Brian Daboll seemed prepared to explain his decision to punt late in overtime near midfield on Sunday, electing not to go for it on 4th-and-3 and instead pin Washington back to avoid potentially sacrificing field position.
“I thought our defense had a chance to keep them down there,” Daboll explained. “Maybe we'll get the ball back with, call it, 35 seconds — somewhere around there, somewhere around midfield, and give ourselves another chance. If you don't get it, then they kick a field goal, and they were going with the wind. So, that's a decision that I made.
"Look, the decision that we made, I'm good with it. I felt comfortable with [it], and we went down, we almost ended up getting the ball out of them. Had a chance at the end. Could have had a little bit closer, but that's a decision based on where we were at on the field, the time of the game and the situation that we're in that we felt was best.”
Daboll was also asked about the decision to run the ball on third down late in the first half, and seemed to have a tone that expressed regret about the play call, though he put the decision squarely on his shoulders.
“He called one that we thought was gonna hit,” Daboll said. “We definitely could have done that, but we didn’t.
“Every decision that's made, you can put on me. I thought it was fine. I thought he had a good feel for what he was doing. But every decision that is made, regardless of what it is, is on me.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)