Leave The Game Early or Focus & Grind?

I gave up with ten minutes remaining. Time to walk the dog. This one is over. Let’s move on. Why waste time? I know how this ends. I could be more productive and check something else off the list. Besides, it’s the first weekend of the NFL season, not December, when games matter.

If you haven’t heard about Sunday night’s NFL matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills, the score was 40-25 with about four minutes left in the game.

I’m sure there were more people like me taking the dog for one more walk in the neighborhood. But when I returned, the narrative had changed. The Bills scored twice and were within two points of tying this season’s debut SNF game with less than three minutes remaining. I felt like Jaoquin Phoenix’s character in Gladiator when he asks his father, “Have I missed the battle?” Richard Harris’ character sarcastically replies to his son, “You have missed the war!”

You know where this one is going. Buffalo regained possession of the ball with 1:26 remaining and no timeouts. But Josh Allen was their quarterback, and he’s proven that time on the clock is an opportunity to score. He led his team to two quick touchdowns and set up the place kicker, Matt Prater, who had only been signed to the team a few days before the game, to kick the most memorable ending of his veteran career.

Standing in front of the TV, I thought this could be another Monday Night Miracle. The New York Jets trailed the Miami Dolphins 30-7 at the end of the third quarter during Week 8 of the 2000-01 season. The Dolphins had a 99.1% probability of winning the game as they entered the final 15 minutes. Quarterback Vinny Testaverde led the New York Jets to the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in the franchise’s history, and the Jets won the game 40-37 in OT.

I remember watching the entire second half of the Monday Night Miracle. It was the era before social media and streaming video, so we didn’t have as many distractions. I’m sure by the time the fourth quarter started, I thought, “I’ll give it one more series of plays. Okay, that’s interesting. I’ll give it one more.” Repeat, repeat, repeat, until you have one of the most memorable football game endings.

• Do we leave the game early, or do we focus & grind? Leaders keep two lists: 1) What’s worth fighting for until the end of the game? 2) What do we cut before it drains the season’s potential?
• Do our teams know we play until the clock runs out? One more call, one more appearance, one more revision, one more opportunity to present your client with their marketing plan. Because the “one more” might be the last 90 seconds of the game when we make the connection and get the business.
• Do we immediately welcome new team members? At 41, Matt Prater is the oldest player to be signed to the Buffalo Bills. He was in retirement mode and coaching his son’s youth football team 72 hours before the game-winning field goal. When we bring in rookies or veterans to join our team, do we immediately acknowledge their expertise and experience? If not, then when did we hire them?

Unlike a football game, your clock and your business reset every day. Knowing you’ve lost and you have to cut the project or the people is not enjoyable. However, grinding through the noise, coaching your team, and counting on a break or two has an unforgettable outcome if you don’t leave the game too early.

Oh, and here’s a link to a sixteen-minute recap of the Monday Night Miracle game. Al Michaels and Dan Fouts hosted the broadcast booth. The third voice is Dennis Miller. I had forgotten about that era of Monday Night Football.