[h=3]Dolphins special teams coach explains the reasoning behind the decision to punt in San Francisco 49ers territory in the third quarter of the 31-24 victory against the 49ers instead of attempting a 53-yard field goal.[/h]Dolphins assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi made something perfectly clear during his weekly press conference Thursday.
The decision to punt in San Francisco 49ers territory in the third quarter of the 31-24 victory against the 49ers instead of attempting a 53-yard field goal had nothing to do with kicker
Andrew Franks
.
“It’s zero indictment on Andrew Franks,” Rizzi said. “There’s plenty of confidence in that he’s going to make that field goal if it was the right situation. That’s a weekly thing. That’s the way it’s going to be depending on the opponent, the wind conditions, the weather, all those things.”
Rizzi explained the reasoning had everything to do with the game circumstances.
The Dolphins were nursing a 17-14 lead at the time.
“That’s a decision that really is a game-management thing,” Rizzi said. “When you look at that, we’re really just playing the percentages. You gotta look at the score of the game. That’s got a lot to with where we are at that point. That was a three-point game, it was late in the third quarter and a couple of things: Number one, 53-plus-yard field goals this year in the NFL are just slightly over 50 percent. (Punter)
Matt Darr has been an exceptional guy in dropping the ball inside the 10 — now we didn’t do it on that particular one. And the San Francisco 49ers had been, I think, they had 41 drives of 80 yards or more and they’d only scored on six of those drives. So at that point we were playing the percentages. It’s like just taking the safe bet.
“Let me say this: If the game was tied, we try a field goal there. If we can make it a two-score game, we try a field goal there. So it’s really a game-management decision on what we think the best option is in that particular game at that particular time, score of the game.”
