The Commanders converted a fourth-and-2 and third-and-2 on their final drive in regulation Sunday, and scored with zeroes on the clock to make it 31-30 Eagles…and then kicked the extra point to go to overtime.
Seems like in hindsight, after a 34-31 loss, many wish the man known as “Riverboat Ron” went for two and tried for the win on the road, even after the Commanders got the first crack at the ball in OT.
And one of those is the usually reserved Grant Paulsen.
You wanted more Terry McLaurin involvement yesterday and you got it – 10 targets, eight catches for 86 yards,” Grant said, “and an inch and a half away for nine for like 105, and maybe a catch that would have set them up to win the game. The old inches speech from ‘Any Given Sunday’ – what a sequence.”
Grant is, of course, referring to the incompletion on the Commanders’ third play of OT, where McLaurin made a catch but stepped on a defender’s arm and ended up with his second foot coming down out of bounds, a ruling upheld by replay that forced the Commanders to punt.
It never should’ve gotten to that, though, at least in Grant’s mind.
“Washington lost 37-3 a week ago, and there’s anxiety about how bad they are in certain areas, but you fast-forward and they hang with one of the best teams in the conference,” Grant said, “but Ron Rivera elects to kick the PAT and play for overtime and it backfires. I hated it in real time, I think you should always go for two in that spot when you’re on the road and the worse of the two teams.”
Danny Rouhier? Not so much.
“I don’t have a problem with it,” Danny said. “Tacitly, I agree barely.”
And that’s when Grant went back to the “Riverboat Ron” idea.
“If I’m Philly in that spot, I play for OT, but more than anything, I’m just shocked – particularly that this coach didn’t go for two,” Grant said. “We’ve seen him go for two previously, and after doing it, he says, ‘this is what I do, I play to win, get used to it, fall in line!’”
Take a listen to that entire exchange, as well as G&D’s full reaction to the game, above!
