Interesting Column By Rich Hofman on Time Management

[PhillyPhreak54]

Rich Hofmann | Timeout, Andy bashers
CLOCK WOES NOT JUST BURNING ISSUE WITH BIRDS

WE HOLD THESE truths to be self-evident: life, liberty and that each team gets three timeouts per half in a regulation NFL game, six total. Around here, that means six opportunities to look up at the formerly "happiest-chubby-guy-in-Philadelphia'' and say two words in the form of a question - "Clock management?'' - and then fold your arms and watch him squirm.

It has been great sport for years around here, completely filling the October void once the Phillies have been eliminated. It is a big part of the conversation this week, in the hours and days following the Eagles' loss at New Orleans, when the Saints kneeled away nearly 2 minutes at the end of the game before kicking the game-winning field goal because the Eagles were out of timeouts.

But as Andy Reid absorbs the body blows this week - and I'm in there slugging with the rest of them, on any number of issues - this one really seems to be a little bit overdone. It is the projection of past sins onto present times.

Because the truth is, the Eagles have been much better at clock management this season - despite having to burn four timeouts Sunday in the din of the Louisiana Superdome. And the truth is, nobody is perfect in the NFL at the timeout thing, despite our expectations, and especially not in domes.

Where to begin? We'll just take last week's NFL games as our sample. There were 13 games overall, nine of them played outdoors and four in fully closed domes. Overall, there were 40 burned timeouts - that is, timeouts used for other than strategic reasons before the final 3 minutes of a half.

The average team squandered 1.54 timeouts last week. That is our base number, then. Once or twice a game last week, circumstances forced teams to call timeouts they didn't want to call. Of the 26 teams that played, only six were perfect that way.

Now, the dome factor. Outdoors, teams burned 1.17 timeouts per game last week. Indoors, they burned 2.38 timeouts per game - more than double - and it was 2.75 per game for the road teams indoors. It is a fact of life in the NFL, even if nobody wants to acknowledge it as they stand there with their arms folded. Teams practice with fake crowd noise in an attempt to manage the problem - but it is a problem.

Now, take the Superdome factor. It is a very loud place filled with fans who are very excited right now, for all kinds of sports reasons and sociological reasons. On a scale of zero-to-Palestra, the needle on the loudness meter in that place does some significant dancing. During big moments in the game Sunday, it was hard to make yourself understood to somebody two seats away.

Road teams have had a terrible time with the clock this season in New Orleans. In three games so far, the Falcons, Bucs and Eagles have burned two-thirds of their timeouts, 12 out of 18.

The Eagles burned two-thirds of theirs Sunday - and that is including one in the first half where they really did get jobbed, with the clock running down and the officials dithering about whether Donovan McNabb threw the ball away before running out of bounds on a play.

Reid argued that the play clock should have been reset because of the dithering. He argued for almost the entire resulting timeout - a very long time for a referee to stand there and listen to anybody - but to no avail.

Overall, the Eagles burned two in the first half and two in the second half. The last Eagles timeout in the second half, called with 2:22 left and the Saints driving for the winning score, was fine. It was as good a time to use it as any.

So, true, it wasn't their finest hour. But the crowd noise was a real factor, and there is something else: Reid and the Eagles really have cleaned up a lot of those problems this year.

Again, because of the secrecy practiced over there, it is hard to know exactly what has changed - whether it is simply the elevation of Marty Mornhinweg to offensive coordinator, or something else. But the plays are getting in quicker this year, and running back Brian Westbrook tells us now that the number of plays in a given week's game plan is fewer than in previous seasons, and general observation seems to indicate less presnap movement in the formations than in the past and an overall simpler approach.

The result? The Eagles burned only seven timeouts in the first five games - and three of those were in the closed dome in Houston in Week 1, and one was on a failed replay challenge against Green Bay. This time-management stuff really has not been an issue this year.

Overall, this already has been a fascinating team and a fascinating season - and you can paint the bull's-eye on December right now, because that is when everything is going to be decided. There has been plenty of good stuff, plenty of mistakes and plenty of other things to talk about. I'm just not sure clock management is one of them - not yet, anyway.

[Don Ho]

shtein, once again the reference to that dreaded stretch in december.  I think I'll go as the December three game road trip  for Halloween.  You know like a big schedule or something.  That will scare the crap out of anyone.

[Diomedes]

I'd love to have access to the data he's using.  It takes me a long time to figure out how many time outs were taken / burned.  Basically, I comb through the NFL.com gamebook.

I don't let Andy off the hook as easily as this guy does.  If your team calls a timeout in the first or third quarter, you deserve to be pilloried.  End of story.

[rjs246]

Look, this is the nature of things. For years he's been awful at clock mangement. The fans know this, so whether he's getting better or not, when timeouts are completely wasted the fans are gonna bitch about it. That's the way it works. Why would anyone write an article about this?

[MURP]

perhaps you would prefer another fluff piece on Mahe serving fries?

[rjs246]

Indeed I would. Sports writers to stick to what they're good at. Writing about things other than sports.

[SunMo]

this is why i loved the no-huddle offense against the Giants so much.  Andy had to get the play in quick, and it gave Donovan plenty of time to come to the line, set protections and check off. 

Runyan was on DNL last night and said that by all rights, Donovan needs to have the play when the play clock hits twenty, at the latest, to ensure they can do all the things they need to do before the snap.  Runayn said that he watches the clock and sometimes Donovan has the play, sometimes he doesn't.

[Diomedes]

That's interesting, SunMo.  I'm surprised Runyan isn't punished for airing dirty laundry, but I'm glad he does it.

[bobbyinlondon]

That's interesting, SunMo.  I'm surprised Runyan isn't punished for airing dirty laundry, but I'm glad he does it.

I think he's one of the few that can actually criticize Reid and get away with it. Remember when he said after the Carolina CG that he thought we should have run the ball more?

[Feva]

So, this article is supposed to make me feel better about the Eagles' wasted timeouts by telling me that everyone wastes timeouts?

Doesn't fly.  I don't give a damn about the other team's problems unless we're playing them.  The Eagles are the ones who have sucked managing the clock for years.  It's the Eagles time management that subjected me to sitting there having to watch Drew Brees kneel to run the last 2 minutes off the clock while they could do nothing about it.

If they know they're playing in a loud hostile environment, then AR needs to be prepared to take less time thinking of the next play... he needs to have the offense prepared with hand signals... prepared to snap on silent counts, and all that to counteract the noise.

I don't give a damn where you're playing... there's no excuse for burning 4 or your 6 timeouts due to some damn crowd noise.

[Eaglez]

I think wasting time outs in and of itself is erroneous. Just because everyone else also has poor clock management doesn't somehow absolve the Eagles. If anything, that should give them all the more incentive to improve that aspect of their game so to gain an advantage over everyone else.

[General_Failure]

That's interesting, SunMo.  I'm surprised Runyan isn't punished for airing dirty laundry, but I'm glad he does it.

Reid: Gosh darnit, Jon! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fine you.
Runyan: I'm bigger than you. I can beat you up.

[The BIGSTUD]

I don't think it is them running out of time before the play can get in. I think sometimes they see defenses they don't like and call timeout.

[Diomedes]

I don't think.

[mpmcgraw]

Bunkley78 knows better than Runyan.

Right.  Yea.  Sure.