Joe Gibbs doesn't only seem like a doddering old fool - he is one. He proved it today late in the Redskins' 17-16 loss to Buffalo by incurring a key 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for calling consecutive time-outs while icing Buffalo kicker Rian Lindell - then admitting that he didn't know there was a rule against such a move.
The Skins led 16-14 when Buffalo drove it down close enough to try a 51-yard field goal with 4 seconds left on the clock. Gibbs, per coaches' annoying new habit, called time just before the snap of the ball (Lindell went through with the kick and it would've been good). Then, realizing he had one time out left, Gibbs decided he'd try calling a second one to really put the freeze on Lindell. Only problem - it's against the rules to call consecutive time-outs in pro football. The refs walked off a fifteen-yard penalty against Washington, reducing the 51-yard field goal attempt to a 36-yarder. Lindell hit this kick easily, giving Buffalo the win, and causing Gibbs's face to turn, well, red.
Gibbs said after the game:
There's nobody to blame but myself. I should have known the rule.
Gibbs also claims he asked the ref whether it was okay for him to call another time-out and the ref said yes. So Gibbs is apparently deaf as well as senile.
The Gibbs gaffe put a sour capper on a day already steeped in sadness for the Redskins, who were playing for the first time since the death of teammate Sean Taylor. A video tribute was shown on the scoreboard before the game, then the Skins' defense players gave Taylor their own salute by playing the first play with only 10 men on the field. Not surprisingly, Joe Gibbs was unaware that the team had planned this 10-man tribute.
Permalink | Send To A Friend | Linking Blogs | Digg this!
Filed under:
NFL
Tags: buffalo bills, joe gibbs, sean taylor, washington redskins
