Why did Harbaugh take the 3 points instead of taking a 15 yard penalty?

Originally posted by niners94:
Could we stop blaming the coaches for once? They arent the ones getting burned for touchdowns and not being able to block.

this plus 10

What exactly has this guy done to earn any faith from Harbaugh?

I guess Harbaugh missed the multiple pro-bowls, divisional championships, the great win-loss record, the Brady-esque statistics, and actual leadership qualities.

Tony Romo showed Alex Smith yesterday what an NFL QB should look like.

Not a big fan of this decision, it makes us seem like we were playing scared. The blame can also go to our secondary too, they gave up too many big plays.

Did all you guys b***h when he "took points off the board" last week? I heard lots of complaining about that choice last week! If the defense had not collapsed it would not matter. If Frank was running like Frank,it would not matter. If VD was... Hell if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle, we effed up as a team and lost as a team, this one in game decision was not the lone culprit in the loss!

everbody wants to bash Alex but in this one i just cannot do it his TD to kyle williams was a thing of beauty and his TD to delanie walker was a great accurate throw he showed me something yesterday he can play well if we protect him qb rating 99.1 he did have a terrible int but if you have a 15yrd penalty 1st down on the 22yrd line no coach in the NFL declines that penalty you have weapons Vernon Davis led nfl in tds 2years ago he only had 2 receptions because the kept him in to block allday the cowboys LB were no match for our te's Delanie Walker and Vernon Davis the cowboys secondary was weak without 3 starters I would rather see the 49ers stay aggressive Alex cannot win the game for us if u take it out of his hands we lost but I will always wonder what if we accept penalty and Alex scores a TD the game would have been surely over

Originally posted by sachie23:

Originally posted by kingairta:

And had he taken the points off the board and the team failed to score and Dallas wins everyone would be crying you don't take points off the board. This is such a non issue at this point. There were so many other mistakes I can't believe we are arguing over this call which in all reality wasn't a mistake and no matter what the outcome people would b***h about it.

Originally posted by bleeds9ersredandgold:

harbaugh took the points off the board because his defense was playing good... real good until that point. BUT at that point in the game with a frest set of downs and needing to run the clock he should have taken the downs and kept romo and the cowgirls offense off the field. i really don't think it had anything to do with our offense alex played a good game yesterday... our run blocking really needs to step its game up.

Originally posted by bleeds9ersredandgold:

this.

You realize Smith had already thrown an awful interception inside his own 30 and was a deer in headlights every time he saw a pass rusher right? We can bash all we want to but as long as Harbaugh does not trust his QB he will continue to play conservative. I don't care what Alex's rating was he shows some flashes but never puts together a consistent game against a good team.

He had a good game yesterday, you are placing the blame on the qb when it was clearly the offensive line that the coach doesn't trust, and for good reason. Smith was standing tall in the pocket and making plays even when the pocket was breaking down. Smith was the main reason we were in that game, even with that interception. No pass coverage and poor line play are still issues with this team.

At that point in the game the O-line was getting owned. There was just as much chance for the ball to go backwards as it was going forward.

Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats says the 49ers' win probability was .90 after Akers' field goal, and it would have been .91 had Harbaugh accepted the penalty. Burke: "In the grand scheme, this is a very small error. The common punt or FG attempt on 4th and short in most game situations is usually more costly, and most fans and analysts hardly take note of them. To put the 0.01 WP error in context, on SF's following possession that resulted in a 3-and-out, RB Frank Gore gained 2 yards on 1st and 10, costing 0.01 WPA. Had he gained 4 or 5 yds, he would have broken even in terms of WP. So the error is no worse than the difference of a couple yards on first down." Noted: I wouldn't even call it an error when the percentages are that close. Harbaugh's feel for the situation relative to his team should count for something. If he felt as though the Cowboys' defensive scheme was giving Alex Smith some problems in the absence of Braylon Edwards and Michael Crabtree, for example, or if he felt as though Demarcus Ware was close to making a game-turning play based on a coach's feel for the game, then Harbaugh potentially made a decision with more information available to him. However, with a top-flight snapper and kicker, he could have attempted a field goal with some confidence later in the drive. Focusing on Harbaugh's decision in a game featuring such blatant breakdowns in pass coverage makes little sense. Burke's analysis confirms as much.

The decision computed with me. In the second half we did nothing offensively (one first down) and we were getting handled up front. Assuming Harbaugh takes the three off the board and we run the ball three times without a first that takes about 2:30 off the clock. I think the only real difference is that it may have put Dallas into two minute mode in their first drive after the FG to save time for a final possession. Is that worth the risk of maybe missing a 2nd FG attempt?

Maybe Harbaugh was thinking of the first play after the roughing penalty on Akers last week. Seattle's LB launched himself over the line and into Gore just as he got the ball and he almost fumbled it. The point is that the questions about the decision are all about hypotheticals and extrapolations, we don't know what would have happened. What is absolutely clear is that the o-line and secondary got abused and in my view was the reason for the loss.

On to Cincy!

Originally posted by fly15:
cause he has a plan

Yeah, a plan to lose...

Is it possible he didn't know it was a 1st down?

There did seem to be some confusion going on with the refs for the game. Especially a rookie HC. He's not going to turn around and say "I didn't know it was a 1st down" because he knows how much crap he would get for it. The decision came very quickly, so if he thought it was just going to be a 4th and short, of course you take the points.

Watching the game, that decision came way too quick and reminded me of that stupid Martz call in the Arizona game because he didn't know how far from the goaline we were.

Originally posted by DesiDez:

What exactly has this guy done to earn any faith from Harbaugh?

I guess Harbaugh missed the multiple pro-bowls, divisional championships, the great win-loss record, the Brady-esque statistics, and actual leadership qualities.

Tony Romo showed Alex Smith yesterday what an NFL QB should look like.

It wasn't about Smith, no matter how much you want it to be. The offensive line is the issue with the offense, they aren't run blocking for s**t and the pass protection was pathetic. Smith made plays with the pass rush in his face yesterday, despite getting no help from the running game.

I can see why he did it but I personally would have taken the first down. What kills me is the fans on this site who don't get why he took the points. I don't know if they are blinded by anger or not. Who is to say Ackers wouldn't have missed his second chance? Who is to say we would have scored a TD? Who is to say we wouldn't have turned the ball over? Who knows what would have happened.

Because the hate is so great on this board that had any of those negative outcomes had happened they'd all be on here crying that you keep the points.

You NEVER take points off the board. Especially if your the Niners. Any other team (patriots, chargers, packers...etc) sure take the penalty and have the possibility to get 7 but not this team. We've had 400 yards of total team offense in 2 games. I don't blame Harbaugh. Good decision.