct the offense to go for it on 4th down in FG range when they’re up by multiple scores. It seems blatantly obvious to me that taking the 3 points, expanding your lead, and keeping the pressure on the other team. But no McDermott goes for that every time. It has costed him more games than I can remember and made the Colts game last week closer than it should’ve been. McDermott is too aggressive on offense and not aggressive enough on defense. In end of half situations, he calls coverages that would assume there’s about half as much time on the clock as there actually is. For example, in the 13 seconds game, KC had all their timeouts and Buffalo played super conservative prevent defense while guarding the sidelines for some reason. Literally the worst situational defensive play calling I’ve ever seen. He’s been the coach for 8 years now so you’d think he’d learn by now, but nope! He did it again before halftime against the Jets this season in week 6 and they scored. He still does it whenever he gets a chance.

[@fwar83]

How do you make this video and not mention the Steelers under Tomlin have been the best in the league in 1 score games? So much so that every offseason all the stats nerds pick the Steelers to do poorly because they're due to regress to the mean in close games? Yet they continue to win them... Mike Tomlin voodoo >>>>>>

[@tucegs522]

the eagles win in utter spite of nick sirianni lol. absolute buffoon.

[@Rateus_Johanson]

Do the opposite of whatever the hell The Jags are doing :-( #DUUUVAL

[@cowgirlqueen2636]

I think it’s that the games are more scripted and rigged than ever before

[@femursTibula]

I wonder if sports gambling influences how the nfl wants to officiate games in order to cover the spread or something related to that

[@michaelmaniloff9297]

Covering the spread benefits half the bettors and the other half lose. 😂

[@t4d0W]

Good luck proving that by trying to sift through the amount of variance NFL games experience every time.

[@oneputt4152]

how TF you have pictures of the Vikings and Winners in the thumbnail?

[@Fedacking]

I will defend Sirianni. "taking the points" is loser mentality. You have to trust yoyr players to execute when they're open, or it's a 4th and 1.

[@ChewsCarefully]

Is that the only possible interpretation of his decisions? No. when you look at everything (else) he does & how he does it, how like Doug Pederson & Pete Carroll he looked at All The Problems with the play-calling ' 23 & saw none of it, for Nick it's an ego thing. He thinks that "when *I* Make Decisions it _affects_ things." & so for him he always has to take the decision that mean "points now." He doesn't even consider how giving the other team a Huge Stop motivates them & brings down his own D who now have to make a harder stop on a shorter field. Because essentially he's about 8 years old. I mean Christ, he's supposedly from an offensive background & it was clear no later than week 2 of last season that there were problems. Did he fix them? Still no. He fired someone else. But that's not the same as fixing the problems. He's being carried by his roster. But his decision-making is crap & only his roster casts doubt on this.

[@Fedacking]

@ChewsCarefully they're criticizing a coach for going for it in a 4th and 1 in the year of our lord 2024. If your team can't get some inches on a play you have bigger problems than the coach wanting to go for it. It's almost always the correct decision, including the one mentioned here.