That's besides the point. Had they gone for it, it's no guarantee they win either.
I'm not disagreeing they should have gone for it. But the punt worked out as well as you could expect. From that standpoint, it's hard to argue the call. Hindsight is 20/20.
With 0 timeouts, 1 min left at the 1 yard line, odds were stacked heavily in Carolina's favor. The only thing they couldn't do was give up a huge play. Nobody could have predicted that.
I did. When they punted I told my wife Atlanta would win. When the ball was downed on the 1 she said isn't that bad for Atlanta? I said doesn't matter they will win.
the Panthers played it exactly as they should have up to that point...like flaming said, 1 yard line, 0 timeouts, a minute left...what more can you ask for?
And the likelihood of that play was about 2%. You wouldn't have put any money onto the call...hence, while you may have called something similar, it wouldn't have been a good call.