What the... Oh, its just another Sunday of football madness

So I watched a bit of football today. It was a fascinating day. I was amazed at the bizarre happenings, pathetic performances, and unlikely endings. But it was two "what the..." moments that inspire me to blog.

First, this seems to be the consensus definition that I could find for a particular football term, the FORWARD PASS: "A forward pass - usually called simply a pass - is a throwing of the football from a member of the team in possession of the ball to another member of the same team who is closer to the opponent's goal line". The play in question will likely cause a new rule as a result of the inexplicable decision by the referee. And once again, at the expense of the Raiders. Like they need any un-help. Anyway, opponent catches pass as he falls to the ground. He is not touched by a Raider. He gets up, again not being touched, and immediately "flings" the ball toward the ground, slightly forward of where he stands (he is facing "the opponents goal line"), and as the ball hits the ground, it bounces a bit further "forward". He was not throwing the ball to ANYONE, let alone a teammate who was closer to the opponents goal line.

Now EVERYONE ELSE ON THE FIELD realizes that the guy was not touched, and he just tossed the ball away, and thus the ball is live and anyone can pick it up. So the ENTIRE RAIDER TEAM goes for the ball, and it seemed to me that all the opponents in the picture also went for the ball. The Raider recovered the... we'll call it a fumble, since tha's what it is... and after some thought, the referee ruled Raider ball. He then thought some more and ruled that after the player caught the ball, he threw an illegal forward pass, causing the play to end at that point. He assessed a five yard penalty from the location of the illegal pass, but the opponents were allowed to retain possession of the ball. They of course went on to score the winning touchdown on the drive.

Bottom line: Stupid player throws the ball down without realizing the play is still live (or should have been)= FUMBLE. Your thoughts?

Then, in a move makes me wonder how coaches keep their jobs, the Niners are at the opponents 6 yard line, like 4 minutes to go, leading by 1 point. All day they have been running the ball very well. But itfourthth down. But its fourth and like less than a yard. Two options. 1-Field Goal, 2-Go For It.

Pros and cons: Kick Field Goal-PRO; make it and lead by 4 so opponent has to score a touchdown to win, with only four minutes to go. CON; miss it and opponent gets the ball at the 20 and needs only a field goal to win.

GO FOR IT-PRO; make it and score, or at least have three more shots at a touchdown, to lead by 8 (more than likely), which means the opponent needs a touchdown AND a 2 point conversion just to tie; failing that, you still have a chance to kick a field goal, all the while running much more time off the clock, likely causing opponent to use timeouts; and let's not forget showing confidence in your players that they can perform a relatively simple football task. CON; don't make it and opponent gets the ball at the 6 and needs only a field goal to win.

Seems to me that the downside of both options is the same, while the upside of kicking the field goal still allows a better chance for the opponent to win. The upside of going for it, even if just to eventually kick a field goal later, is HUGE. Go for it and make it and the game is all but over if you do things right.

If you can't make a yard, or you as the coach don't think your team can, then you lose. He kicked, it was good, and they lost. Your thoughts?