It's kind of odd that the Westbrook lay-down and the Smith timeout-swallow happened in the same week.
Had Westbrook jogged into the endzone, there would have been a very small probability that Dallas could have tied the game. Instead, thanks to Westbrook's decision, there was no probability of tying the game. Since the play was unusual, fans and media have decided that Westbrook is smarter and more unselfish than the normal RB in the NFL. And that's probably true.
Because L.Smith did not call a TO with :15 on the game clock, the Minnesota game ended. Had Smith called the TO, there was a very small probability that Chicago could have tied the game. It's the same stakes as the Philly game, but in reverse and the decision was in a coach's hands.
If Westbrook (and/or Runyan) is very smart and unselfish, than Lovy is very forgetful or reprehensibly apapthetic. In the NFL coaching ranks, what Lovy did was incredibly bad.
So, the two play's respective impacts on their games were equal, in my opinion, based on the probability of a comeback in each game being in the same neighborhood (maybe in the area of 1%).
It was technically a +3 TO margin. Orton's last pass was pretty much a hail mary (like an idiot cause they had 1:38 left still at that time) that was picked. It was 4TO's to 1 - and Minny still wins by 7. They should have blown them out of the water.
Lovie Smith is an idiot for not calling the timeout. Stranger things have happened than a hail mary at the end getting completed to tie a game up.
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