Has Todd Bowles improved as game manager? Jets' coach thinks so
By Rich Cimini
New York Jets coach Todd Bowles takes a lot of grief for his game-management skills. He doesn't believe the criticism is just.
"I thought I did a better job this year than last year," he said Monday, one day after the Jets wrapped up a 5-11 season.
Many fans probably can recite specific instances where Bowles mismanaged the clock or wasted timeouts because the wrong personnel was on the field. He said his most egregious error occurred in Week 2, when he eschewed a two-point attempt late in a six-point win over the Bills. He admitted it was a "gaffe." There also was the late fourth-and-2 punt against the Steelers in Week 5, but he refused to admit it was a miscalculation.
But let's be fair. Every coach makes a couple of head-scratching decisions during the course of a season, even the so-called geniuses. No one is immune.
"Obviously, I can get better at a lot of things," Bowles acknowledged.
The folks in the analytics world have yet to create an all-encompassing statistic that rates a coach's ability to manage a game, so we're left to draw conclusions based on data in specific areas. Studying Bowles' performance, you'll see mixed results.
Close games. The Jets were 4-4 in games decided by one possession (eight points or less). A year ago, they were 4-5. That's pretty much a wash, but it has to get better if they want to be a playoff team.
Replay challenges. Bowles was successful on five of eight challenges, a big improvement from last season when he was 1-for-5.
Two-minute offense and defense. The Jets were a mess. They were outscored in the final two minutes of halves 82-23, the worst point differential (-59) in the NFL. In 2015, they were +15. This was a significant step back. You can blame some of this year's offensive struggles on quarterback instability, but there was no excuse for the defense.
[h=4]Jets percentage of plays by timeouts left[/h]
Use of timeouts. This is where Bowles catches the most flak. How many times did they burn a timeout early in a quarter because something was amiss? Unfortunately, there isn't a "bad timeout" stat, but ESPN Stats & Information came up with this chart. It shows that Bowles didn't go through timeouts as quickly as you might have figured. In fact, the stats show he was careful when calling that second timeout. Of course, he had no problem burning the third.
It should be noted that using all three timeouts isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Teams “below” the Jets in that metric include the Titans, Redskins, Falcons, Raiders, Giants and Patriots -- all of whom had winning records.
http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/66209/has-todd-bowles-improved-as-game-manager-jets-coach-thinks-so
By Rich Cimini
New York Jets coach Todd Bowles takes a lot of grief for his game-management skills. He doesn't believe the criticism is just.
"I thought I did a better job this year than last year," he said Monday, one day after the Jets wrapped up a 5-11 season.
Many fans probably can recite specific instances where Bowles mismanaged the clock or wasted timeouts because the wrong personnel was on the field. He said his most egregious error occurred in Week 2, when he eschewed a two-point attempt late in a six-point win over the Bills. He admitted it was a "gaffe." There also was the late fourth-and-2 punt against the Steelers in Week 5, but he refused to admit it was a miscalculation.
But let's be fair. Every coach makes a couple of head-scratching decisions during the course of a season, even the so-called geniuses. No one is immune.
"Obviously, I can get better at a lot of things," Bowles acknowledged.
The folks in the analytics world have yet to create an all-encompassing statistic that rates a coach's ability to manage a game, so we're left to draw conclusions based on data in specific areas. Studying Bowles' performance, you'll see mixed results.
Close games. The Jets were 4-4 in games decided by one possession (eight points or less). A year ago, they were 4-5. That's pretty much a wash, but it has to get better if they want to be a playoff team.
Replay challenges. Bowles was successful on five of eight challenges, a big improvement from last season when he was 1-for-5.
Two-minute offense and defense. The Jets were a mess. They were outscored in the final two minutes of halves 82-23, the worst point differential (-59) in the NFL. In 2015, they were +15. This was a significant step back. You can blame some of this year's offensive struggles on quarterback instability, but there was no excuse for the defense.
[h=4]Jets percentage of plays by timeouts left[/h]
| Timeouts left | % of plays left | NFL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| All three | 72% | 17th |
| Two | 18% | 19th |
| One | 8% | 8th |
| None | 1.6% | 25th |
Use of timeouts. This is where Bowles catches the most flak. How many times did they burn a timeout early in a quarter because something was amiss? Unfortunately, there isn't a "bad timeout" stat, but ESPN Stats & Information came up with this chart. It shows that Bowles didn't go through timeouts as quickly as you might have figured. In fact, the stats show he was careful when calling that second timeout. Of course, he had no problem burning the third.
It should be noted that using all three timeouts isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Teams “below” the Jets in that metric include the Titans, Redskins, Falcons, Raiders, Giants and Patriots -- all of whom had winning records.
http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/66209/has-todd-bowles-improved-as-game-manager-jets-coach-thinks-so
