Coaches stole some of the spotlight from players in Week 5 with aggressive fourth-down play calls that were second-guessed after those gambles failed to pay off.
The debate in the N.F.L. over “analytics” — the mathematical analysis of data to determine probabilities for in-game decisions — has grown steadily over the past five seasons. Data-driven approaches to play calling have upended a lot of football orthodoxy, particularly with regard to decisions on fourth down. When decisions to forgo a punt or extra point, or try for a touchdown over a field goal don’t work out, as it happened for Brandon Staley, Nathaniel Hackett and Josh McDaniels, the analytics skeptics grow louder.