Tony Sparano takes blame for ill-timed and ill-fated timeout

By at 26 October, 2009, 3:48 pm

Coach Tony Sparano wants his players to live by the mantra, “No excuses.” When Sparano makes a mistake, he wants to set the example and own up to it. On the final play of the first half of Sunday’s 46-34 loss to New Orleans, Sparano knows he made a judgment error to give the high-scoring Saints seven points, rather than three. With the Saints lined up for an 18-yard field goal with five seconds remaining and no timeouts, Sparano called a Dolphins’ time out because he didn’t have his field-goal defense on the field. Linebackers Channing Crowder and Jason Taylor signaled for a timeout, and Sparano mistakenly concurred. This allowed New Orleans to send its offense back onto the field and score a 1-yard TD on a plunge by QB Drew Brees, cutting a 21-point lead to 24-10 and giving the Saints momentum. “I

have to take ownership of the situation that happened at the end of the half yesterday,” Sparano said Monday. “I always have the power of trump and I did not do that. [I] should have lived with what was out on the field in that situation. “So it was a bad decision on my part.” It turned out to be a game-turning play, especially when the Saints came up with a pick-six in the third play of the second half to cut the lead to 24-17. “You would like to think they go in there without a touchdown and you’d like to think they’re pretty much done,” linebacker Reggie Torbor said Sunday. “Stick a fork in them. “Now they have hope.” The Saints ended up scoring 43 points in 30:05.

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Tony Sparano takes blame for ill-timed and ill-fated timeout

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