You’re not even thinking about it anymore. Why would you? It was an extra point. The snap was good. The hold was good. The kick was good. All that mattered was that the Bucs were back in the game against the Panthers. The score was 35-28 with almost a full quarter left to play. When we look back on this season, we’ll talk about Vance McDonald delivering a stiff arm from hell to Chris Conte. We’ll talk about Mitch Trubisky torching the Tampa Bay defense for six touchdowns. We’ll talk about Curtis Samuel zig-zagging down the field on a double reverse. Chandler Catanzaro’s last extra point Sunday, though, is one of the most meaningful plays you’ll never remember. And it shouldn’t have happened. When a team trailing by 14 points late in a game scores a touchdown, it should forgo the extra point. It should attempt a two-point conversion instead. Says who? Says math. Yet almost no one tries it. Why? Because almost no one tries it. That’s conventional wisdom for you, and conventional wisdom says that a team should kick the extra point to cut the deficit to seven points. Because that’s just what a team should do, that’s why. What amount of consideration do the Bucs give to attempting two-point conversions in such situations? “None,” coach Dirk Koetter said, “because you’re trying to keep all your options for as far back in the game as you can. I would think most people would say if you’re going to… [Read full story]
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