Best. Challenge. Ever.

[JoeDaSchmoe]

Whoever caught the Vikings with 12 men on the field on that bad snap deserves the biggest Christmas bonus that Danny has ever given out. There's an excellent chance that that challenge saved our season. Phenomenal job.

Oh, and even though it probably wasn't Gibbs (he's definitely not out there counting defensive players), he still deserves a bit of credit. He had to react quickly and not quaffle back and forth with the booth, as we've seen a lot over the past four years. I'm glad he was quick and decisive on that one.

[CNYSkinFan]

I said this at the time and I stick by it. That was Sean Taylor calling down from heaven telling us to challenge

[Skinz4lyfe]

Absolutely great call! I didn't even know that 12 men on the field is a challengeable (made up word?) play. That could have saved this game and our season.

[PennSkinsFan]

Unbelievable and likely saved the game, Absolutely phenomenal.

[skinsfan36]

I said this at the time and I stick by it. That was Sean Taylor calling down from heaven telling us to challenge

i believe it was also that was a big challenge

[LadyNRedskinsfan]

Absolutely great call! I didn't even know that 12 men on the field is a challengeable (made up word?) play. That could have saved this game and our season.
neither did i, but the challenge was GREAT and turned out to be an enormous play.

[hogs86]

Just Brilliant !!

Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWqGLVaITsk

[give_portis_the_rock]

I said this at the time and I stick by it. That was Sean Taylor calling down from heaven telling us to challenge

Talk about great range...
He has even greater range as an angel than he did as a player :D

[Redskin4Life]

Whoever caught the Vikings with 12 men on the field on that bad snap deserves the biggest Christmas bonus that Danny has ever given out. There's an excellent chance that that challenge saved our season. Phenomenal job.

Oh, and even though it probably wasn't Gibbs (he's definitely not out there counting defensive players), he still deserves a bit of credit. He had to react quickly and not quaffle back and forth with the booth, as we've seen a lot over the past four years. I'm glad he was quick and decisive on that one.
Especially when Childress had a chance to challenge Moss' catch (which I still think he dragged his second foot making that a catch) and was waffling on that decision. A complete contrast of an experienced Coach Gibbs and a relatively young Childress.

[shally]

Whoever caught the Vikings with 12 men on the field on that bad snap deserves the biggest Christmas bonus that Danny has ever given out. There's an excellent chance that that challenge saved our season. Phenomenal job.

Oh, and even though it probably wasn't Gibbs (he's definitely not out there counting defensive players), he still deserves a bit of credit. He had to react quickly and not quaffle back and forth with the booth, as we've seen a lot over the past four years. I'm glad he was quick and decisive on that one.

that had to come from the booth.. but it was the call of the year.. agreed it was the best challenge ever .. a total momentum changer..

[Shawnb555]

i love the call and they said on tv that guys should get a raise which i totally agree with he saved our season

[WarEagle]

Has Coach given anyone credit for that challenge? I wonder if the players and staff around him started yelling "12 men!"

[CNYSkinFan]

just saw the press conference on Redskins.com and of course Gibbs credited the guys upstairs for making the call....which is probably true, but Coach had to make the decision to throw the flag...he did, he gets some credit.

[redskin_rich]

Brilliant call and I don't care where it came from. One man stands on the sidelines, makes the decisions and gets blamed for the bad ones and should be equally credited for the good ones.

Bravo, Joe!

[The_Sonny_Of_Sammy]

Absolutely great call! I didn't even know that 12 men on the field is a challengeable (made up word?) play. That could have saved this game and our season.
From the Winners Dictionary: challengeable
challenge: A call to engage in a contest, fight, or competition.
enable: To supply with the means, knowledge, or opportunity: make able.
The challenge flag thrown by Coach Gibbs enabled the Redskins to win the game.

[thehogs11]

that had to come from the booth.. but it was the call of the year.. agreed it was the best challenge ever .. a total momentum changer..

How come when the redskins make a mistake it is always on Gibbs. But somthing like this had th come from upstairs? Just a question?

[hail2skins]

How come when the redskins make a mistake it is always on Gibbs. But somthing like this had th come from upstairs? Just a question?Because a head coach doesn't stand there and count the number of players on field each play. People are giving him credit for the actual throwing of the flag. The advice came from the booth as Gibbs mentioned in his press conference.

[thehogs11]

Because a head coach doesn't stand there and count the number of players on field each play. People are giving him credit for the actual throwing of the flag. The advice came from the booth as Gibbs mentioned in his press conference.

That is right. But the coach also does not play the game but when plays are made he get credit. On the flip side when they are not he is the first to get blamed. But none the less on more WIN and we are IN

[hail2skins]

That is right. But the coach also does not play the game but when plays are made he get credit. On the flip side when they are not he is the first to get blamed. But none the less on more WIN and we are INI thought we were talking about the challenge and not the playing. Decisions are made by the coaches, execution is based on the players. How did the success or failure of plays get into this conversation on a challenge?

[cal_junior]

As mentioned in the Post, the penalty was first spotted by "quality control coach Bill Khayat assistant coach Bob Saunders (Al's son), and team videographers."
But the final credit or blame in these situations always is laid at the feet of the HC. In this case Joe Gibbs made an excellent decision.

[culpeper]

coach joe gets the blame, so he gets the credit here too. also AS for telling coach to throw the flag after hearing the commotion. UN-BE-LEIVABLE call. WOW!

[csquared]

Especially when Childress had a chance to challenge Moss' catch (which I still think he dragged his second foot making that a catch) and was waffling on that decision. A complete contrast of an experienced Coach Gibbs and a relatively young Childress.

I think your giving Gibbs way too much credit here.

[culpeper]

I think your giving Gibbs way too much credit here.

yeah that is a little short sighted...

[Hr fan]

How come when the redskins make a mistake it is always on Gibbs. But somthing like this had th come from upstairs? Just a question?

The same reason a ship's Captain is court martialed when the ship runs aground when he asleep in his cabin. Absolute control carries with it absolute responsibility. As to your question, the Captain sets the parameters of his subordinates decision making or informing powers. Gibbs has "orders" to be "awoken" when approaching a "reef", here a winnable challenge. So he deserves credit for proper procedures being in place though he himself did not notice the 12th man on the field.

[Farmer Ted]

First, I've got to wonder how the zebras missed the call themselves. But then again, they also took 7 off the board for us, and then called the gawdawful pass interference at the end of the game that handed 7 to the Queens, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The zebras flat out sucked last night.

Second, Childress was complaining that we substituted players on that play, and the Queens didn't get the chance to make substitutions. Did we actually sub in any players?

[SkinsfaninNJ]

Brilliant call and I don't care where it came from. One man stands on the sidelines, makes the decisions and gets blamed for the bad ones and should be equally credited for the good ones.

Bravo, Joe!

That's how I feel about it. Gibbs had to make the call to challenge or not instantaneously. Good for him. Redemption must taste sweet even though he will never admit it.

[culpeper]

First, I've got to wonder how the zebras missed the call themselves. But then again, they also took 7 off the board for us, and then called the gawdawful pass interference at the end of the game that handed 7 to the Queens, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The zebras flat out sucked last night.

Second, Childress was complaining that we substituted players on that play, and the Queens didn't get the chance to make substitutions. Did we actually sub in any players?

i thought this was interesting too. i didnt see if we actually did sub players or not. my guess would be no because we were trying to get a play off quickly, but i didnt see.

a couple plays later the refs stopped the game to allow the vikings to do just that (when al micheals refered to the ref "raising the roof").

the whole arguement can be shut down when it comes to this though...childress wasnt complaining about stopping for substitutions when they recovered that fumble was he? cant fault him for trying, but the skins outsmarted him on that one!!!

[whistleandthumb]

The guy who first caught it works in the video department for the team, and is in the booth with Saunders and some other coaches. He was well-congratulated on the trip home - we all joked that he's going to win one of the "awards" this week from Coach Gibbs. I'll be interested to see if Coach singles him out during the presser this afternoon.

[culpeper]

The guy who first caught it works in the video department for the team, and is in the booth with Saunders and some other coaches. He was well-congratulated on the trip home - we all joked that he's going to win one of the "awards" this week from Coach Gibbs. I'll be interested to see if Coach singles him out during the presser this afternoon.

that is so cool. hes got to be on cloud nine today!

[skin4ever]

yeah he made this call, i dont know many people who knew that you could challenge too many men on the field, but Joe did and according to alot of you, he didnt know you couldnt call two timeouts, yeah right.

Go skins, bring on the cowgirls.

[SkinsKY]

Whoever caught the Vikings with 12 men on the field on that bad snap deserves the biggest Christmas bonus that Danny has ever given out. There's an excellent chance that that challenge saved our season. Phenomenal job.

Oh, and even though it probably wasn't Gibbs (he's definitely not out there counting defensive players), he still deserves a bit of credit. He had to react quickly and not quaffle back and forth with the booth, as we've seen a lot over the past four years. I'm glad he was quick and decisive on that one.

I screamed when Gibbs threw the flag, but it was huge. Once the ref announced the challenge, I was nothing but impressed. Who knows what might have happened if we had missed that.

[CNYSkinFan]

yeah he made this call, i dont know many people who knew that you could challenge too many men on the field, but Joe did and according to alot of you, he didnt know you couldnt call two timeouts, yeah right.

Go skins, bring on the cowgirls.
let it go louie...that little theory of yours will never ever stick..

[BigCountry]

What got me about that play is Childress throwing a hissy fit on the sideline about not getting enough time to substitute and here's what I don't get. If you know all the opposing team wants to do is snap the ball and cover it, why do you need to substitute. Hey Brad, pay attention!

[smoak]

Brilliant call and I don't care where it came from. One man stands on the sidelines, makes the decisions and gets blamed for the bad ones and should be equally credited for the good ones.

Bravo, Joe!

I could not agree more.

Things happen for a reason. Joe was meant to be here to guide us through troubled water and losing the close games earlier in the year helped the team win this one.

I was really touched by the intensity and effort on both sides of the football, and I hope it continues all into next weekend.

[CNYSkinFan]

What got me about that play is Childress throwing a hissy fit on the sideline about not getting enough time to substitute and here's what I don't get. If you know all the opposing team wants to do is snap the ball and cover it, why do you need to substitute. Hey Brad, pay attention!
Childress petitioned the league today and was told the refs got it right. Boo hoo

[Sonny Kilmer]

And if Childress is right, then the play should be dead anyway with it being Washington's ball.

They can't snap the ball and then recover a fumble with 12 men on the field anyway to begin with.

At worst even if Childress is right it would still be 1st and 10 for Washington b/c Minnesota still had 12 men on the field anyway.

The play should not have gone off to begin with until that guy got off the field for the substitution if Childress' substitution argument has any merit to begin with.

Minnesota was not gonna get the ball back anyway. For the Vikings at best it's a dead play do over with 1st and 10 for the Skins or at worst a 1st and 5 being the result of 12 men on the field penalty.

[FunBunch5]

If Childress was thinking he would of thrown the challenge flag after he lost the challenge because the penalty would have nullified the spike. Even if he did challenge I think Moss made the catch.

[JoeDaSchmoe]

If Childress was thinking he would of thrown the challenge flag after he lost the challenge because the penalty would have nullified the spike. Even if he did challenge I think Moss made the catch.

The penalty wouldn't have nullified the spike, it still would have technically been a play with a penalty enforced afterward, no different than if we ran some other play, they got caught offsides, and we accepted the penalty.

[shally]

What got me about that play is Childress throwing a hissy fit on the sideline about not getting enough time to substitute and here's what I don't get. If you know all the opposing team wants to do is snap the ball and cover it, why do you need to substitute. Hey Brad, pay attention!

we got burned on exactly the same play earlier this year, i believe.. we were a little slow getting guys off the field and gave someone a free 5 yards.. but this one was huge because it negated a change of possession play.

gibbs said it was someone upstairs who tipped him off to it..

[shally]

Childress petitioned the league today and was told the refs got it right. Boo hoo

he was wrong because we didnt substitute on theplay, so he wasnt entitled to either, from what i understand

[shally]

And if Childress is right, then the play should be dead anyway with it being Washington's ball.

They can't snap the ball and then recover a fumble with 12 men on the field anyway to begin with.

At worst even if Childress is right it would still be 1st and 10 for Washington b/c Minnesota still had 12 men on the field anyway.

The play should not have gone off to begin with until that guy got off the field for the substitution if Childress' substitution argument has any merit to begin with.

Minnesota was not gonna get the ball back anyway. For the Vikings at best it's a dead play do over with 1st and 10 for the Skins or at worst a 1st and 5 being the result of 12 men on the field penalty.

you never know what refs are gonna call.. they could have let the play stand and awarded minny the ball.. they might have been wrong, but all gibbs would have gotten was a league apology

besides, they already got one call wrong.. sellers had a td.. at the very worst, there wasnt enough evidence to overturn the call on the field.. that call was pure bogus homerism

[redskin_rich]

he was wrong because we didnt substitute on theplay, so he wasnt entitled to either, from what i understand

They can substitute, whether we do or not (and we didn't) but whenever you do, you run the risk of getting caught with 12 on the field. Peyton Manning and the Colts catch team frequently with their no huddle offense.

Childress just looks like a fool. We were obviously rushing up to get off a snap, why in the world would we make substitutions anyway?
We had the same personnel on the field as the preceding play and the pass to Moss was good and wouldn't have been reversed, so Childress and all the Vikings fans don't have a thing to whine about.

I also love how we made them pay for taking 7 points off our score, earlier on. I still don't see how the refs could clearly see enough to reverse that call but whatever. That is why you go for it with inches to go to the goal. Worst case scenario is you pin them in very bad place.

[shally]

They can substitute, whether we do or not (and we didn't) but whenever you do, you run the risk of getting caught with 12 on the field. Peyton Manning and the Colts catch team frequently with their no huddle offense.

Childress just looks like a fool. We were obviously rushing up to get off a snap, why in the world would we make substitutions anyway?
We had the same personnel on the field as the preceding play and the pass to Moss was good and wouldn't have been reversed, so Childress and all the Vikings fans don't have a thing to whine about.

I also love how we made them pay for taking 7 points off our score, earlier on. I still don't see how the refs could clearly see enough to reverse that call but whatever. That is why you go for it with inches to go to the goal. Worst case scenario is you pin them in very bad place.

i had zero faith that the refs would let the catch stand.. it was very very close depending upon whether he had the ball an instant before or after he dragged his second foot.. they blew the sellers call; they could have easily blown the moss call.
but the 12 men were either in black and what or not.. so there was no room for interpretation. they HAD to make the right call

jasno is talking about how unpopular childress is with his players (in todays insiders column) and that if the vikes fail to make the playoffs after being at home and in control it could get very hot for him.. considering they put up with mike tice for some time, my guess is that they hold onto childress for at least 1 more year. he may be unpleasant and unpopular, but at least he has not been an embarrassment. he simply may not be that good of a coach.
take away the absolute luck of having AP drop to him and he has a sub .500 team for 2 years easily..

[Hr fan]

What got me about that play is Childress throwing a hissy fit on the sideline about not getting enough time to substitute and here's what I don't get. If you know all the opposing team wants to do is snap the ball and cover it, why do you need to substitute. Hey Brad, pay attention!

And he bitched postgame about it, not understanding the full rule. To get the time for substitutions BOTH teams have to make substitutions. The 'Skins did not substitute so Childress making a substitution was at his risk of completing it before the snap. This rule is the foundation of the no-huddle offense, which is intended to deny subs by the opposing D.

[jtovb2005]

The constant shots of Childress's face throughout the game were priceless. He was not a happy camper. Did anyone else see panic? His useless rant after the challenge was highly amusing also :)

[smoak]

i had zero faith that the refs would let the catch stand.. it was very very close depending upon whether he had the ball an instant before or after he dragged his second foot.. they blew the sellers call; they could have easily blown the moss call.
but the 12 men were either in black and what or not.. so there was no room for interpretation. they HAD to make the right call

jasno is talking about how unpopular childress is with his players (in todays insiders column) and that if the vikes fail to make the playoffs after being at home and in control it could get very hot for him.. considering they put up with mike tice for some time, my guess is that they hold onto childress for at least 1 more year. he may be unpleasant and unpopular, but at least he has not been an embarrassment. he simply may not be that good of a coach.
take away the absolute luck of having AP drop to him and he has a sub .500 team for 2 years easily..

their strength is their line more than AP, IMO.