Kiszla: John Fox fires back at critics who call him conservative

[Denver Native (Carol)]

some things from article:


Oh, Broncos coach John Fox knows the rap against him. Here's how the story goes: It's a happy accident his NFL team averages 43 points per game, because Fox is so conservative he put the fuddy in duddy.

"I don't give a flying flip," Fox told me Wednesday. "I'm going to get evaluated on how many wins and losses I have."

"When you lose a game like Baltimore or you lose a game like Indy, you kind of know you're going to get hammered for it. We all sign up for it," Fox said. "I tell our guys all the time: 'We're under attack. But we're well-compensated for it.' "

"What people don't get is: I've got 53 guys in that locker room that work very hard. ... So, as a coach, you can't just pull stuff out of your rear end and go with it. Because players know what gives us the best chance to win," Fox said.

full article - http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_24423080/fox-focuses-winning-not-identity

[Ravage!!!]

Great coments by the coach. Its VERY VERY easy for the couch coaches to want to "go for it".. "air it out"..."throw the bomb".... and call people "conservative" when their job, lively hood, and career isn't on the line.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Great coments by the coach. Its VERY VERY easy for the couch coaches to want to "go for it".. "air it out"..."throw the bomb".... and call people "conservative" when their job, lively hood, and career isn't on the line.

Great post - totally agree

[Simple Jaded]

Fox has always been a defensive minded coach, few fans identify with coaches like that and a lot of people didn't like the hire, but "conservative" didn't become the insult it is now until he, Elway and McCoy were trying to sabatoge Tebow's career out of sheer jealousy. He was conservative back then but they're averaging over 40 a game now, they're 2nd in pass attempts and 7th in rush attempts, they have a 60/40 pass/run ratio, to call him conservative now is asinine.

[Poet]

He's been labeled a conservative coach for a long time. Remember during the last parts of the Balt game? The boards erupted because he ran the ball when a first down won the game. Oh, the label conservative was more than being thrown around, then.

[Northman]

Yawn.......

[OrangeHoof]

"I tell our guys all the time: 'We're under attack. But we're well-compensated for it.' "

Some folks don't think this is part of the arrangement.

[DenBronx]

John Fox has deffinitely been an ultra conservative coach in the past.

But, he has never had Peyton Manning. He seems to have thrown that approach out the window. Every so often he might do something that seems a little conservative to some but we forget that Adam Gase is the play caller and Manning has audibled many many times. In fact Manning called a few terrible audibles in that Colts game....none of that was Coach Fox.

I wish he had been a little more aggressive in that Balt game last year....that's really my only complaint. But, I can't blame Fox for a play Rahim Moore should have made just like I can't blame Moore for a late game INT Manning threw.


Bottom line, I don't think Fox is conservative with Manning.

[Joel]

He's been labeled a conservative coach for a long time. Remember during the last parts of the Balt game? The boards erupted because he ran the ball when a first down won the game. Oh, the label conservative was more than being thrown around, then.
It's been a slam since long before Fox began coaching; Cowboys fans slammed Landry for it in the '70s, and Denver fans slammed his protege: Dan Reeves. There are several red flags in that article, such as:


"We took a knee (against Washington) with 19 seconds to go in the second quarter and one timeout at the minus 20. But we get the ball back in 15 minutes, after coming out of the locker room, with a whole half left. Why risk something stupid happening? So you can be aggressive? I mean, where are you really going in 19 seconds?"
Uh huh. In that playoff game you mentioned the Ravens final regulation possession began with just 1:09 left; it only took them 38 seconds (or 2X19 seconds) to go 70 yards for the OT-forcing TD. That's just 0:07 more than it left Denver, who only had to go about half as far to get in range for a long Prater FG in Mile High air: We took a knee and lost the game and our season in DOT. Or this:
He points to the 2003 Carolina team that went to the Super Bowl with unremarkable Jake Delhomme at quarterback and high-profile defensive end Julius Peppers as indisputable evidence why there's no shame in conservatism. "It worked. We shortened the game. It's like small ball in baseball. If you're not overly talented, you've got to do some different things to create the opportunity to win." Fox said.

Uh huh. Except checking the SB XXXVIII drive chart show the Pats were in control throughout that game, and probably iced it with a TD drive to take a 21-10 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, which, as Wikipedia puts it, "was the start of another scoring explosion, one that became one of the biggest explosions in Super Bowl history, with both teams scoring a combined 37 points in the last 15 minutes, the most ever in a single quarter of a Super Bowl."

In other words, Fox, like Reeves in the '80s, played conservative for three quarters only to find himself down two scores at the start of the fourth quarter and finally take the handcuffs off his offense when that was the only way to keep the season alive. Result: His "unremarkable" offense outscored one of historys best 19-12 over the rest of the Super Bowl, tying the game with 1:09 left, at which point the Patriots took a knee and went on to lose the game in OT; I mean, where were they really going in 69 seconds? Oh, right: Down the field to win the championship with a FG.

Perhaps that's the most pathetic thing of all: Not Foxes conservatism, but that his excellent defensive personnel and scheming is supposed to enable conservative victories, yet he LOST the two biggest games of his career because his defense couldn't play Prevent for 69 seconds. Maybe that explains why so many Broncos opponents have managed the final score of a half over the last few years, and why Manning was so adamant Moreno NOT score a TD on the final drive against Dallas.

Frankly, I think Fox may be the LUCKIEST coach in NFL history; he's the only coach to win 3 OT games in one season, and both times it was the only reason his team made the playoffs, where he won yet another OT game both times. Maybe last years OT playoff loss was just the Football Gods righting a decade old wrong. One thing's certain though: If we win SB XLVIII it won't be with the power running and smothering defense Foxball employs like it's still 1955: It'll be on Mannings arm, and Fox will just be along for the ride.

[Poet]

I don't want to read that, Joel. I did. I think you agree with me, but I'm not sure?

[MOtorboat]

Uh huh. Except checking the SB XXXVIII drive chart show the Pats were in control throughout that game, and probably iced it with a TD drive to take a 21-10 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, which, as Wikipedia puts it, "was the start of another scoring explosion, one that became one of the biggest explosions in Super Bowl history, with both teams scoring a combined 37 points in the last 15 minutes, the most ever in a single quarter of a Super Bowl."[COLOR=#000000][FONT=sans-serif]

That team aired it out all the time. They let Delhomme be a gunslinger, at times to his detriment.

I'll also put aside the KNOWN coaching philosophy that he lets the offensive coordinator call the game and pretty much stays out of it...we'll put that aside and ASSUME he's making all the offensive calls (which we know isn't true).

Regardless of whether or not you want to call it conservative play calls to go to overtime, or not with the Broncos last year, you don't score 35 offensive points with a conservative game plan, regardless of what happens at the end. Not to mention you contradict yourself by saying he would play ultra-conservative for three quarters like Reeves when you're talking about the Panthers game (once again we're watching you boil it down to one or two games of hundreds), versus playing aggressive for almost four quarters and then taking it to OT with the Broncos. Those two gameplans contradict your theory.

Now, back to that ONE game. Brady scores with 23 seconds left in the first half to take a 14-7 lead, AND New England gets the ball in the second half. Stephen Davis breaks one for 21 yards and they get a field goal to get to 14-10. All the while, they passed it 19 times to 11 runs. That's not conservative.

In the second half, even before the Patriots scored at the end of the third, they were winging the ball, it just wasn't working. So, once the Patriots scored and took the 11 point lead, of course they had to start winging it even more. The Panthers only ran the ball 16 times in the entire game. That is simply not a conservative gameplan.

[OrangeHoof]

I've played enough game sims to know that you can plan for anything and then the unexpected happens - a blocked punt, a fumbled snap, a terrible ref's call - and all the sudden the careful gameplan you put together goes flying out the window. Teams that are built on defense seem to get the "conservative" label because they generally just ask the offense not to lose the game. Teams that are built on offense are always called "aggressive, free-wheeling, bombs away" etc because they take a lot of chances whereas a defense that blitz a lot takes the same type of chances but nobody considers that risky.

A lot of veteran head coaches lean toward whatever is the safe call when they are clinging to a lead late in games because they know the hell they'll catch if the team Tony Romos in the final minute. You have to have stealy nerves (or are very foolish) to toss the bomb on 4th and 3 from your own end when you lead by two at the end of the game. Those sort of decisions get you fired when they don't work.

[Simple Jaded]

Delhomme was slinging it all over the field that year, I remember folks around here saying the Broncos signed the wrong Jake.

[elvie7733]

yes its true, with manning as your qb 3rd and 7 balt game , i throw the damm ball but that wasnt the only bad call down the stretch of that game. at indy there were many mistakes and poor play callingno matter who called the plays at the time. 4th and inches , i dont care where on the field u r as an nfl team u should have a play for that and u should always go for it. we are talking about a couple feet here!