The Dumbest Punt in NFL History

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

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[@emeraldaly7646]

"OMG THIS GAME IS DRUNK" I am deceased 😂

[@thomash.schwed3662]

And when Mora took the telephone call, it was, not just bombed, but boiled! I’m actually surprised that neither the Tampa Police Department nor the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office gave that game a Breathalyzer.

[@dmgreenberg]

“What’s that? … Uh-LANDLINES?! Don’t talk about landlines! You kidding me? Landlines?”

[@johnbradbury8610]

what's also amazing is that the falcons extended his contract after the season

[@marcus813]

I remember watching this game. I distinctly remember seeing Jim L. Mora on that cell phone late in OT and hearing the context from FOX announcers Kenny Albert and Brian Baldinger made me wonder if Mora truly knew all of the scenarios for his Falcons, including what would happen if they tied the Buccaneers. I had never seen anything like this before and for good reason. I'm wondering if he even bothered to use any search engines that existed back then to find said scenarios in the days leading up to the game.

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

Mora could not even get a definitive answer if the Falcons would be eliminated if they tied the Bucs. He had no choice but to punt. His team blew every chance to put the Bucs away, and he simply lost his will to battle at that point

[@marcus813]

@@marcusmcgraw3519 Raymond James Stadium displayed scores from other games, so Mora had to know that some NFC teams winning in that same window would've forced his Falcons to win in order to keep up. This is why he should've done his research before even making the trip here to Tampa.

[@benjaminbrown1620]

One thing i appreciate is mike tomlin in week 18 vs the ravens coaching like a tie was a loss since either eliminated then. 4th and 8 with 2:30 left at the ravens 41. Go for it. Even kicking the ball on 2nd down after the 2 min warning to give his team a chance if boswell missed it was understanding the assignment.

[@davidmatheny1993]

I forgot about all of the missed kicks and turnovers in overtime. I mostly remember being frustrated that a team that was in the NFC Championship the previous year started 2005 with a 6-2 record and then fell apart.

[@rngfootball759]

Jim Mora Jr although he has more playoff wins than his father, is not a good NFL head coach. Currently is at Uconn (a program without a conference)

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

And now he's the head coach at UConn, and they actually have a winning record as of this writing

[@Pds-yn1hx]

It always surprises me how bad some coaches are at in game management. I honestly think that a lot of it has to do with paralysis by over analysis(maybe not in this case because you would’ve thought that he would’ve known that their best chance of getting into the playoffs is to win out).

[@Keith_McDaniel]

Congrats, Falcons...you had one job...

[@marcwhitlock5450]

Reminds me of hockey before the OT loss rule where a coach would pull their goalie early to go for the win even though the game was tied

[@americanidol30]

Was the other time when Joe Horn grabbed a cell phone from under the goalpost padding and made a phone call after scoring a touchdown against the Giants in 2003?

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Bingo

[@BrettBoozeReviewsNOLA]

Don’t forget that Micheal Thomas recreated the cell phone celebration in 2018

[@marcus813]

I remember that one! Trey Wingo kept making a big deal about it in the days that followed when he worked for ESPN.

[@RetroJR3379]

Oh yea even EA mimic the celebration on MADDEN

[@louishart6725]

I remember Richie Kotite when he was Eagles head coach took a time out to punt on 4 and 1. I thought that was the dumbest punt in history. Richie needs to buy Jim a drink or 10 because man alive this one wins and I don’t think it will ever be beaten…

[@Jason_Maier]

Kotite declined a penalty to punt on 4th down

[@RetroJR3379]

Bobby Petrino deserved a documentary

[@conorjohn490]

Some say he's still crashing motorcycles on the way to another booty call.

[@themaz2405]

Nah the dumbest punt is Matt Dodge punting directly to DeSean Jackson ugh and the rest is history

[@cmorris9494]

This was the first one I thought of. I was wondering where is the eagles and giants in this.

[@chrisviglietta9870]

Playoffs? With that decision, they didn't win diddilypoo.

[@americanidol30]

This video didn't have the words DUMB DECISIONS on the thumb nail. I didn't know that this was a DUMB DECISION VIDEO.

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Yeah there’s a ton to dissect with this one. Gonna experiment with some titles and thumbnails depending on the video performance, because you have this and the cell phone incident

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about the Cardinals making a similar move against the Chargers in 1971.

[@tealcitysports9818]

8:03 had me dead!💀😆

[@JWD1992]

Jim was having a real Michael Scott moment there with the cell phone call. Also, get a load of that "vintage" cell phone.

[@alphax4785]

Atlanta Choking Chickens are the most consistent team in the NFL, they never miss an opportunity.

[@SeanWinters]

Last week.

[@kyle1910]

This is the funniest episode here by far

[@zaymclemore]

This.....This right here is an actual dumb decision, the punt on thursday night football was NOT a dumb decision. This decision makes NO SENSE what so ever....

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

Falcons fans should still be mad over that blocked field goal

[@TrocarSlushWeasel]

Do you have a helmet for each episode you do for a team? You must have hundreds of more Falcons helmets than any other team.

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Oddly enough, Falcons are one of my least acquired teams. Got helmets of every team ready to swap in and out when needed

[@Hogtownboy1]

If the Jags go 0-5 after London the whole team will ask for refugee status to stay in England

[@thomash.schwed3662]

Don’t give Shad Khan any ideas. On the other hand, I would be laughing to beat the band because I’ve been saying for the last several years that he’s looking for any excuse to move his team there permanently. Sooner or later, he’ll lose whatever good will he’s built up with Jacksonville City Council regarding his repeated demands for stadium renovations. This current iteration of that strategy could very well be the last straw. Then again, we are talking about Jackassville and the Jackson Village Idiots (city council). Plus, this is a team which has developed a bad habit of inventing new ways to lose.

[@NuckinFuts_13]

11:43 what's a newspaper?? 😂😂

[@eliarbaiza]

lol you should do a dumb decisions thing on when Ron Rivera didn't know the Commanders could be eliminated. So glad he's gone!

[@AdamJ617]

I have a question about the Two Nickels line, did you get this from Phineas and Ferb?

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Yes

[@nautgamingnautgaming9949]

​@OfficialJaguarGator9 we need the Joe horn incident

[@MikelineTV]

I'll use one of my lifelines and phone a friend, lol

[@thomash.schwed3662]

“Hello, Dad. I just wanted to let you know that I’m about to be eliminated from postseason consideration because the answer is ‘Be a hypocrite and play for the tie by punting on 4th and 2 and end up losing anyway’.”

[@racingsinmyblood9273]

I wonder how high this would rate on the surrender index.

[@CaptainATG]

Surprisingly, only about 30.77. Mainly due to the fact that the ball was at Atlanta's own 24, so the base score is just 1, and the game was only tied, so that's only a 2x multiplier rather than the usual 3 or 4 in these kinds of situations. Yes, there's a big multiplier of around 19.23 and yes, I factored in the fact that overtime was 15 minutes long rather than the 10 minutes we have now, but...yeah, it's being forced to elevate that score all on its own.

[@racingsinmyblood9273]

@@CaptainATG Huh, that's interesting. I gotta say that I kinda expected it to be higher, I guess since there isn't really a playoff factor in the surrender index that makes this look better than it truly is. A punt like this in week 2 of the regular season isn't really that bad. But a punt like this when you're 8-6 and in the thick of a playoff hunt where you have to win to get in is inexcusable. Thanks for doing the math by the way.

[@CaptainATG]

@@racingsinmyblood9273 Yeah, those other factors you brought up would be worth considering, I think. Might be time for a Surrender Index 2.0 if Jon ever feels like revisiting the topic.

[@scottybbadd]

JG9, you don't have to explain it to me.

[@freezer8530]

Welcome to the 27-Club.

[@KyleCaughlin]

Falcons being the Falcons I guess

[@BadgerFromOz]

Welcome in!

[@NostalgiaStudiosinc96]

Well, to be fair, if Atlanta failed to convert, they'd turn the ball over in good field position for Tampa Bay.

[@wasteland5000]

Doesn't matter, Tampa would be good with a tie. Like he said for ATL a tie is as good as a loss.

[@marcus813]

It's a risk the Falcons had no choice but to take given what happened elsewhere.

[@TheRealfan1]

Same situation Eagles were in when they played Bengals in 2008. With score being 13-13, Eagles were in a 4th & 1 at their own 22 yard with 1:30 left in OT, they punted ball. game ended in a tie. Because they tied instead of lost, they went to Playoffs (instead of Buccaneers) Eagles were 9-6-1 while 3 other teams were 9-7. Would that still be a dumb decision for Eagles to punt there?

[@TracyLareau]

Why is there overtime 15 minutes instead of 10?

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

That was how it always was until a few years ago

[@sparklerbc9898]

this is dumb, but the fact that tampa bay didnt just take the tie and actually played to win, even though according to this video they didnt need a win, is either its own dumb decision or defeats your entire thesis.

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

So the thing with Tampa was that they were going to play for the tie. Then, they got a really good punt return on that play that set them up at midfield, so at that point, they went for the win

[@sparklerbc9898]

Ok, but still, risking a blocked field goal or something else going wrong trying to get the few more yards they needed seems questionable if all they need is a tie.

[@somerandomguy5977]

Stathead is great but they would do better having professional and amateur plans. I know you somewhat have to rely on honesty in the modern age which is difficult but FL Studio does that. It's just hard to convince generally curious people with interests in sports to pay 160$ a year but at the same time when you work with those stats it's a great deal. We already know most of money stathead makes is with front offices. Not dudes who want to look up who had the best qualified pitching season with a K/9 under 4. Or who had the highest OPS (qualified) with a slugging percentage under .400. Let's be honest this shit better for baseball than any other sport. Even for one sport 90$ a year is a lot for curiosity.