The final play of the game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Sunday's 34-29 loss to the Atlanta Falcons was a strange failure, but coach Dirk Koetter doesn't believe he had many other options when it came to the play-calling.
With seven seconds left on third-and-10 from the Falcons' 21, Jameis Winston ran it up the middle on a quarterback draw before trying to throw a lateral to one of his receivers trailing the play. Ultimately the long-shot play failed and left pundits wondering why Winston didn't simply attempt to throw it.
"It was a quarterback draw with options," Koetter said. "You know, it's hard to score on one play from the 20. So, Jameis had options, but when you're going full speed on one play to win from the 20, it's just tough.
"He's got people chasing him, closing in on him from all sides. There are not a lot of great plays on one play from the 20."
It's debatable whether or not the Buccaneers indeed only had time for one final play with seven seconds remaining, but it seems strange that an offensive-minded coach like Koetter would feel the team's best option to win rested upon a QB draw from 21 yards out.
Winston wasn't second-guessing his head coach.
"That was a great play call," Winston said. "My main goal was to get as far as I can before getting tackled. I believe we had a chance. The ball bounces our way and we aren't questioning that call."
If the Buccaneers had pulled off the win, it's still hard to imagine anyone describing the play call as great, but it certainly wouldn't have been the talking point it became once the Bucs fell to 2-3 on the season. With a quarterback at his disposal that already torched the injury-depleted Falcons for 395 yards on the day, Koetter's decision to run it was certainly a curious one.
