“You don’t get to choose in the NFL when you score”
There has been plenty of finger-pointing going on since the 49ers lost to the Packers in Week 3. One of the targets of those fingers has been San Francisco’s offense, who critics say didn’t take enough time off the clock before scoring the go-ahead touchdown. The man that scored that touchdown, Kyle Juszczyk, appeared on KNBR yesterday to defend his team:
“I’ve been disappointed in seeing kind of the outlash of people saying that. I mean, all I can say is there are some plays that I want back in that game, but I promise you, that’s not one of them. That’s one I’m not going to change a hundred times out of a hundred. From a football sense, it doesn’t make sense.
“You don’t get to choose in the NFL when you score, even if you’re on the one-yard line. And even at that point, we’re down six points, so we’re not kicking a field goal. And at what point — how many chances do you give yourself? From then on, do I snap the ball at 32 seconds? Do I snap the ball at 15 seconds and only leave myself two or three plays? There’s too much left to chance there. Like I said, that’s not one I’m changing. I’m scoring every time.”
I have to agree with him on that one. Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, no matter how close you are to the end zone. You would think fans of a team involved in plays like this, and this would remember that. Of course, we all would have liked for the final touchdown to have been scored with no time left on the clock, but that just wasn’t the case. Blaming the offense for doing their job isn’t fair.
If you listen to today’s 49ers in Five podcast, you’ll hear NBC’s Peter King explain why he doesn’t think criticizing the defense on the final drive of the game is fair, either. Plus, you’ll catch up on everything else you need to know in about five minutes.