on 4th and 5...

[49ermann]

... with 3 times outs at their own 30 the Lions should have punted. The niners ran the ball 3 times and kicked a field goal. It would be hard to believe that if the Lions had punted, the niners would have done anything different. The niners would have ran it three times and punted it away giving the Lions the ball around the 20 with roughly the same amount of time left but it would have kept it a 3 point game.

What do you guys think??

 

[FourBeeDen]

... with 3 times outs at their own 30 the Lions should have punted. The niners ran the ball 3 times and kicked a field goal. It would be hard to believe that if the Lions had punted, the niners would have done anything different. The niners would have ran it three times and punted it away giving the Lions the ball around the 20 with roughly the same amount of time left but it would have kept it a 3 point game.

What do you guys think??

Sounds logical but there is a possibility that Ted Ginn could get a big return and still place the Niners in FG range...Unless of course the Lions punt the ball to the side line... At any rate, this scenario has merit.. It's just hard to think like that in an actual game...

 

[CalamityX11]

Could've gone either way IMO. yeah you could punt but at the same time, with the niners scoring an extra FG, a TD would win it for the Lions. I don't think it was bad call, he had all 3 TOs to make it work,

Either way the Lions had to march down the field.

 

[49ermann]

Could've gone either way IMO. yeah you could punt but at the same time, with the niners scoring an extra FG, a TD would win it for the Lions. I don't think it was bad call, he had all 3 TOs to make it work,

Either way the Lions had to march down the field.

Yeah. But it's much easier to drive for a FG than a TD.

 

[threelittleturds]

No, Detroit was in 4th down territory. Frank Gore was gashing them all day, if they punted it and Ginn got a good return, and then in one of those 3 runs Gore gashed them for a 1st down. The Lions fans would have treated Schwartz like 49ers fans treated Harbaugh after he kept the FG instead of taking the 1st down.

Schwartz made the right move. Punting it and hoping your defense holds, is a Singletary move when you're down by 3 points with less than a minute on the clock. You have to be aggressive and at least try to convert a 1st down when you're losing with so little time left on the clock in the 4th quarter.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

... with 3 times outs at their own 30 the Lions should have punted. The niners ran the ball 3 times and kicked a field goal. It would be hard to believe that if the Lions had punted, the niners would have done anything different. The niners would have ran it three times and punted it away giving the Lions the ball around the 20 with roughly the same amount of time left but it would have kept it a 3 point game.

What do you guys think??

I agree with you. I think the three plays the 49ers ran took about 14
seconds off the clock and the Lions would then probably get the ball back in decent position and only needing a field goal to tie. Tough call to second guess though.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

No, Detroit was in 4th down territory. Frank Gore was gashing them all day, if they punted it and Ginn got a good return, and then in one of those 3 runs Gore gashed them for a 1st down. The Lions fans would have treated Schwartz like 49ers fans treated Harbaugh after he kept the FG instead of taking the 1st down.

Schwartz made the right move. Punting it and hoping your defense holds, is a Singletary move when you're down by 3 points with less than a minute on the clock. You have to be aggressive and at least try to convert a 1st down when you're losing with so little time left on the clock in the 4th quarter.

I disagree with that statement. My memory ain't what it used to be but I think he had two good runs all day, one of which was stuffed at the line of scrimmage but the Lions forgot to cover the backside and Gore bounced out and went for 55. The Lions played good run defense all day except those two big runs by Gore.

 

[CalamityX11]

Yeah. But it's much easier to drive for a FG than a TD.

Lions had nothing to lose IMO with the call.