NFL

NFL Week 5: Andy Reid's Gutsy Call Goes Unnoticed

Keith Goldner  —  @keithgoldner Oct 8th, 2012
numberFire Chief Analyst Keith Goldner takes a look at an Andy Reid play call that set the Eagles up for (almost) victory.

numberFire.com Chief Analyst Keith Goldner occasionally takes a look at some of the big NFL games and the advanced numbers behind them. Today, he takes a look at Andy Reid's successful 4th-down call from the Eagles-Steelers game and whether going for it was the right call to make.

Down six to the Steelers on the road, Michael Vick and the Eagles took the field near the start of the fourth quarter. After three short gains, the Eagles faced a 4th-and-1 from their own 30-yard line. In today's NFL, this is an easy decision for coaches: Teams punt the ball over 90% of the time. Since there was still significant time remaining in a one score game, it's safe to assume that the Eagles should have performed similarly to a score and time-agnostic situation (although obviously it had some factor in Reid's decision).

Reid was feeling some extra confidence from his tufty moustache, so he decided to go for it. I mentioned it was an easy decision for coaches to punt, but is it the right decision?

Want to know more? Check out Keith's full analysis at AdvancedNFLStats.com.