12-22-2014, 04:39 PM
San Francisco called its first time out with 6:30 left to play in the 3rd quarter and San Diego facing first and goal at the 5. San Diego had been going no huddle, so it might have been necessary to change personnel, or to give the defense a breather. At the time the 49ers were leading 28-7; the subsequent touchdown cut the lead to 28-14. There was no way to know that the timeout would affect the game.
San Francisco called its second time out with 10:27 left in the game and first and 10 after an 11 yard Frank Gore run. I believe this is the case where they were facing a possible delay of game. For what it is worth, San Francisco failed to convert on that set of downs and punted from midfield; 5 yards probably wouldn't have made a difference, in retrospect. But with 10:27 left in the game, and a 14 point lead, I don't think anyone was expecting the time out to be crucial.
San Francisco called its third time out for the injury with 1:43 left in the game. I believe the time out is called by rule inside the two minute warning in an injury situation. But even if they hadn't had to call a time out, the clock would have been stopped for the injury.
In all, I don't think the time outs would have been material. The bigger issue is that San Francisco got the ball back with 29 seconds and the game tied, but had no time outs. Maybe if they had had to use them, they could have had more options to attack the middle of the field as they marched towards field goal range. The final field goal try was long, but makeable (59 yards); the kick wound up short, so a couple more yards might have made the difference.
BC
San Francisco called its second time out with 10:27 left in the game and first and 10 after an 11 yard Frank Gore run. I believe this is the case where they were facing a possible delay of game. For what it is worth, San Francisco failed to convert on that set of downs and punted from midfield; 5 yards probably wouldn't have made a difference, in retrospect. But with 10:27 left in the game, and a 14 point lead, I don't think anyone was expecting the time out to be crucial.
San Francisco called its third time out for the injury with 1:43 left in the game. I believe the time out is called by rule inside the two minute warning in an injury situation. But even if they hadn't had to call a time out, the clock would have been stopped for the injury.
In all, I don't think the time outs would have been material. The bigger issue is that San Francisco got the ball back with 29 seconds and the game tied, but had no time outs. Maybe if they had had to use them, they could have had more options to attack the middle of the field as they marched towards field goal range. The final field goal try was long, but makeable (59 yards); the kick wound up short, so a couple more yards might have made the difference.
BC