Icing the Kicker Twice! Joe Gibbs?

On 2 December, 2007, Joe Gibbs attempted to call two timeouts in the final seconds of the game to ice the Buffalo Bills kicker, Ryan Lindell. This was a lack of rational consciousness, but more importantly a lack of proper advising by his coaching staff. Where were the briefs? Where were the mid-week explanations of kicking rules? The game was emotional with the Redskins suffering the untimely murder of their star safety Jason Taylor. In the end, Redskin fans around the world must be wondering what went wrong. The 15 yard penalty had the end result of making the Bills 51-yard field goal attempt a 36 yarder. Couple this fact with a rainy backdrop, and you have significant increased any NFL kicker's chance at success -- as kicking a 51 yarder in the rain is not an easy feat.

Essentially the game boiled down like this: With eight seconds left, the Bills were attempting a 52 yard field goal, in which Gibbs appropriately called a timeout to ice the kicker.

The good news, if Gibbs had not called the timeout, the Bills would have won the game with Ryan Lindell's 51 yard field goal attempt.

What happened next was unconscionable. Gibbs employed the "Weber-esque" decision-making to ice the kicker a second time on the same down. One important fact: The NFL rules outlawed this practice in 2005. See below:

During field goal and extra point attempts, the defensive team will be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct if it calls consecutive timeouts in an attempt to "ice" the kicker.

Where was the coaching staff? They have a professional obligation to brief Gibbs on nuances in the rules. Coupled with the fact that the Skins have had problems scoring touchdowns all year, you would think Gibbs would have been more informed on how to deal with field goal stand-offs. In defense to Gibbs, he can only focus on so much, so again, partial blame has to go on his supporting staff.

In the end, this lapse of judgment could be attributed to the profound feelings associated with the aftermath of Jason Taylor's murder, or simply poor organization and information flow amidst the Redskins coaching staff. I'll leave it to the reader to be the judge, but the game in itself left me with an eerie feeling that these circumstances could have easily have been reversed with the notorious "bad luck" and misfortune of the Bills. This was truly the Bills day. Rejoice with signature Buffalo wings and frigid wintry winds yee Buffalo fans and chirp in unison, "God bless coach Gibbs."