Fan Poll: Was Icing The Kicker A Good Idea Against The Dolphins?

After a frustrating three and a half hours of watching the Bengals stumble to a 20-17 lead on Thursday night, the team was faced with a big decision. After allowing Ryan Tannehill to march down the field, the Dolphins set up for a tying field goal attempt with 16 seconds left. Rookie Caleb Sturgis lined up for a 44-yard kick and Cincinnati's coaching staff was faced with taking a timeout and ice the kicker, or let him just go line up and kick. The Bengals chose the former and Sturgis made the kick.

Before the kick was made, the subject of whether or not icing the kicker was a good idea came up. Hindsight aside, I was against Marvin Lewis taking a timeout to ice the kicker. Sturgis had missed an easy kick earlier in the game and had a subpar conversion percentage on the year. Moreover, he looked uneasy on the sideline during that final drive and I personally felt that taking the timeout to let him get his bearings, take a few warmup swings of the leg, and relax a bit was not the best move.

On the other hand, allowing a young player to think about a huge kick more isn't necessarily a dumb move either. Though the percentage of success for icing a kicker isn't all that high, it sometimes does prove to be effective. Playing a mind game with a rookie kicker makes sense on some level and I can see the logic there.

Regardless of the outcome, did you agree with Marvin Lewis' decision to ice the kicker late in the fourth quarter?