Cardinals kick field goal instead of going for TD, WTF!!!!

[guilt_trip]

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It's because they're afraid of getting criticized in public if they do anything that could lead to an immediate loss. As I was watching the game, I was thinking "The Cardinals should go for it here" but you are the only other person I've heard say this, and you can bet that if they'd gone for it and gotten stuffed, every armchair coach in America would be all over it.

To be fair they have a slightly better than 50% chance of winning in OT because they're a better team than the 49ers but it's obv nowhere near 70%.

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This is the crux of it all. Losing in OT brings alot less heat than if you run 4th&1 and get stuffed. The standard is "Go for the kick, play OT" and I doubt there are many fans that know the relative %'s for each situation so I doubt its an obvious decision to them all.

Infact there is a concensus among some that you shouldnt ever punt in your OPP half considering all of the factors of it all. A high school team in Texas actually never punts unless its a completely hopeless coversion attempt