Smith's two failed QB sneaks will haunt him

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — With his short silver hair and calm demeanor, Mike Smith doesn't look the part of the gambler or the risk-taker. There's no Jerry Glanville cowboy hats or boots.

But when it comes to decisions on fourth down, Smith has earned himself quite a reputation this season, a reputation he might prefer not to have.

Smith went for it on fourth-and-1 twice on Sunday, using quarterback sneaks on both plays, and failed both times, key plays in the Falcons' 24-2 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday in an NFC wild-card playoff game at MetLife Stadium.

The plays will dredge up the memory of Smith's unsuccessful decision to go for it on fourth down in overtime from his own 29 earlier this season against New Orleans, another loss.

Smith, who in almost every way is the anti-Glanville with his meticulous planning, has said in the past that such decisions are the result of careful deliberation during the week.

"I can't say what people are going to think about him or what kind of reputation he's going to have, but I can probably guarantee you that he doesn't care what his reputation is along those lines," Falcons right tackle Tyson Clabo said. "I think he's a good football coach and that'll be his reputation."

He may be a good football coach — his four winning seasons, back-to-back playoff appearances and three postseason berths in four seasons are achievements no other coach has accomplished since the franchise entered the league in 1966 — but he is now 0-3 in the postseason, a label that will be hard to shake until he gets in the win column.

True to form, Smith said that during the week when the coaching staff discussed what to do in short-yardage pays, it felt that they could make plays of less than a yard, saying, he had "all the confidence in the world in that group," referring to his offensive line.

"We felt at any point in time we ought to be able to move the football less than a half yard with a quarterback sneak," he said.

Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty, who had half of a tackle on one of the fourth-down snaps, said, the plays were all about "heart and want-to."

"We wanted it more than they did," he said.

On the first play of the second quarter the Giants stopped Matt Ryan on a quarterback sneak as linebacker Michael Boley, the former Falcon, and defensive tackle Linval Joseph were credited with the tackle. The Falcons tried to fool the Giants with a play that they say they use often in those situations, but it didn't work.

Falcons wide receiver Roddy White lined up as the tailback and running back Michael Turner started out as an off-set fullback. Turner shifted in motion into the I-formation as the fullback, seeming as if the Falcons might hand him the ball on a quick dive play, but Ryan snapped the ball almost immediately. He initially looked like he earned the first down, but the spot — perhaps controversially — indicated otherwise. It ended up being the final play of a 14-play drive that began at the Falcons' 10 and ended at the Giants' 24.

Ryan said he thought he got the first down.

"Yeah, I think any time you go on a sneak, you feel like you get it, you get some push and you get it," he said. "It's one of those things. It's always difficult to get a good spot. I thought the officials did a good job all day. We've got to make it to a point where there's no question about it."

Said Clabo: "I really felt like on that one we had decent surge and Matt had gotten forward."

Although the Falcons failed to get any points on that drive, the play did not prove to be a worse-case scenario. Atlanta took a 2-0 lead three plays later when Giants quarterback Eli Manning was called for intentional grounding in the end zone as Falcons safety James Sanders almost had him wrapped up.

The second time Smith went for it with a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 proved more costly. Down 10-2 in the third quarter, he could have cut the lead to five with a 41-yard field goal. Instead, he opted once more for the quarterback sneak. This time, defensive tackle Jason Pierre-Paul and linebacker Chase Blackburn stopped Ryan with 4:16 left in the quarter.

Smith was asked about not using Turner, the league's third-leading rusher during the regular season, on that play.

"Well, it was less than a yard, it was about half of a yard, maybe less than that," he said. "That was the play, again, we go through it and we sequence those things all through the week and we felt that was the play we had up. We just didn't execute it."

Smith said he did consider the field goal.

"The score at that time, you could've gone ahead and attempted that field goal," he said. "I felt, and we felt as a staff, with our offense that we could move the ball and wanted to get the seven points. Just like we did (going for it) earlier in the game."

Turner, who finished with 41 yards on 15 carries, was asked how he felt about not getting the ball in either of those situations.

"I mean, as a competitor, you want the ball in your hands," he said. "The first one, though, was something we normally do in those situations. It's kind of a high percentage play for us to get the first down. I'm surprised we didn't get it.

"The second one, it is what it is . . . You feel like you want to do whatever it takes to help your team advance, whatever, win the ballgame."

Three plays after the Giants stopped the Falcons on the second quarterback sneak, Manning found Hakeem Nicks across the middle for a 72-yard touchdown reception and a 17-2 New York lead with 2:44 left in the third quarter. For all intents and purposes, the game was over.

Smith must now bear the burden of those calls — plus the one from earlier this season against New Orleans. Ironically, on that play Smith was criticized for not going with the quarterback sneak, as the Falcons handed the ball to Turner. That will not be the case after Sunday's loss.

Smith said the story of the Falcons' season was inconsistency and that "it starts with me."

When it comes down to the decisions on fourth down, that is most certainly the case.