With the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions tied after 14, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher called timeout with four seconds left before halftime and his team just one yard away from the end zone on fourth down.
Fisher could have kicked a chip shot field goal to send his team into the locker room with a lead, but he instead decide to go for it to try and score a touchdown to put his team up by seven.
The play call was exactly as expected, a run up the middle to running back Todd Gurley, a play that he has scored all three of his touchdowns this season on.
But this time Gurley was stuffed by Lions defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker, and the Rams came away with no points as the game remained tied.
After the game Fisher commented on the decision to go for it, saying he does not regret it, via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN:
“I’d do that again,” said Rams coach Jeff Fisher, whose failed fake punt hurt his team last week. “Inside the 1-yard line, I mean, you need to knock that in.”
Gurley had a pretty simple explanation of why they didn’t score:
“They made a good play, we didn’t,” Gurley said, plainly.
In a game that was much higher scoring than expected, it came down to a field goal made by the Lions with just under two minutes remaining that was the difference in the game as Detroit won 31-28.
That field goal, of course, would not have been the difference if Fisher elected to kick it before halftime as opposed to going for it.
It is easy to second guess Fisher’s decision after it didn’t work, but the loss puts the Rams at 3-3, something that has become a theme of Fisher’s tenure with the team.
