Did Jacksonville Use Timeouts Late Against Tennessee Because ESPN Told Them To?
ESPN & Monday Night Football: The Titans led 23-3 with less than two minutes left last night. With the game out of reach, the Jags inexplicably began to use timeouts. Instead of taking a knee, the Titans kept running the ball … and Chris Johnson broke off a 35-yard touchdown run. Fantasy owners were probably thrilled. (Why was Johnson even in the game?) So, why’d Jack Del Rio call those timeouts? According to Titans coach Jeff Fisher, “My understanding is they needed network timeouts, and that’s why Jack used his timeouts. They came over and asked me to do it, but I said, ‘I was hoping to get a first down and kneel on it.’” Perhaps there’s a TV executive in the audience who can fill us in as to why the “network needed timeouts.” Wonder if it had to do with ensuring that ESPN beat TBS in the ratings showdown last night? [Titans Insider]
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64 Responses to “Did Jacksonville Use Timeouts Late Against Tennessee Because ESPN Told Them To?”
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October 19th, 2010 at 11:59 AM
The Jags trailed…
October 19th, 2010 at 12:00 PM
what the fuck?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:01 PM
Sounds like a Jay conspiracy come to life
October 19th, 2010 at 12:01 PM
Wonder if it had to do with ensuring that ESPN beat TBS in the ratings showdown last night?
How does more stoppage in play and commercials increase viewers?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:02 PM
I don’t know WTF Jack and Koetter were doing last night, taking timeouts to appease ESPN seems within the realm of possibilities with those two clowns.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:02 PM
Not enough George Lopez. Drop Darling. Bring in Lopez from the bullpen and hilarity will ensue!
/Frank TV’d
October 19th, 2010 at 12:03 PM
Thank you Titans defense!
October 19th, 2010 at 12:04 PM
If this is true, Jack Del Rio is dumber than I thought.
That is pathetic, grow a spine and say no to ESPN. Not like the Jags are going to be on MNF any time soon.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Kiss my ass, ESPN. That’s what should have been said.
I cannot wait for a TV revolution in football. Companies should sponsor entire quarters so that there are no commercial breaks. Like in soccer. Halftime could be longer with less studio time to make up for some of it.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:05 PM
Wow…..that’s fucked up. I didn’t watch much of the game…(watched MLB and WWE instead, don’t judge), but I did see the Jags run twice inside the 10, down by 20 with 6:00 to go only to be followed by Trent Edwards promptly throwing a pick on 4th down.
It’s good to see Jimmy Raye got picked up by the Jags though.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Not like the Jags are going to be on MNF any time soon.
This. After last night’s performance, coupled with a couple bad ones previously, won’t seem them on MNF for a while.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:06 PM
browns did same thing though no one was watching. led to meaningless steelers td (to cover)
October 19th, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Less studio time should be mandatory regardless.
I haven’t watched a pregame show in 6 years.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:07 PM
I would love that but it will NEVER happen. There’s too much stoppage in play for injuries, timeouts, penalties, etc.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:07 PM
Take the timeouts when the game is winding down, fine. But for the love of all that is holy get rid of the return from timeout into kickoff and then back into timeout right after kickoff.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:09 PM
http://espn.go.com/chicago/
Quade name Cubs manager
October 19th, 2010 at 12:09 PM
Also, less Millen, Me-shawn, Cris Carter, Boomer and Stu should be mandatory.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:09 PM
but I did see the Jags run twice inside the 10, down by 20 with 6:00 to go only to be followed by Trent Edwards promptly throwing a pick on 4th down.
They ran the ball a bunch of times in a row in the fourth and basically did the Titans job for them. It was embarrassing.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:09 PM
As cool as this would be, I doubt it is a realistic possibility. Football’s stoppages in play lend it to having commercials during the breaks in play. How else would networks fill the air?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:09 PM
Well those are built in stoppages and commercials are ok. But a short timeout should never be extended into a TV timeout, timeouts should never be taken right after TD’s or kickoffs or in between, etc.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:09 PM
I would rather them record the kickoff and show us what happened when they get back from the commercial. That practice is horrendous.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:11 PM
Did all the Mad Men fans read Sepinwall’s finale review?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:11 PM
Anything to put an end to the score-commercial-kickoff-commercial sequence. That shit needs to stop.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:12 PM
This!!
October 19th, 2010 at 12:12 PM
As a baseball reformist opposed to a college football playoff I find this theory to be fascinating…do go on
October 19th, 2010 at 12:13 PM
No freakin way
October 19th, 2010 at 12:13 PM
They probably had some ads that hadn’t aired yet (or not enough) and they wanted to push them out last night rather than give a credit or make-up for a future date.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:13 PM
Yep. Boo-birds were out for that. The players were trying, the coaching staff wasn’t. Phoned it in.
/Fire Del Rio now and replace him with a robot for the rest of the season
October 19th, 2010 at 12:14 PM
Wow. Curious to hear thoughts on this.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:14 PM
theory from twitter: ESPN couldn’t show MLB highlights until the game was over, so they were hoping to prolong the game.
this seems wrong, but …
October 19th, 2010 at 12:16 PM
/Fire Del Rio now and replace him with a robot for the rest of the season
I’d rather keep him the rest of the year (which they will), they are going to be lucky to finish 6-10. Might as well ride out the rest of the year, clear the decks in the off season all the while improving the draft position.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:17 PM
Pissed. 48 hours for them to prove Sandberg is on staff or I’m pretty much done with them. May as well have brought back Riggleman or Don fucking Baylor. This is like being a Knicks fan in the Isiah years.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:18 PM
but?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:18 PM
What exactly about Sandberg is so exciting despite his playing career? Remember Mike Singletary was a great player too
October 19th, 2010 at 12:19 PM
May as well have brought back Riggleman or Don fucking Baylor.
The Jays have permission to interview Baylor. Do not wants.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:19 PM
this seems wrong, but …
No. No buts, this is just plain fucked up. How does an NFL employee, bend over for another company? Why? Was he hoping ESPN wouldn’t say that many mean things about him after the game?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:20 PM
What exactly about Sandberg is so exciting despite his playing career? Remember Mike Singletary was a great player too
So was Pete Rose.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:20 PM
similar in the respects that nobody gives a shit about the knicks or cubs?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:22 PM
led to meaningless steelers td (to cover)
my friendly neighborhood bartender lost a parlay on that.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Damn you Butters…
October 19th, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Seems like a new investigation for the American Policy Institute.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:23 PM
This is like being a Knicks fan in the Isiah years.
Lots of consensual contact in the back of a truck?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:24 PM
Meet the new boss same as the old boss.
/Fuck
October 19th, 2010 at 12:24 PM
I had the Browns +14.5. Couldn’t believe it when I saw the Steelers throwing a TD with under 2 minutes left.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:24 PM
Cubs hired Mike Quade. Sandberg is going to be pissed.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:25 PM
How does an NFL employee, bend over for another company? Why? Was he hoping ESPN wouldn’t say that many mean things about him after the game?
Maybe I’m overthinking this, but ESPN pays the NFL a lot of money, and the owner of the Jags is probably looking for the NFL to let him move the team to LA, which is a big TV market.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:25 PM
Remember Mike Singletary was a great player too
Jack Del Rio was #2 on Posnanski’s list, at least he is #2 at something. The story about having a shotgun at the picket line is crazy.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:26 PM
He’s definitely shitty at his job!
/rimshot
October 19th, 2010 at 12:26 PM
A network effecting game play now? Awesome.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Spent 4 years in the minor leagues proving that he can develop players and win. What the hell has Mike Quade done other than play .620 baseball during the final 6 weeks of a season that didn’t matter. Pretty easy to play with no pressure.
Sandberg did what they asked and when they had a chance to hire him, they went with a cheap replacement that is status quo. It’s typical Cubs nonsense. Sandberg would be given a longer leash by the fans and has managed this system for FOUR years. He knows the players in the farm system. We’re rebuilding, let the guy who has managed that talent be a big part of the rebuilding process.
Fuck the Cubs.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:27 PM
What list is that? I feel like I need to see this list, whatever it is.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:27 PM
He’s definitely shitty at his job!
+ 1 undeserved contract extension
October 19th, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Ranking NFL coaches’ playing careers…only 5 actually played in the league which surprised me a bit
October 19th, 2010 at 12:28 PM
you couldn’t believe that something from pittsburgh would be completely devoid of class?
you must be new.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:29 PM
Sportsdork.
Link.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Thanks.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Advertisers have already bought time in the game so if there haven’t been enough breaks in the quarter (long drives, no timeouts) they need to fit in their advertisers or the advertisers will flip out since their is no equivalent “make good” for a MNF game. If they get bumped from the game some advertisers will just pull business because it’s unreliable and ESPN has to make sure they’re taken care of so they come back for college basketball, NBA and so forth. From experience, we’ve had people pull major business because we ran their ad in the wrong QUARTER. The excuse, “well, there weren’t enough breaks” is usually not good enough.
Still, I’ve never heard of a network influencing a game like that. But not like anyone should be surprised ESPN is pulling this crap.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:37 PM
I have Chris Johnson on my fantasy team. I won this week by 5 points. Thank you Jeff Fisher! You sir, are the man!! My opponent must have been breaking shit.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:38 PM
That’s wrong. I just went over the 4th quarter log. There were only 3 timeouts during that quarter until the Johnson TD. One after the Tennessee FG, one after the kickoff, and one after Jacksonville turned it over on downs. Advertisers sell time in the 4th quarter for 5 TV stoppages. They were only going to get 4 (2 minute warning) if Tennessee ran out the clock, so I guess it’s plausible ESPN would ask them to do that.
Seems shady as all hell though.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:38 PM
I have Chris Johnson on my fantasy team. I won this week by 5 points. Thank you Jeff Fisher! You sir, are the man!! My opponent must have been breaking shit.
I could see if you are a fan or you lost some $$, but fantasy??
fuck. no.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:44 PM
Ty Webb 1.0 is to ESPN
as
The Wiz is to Nebraska
October 19th, 2010 at 12:52 PM
SG, I just read it. You could see Joan was still pregnant(which I thought anyway). I agreed that the whole proposal seemed very un-Don like. But he does need a mother for the kids when they are with him. What did you think?
October 19th, 2010 at 6:20 PM
FO_DougFarrar Jeff Fisher further clarified his statements on the time-outs. Mike Carwy did some to him inside the 2-min warning and said “We’re two commercial breaks short. Can you help us out?” Fisher said no, he would not call a TO to open up a commercial break. Fisher does not know of Del Rio called those time outs on ref request. But the game’s head official asked Jeff Fisher to take a TV timeout.
October 19th, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Am I the only one whose first thought when reading this was, holy shit, they’re fixing games? It definitely opens the door. . .