Winnipeg head coach Tim Burke’s decision to take a knee becomes an Internet meme

The Edmonton Eskimos' comeback from a 20-0 deficit to beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 35-27 in overtime Friday night was notable enough on its own, but for many Winnipeg fans, it was a decision by head coach Tim Burke that made the loss even worse. The Eskimos tied the game late in the fourth quarter after a third-and-10 conversion where Mike Reilly threw a pass that went right through the hands of Bombers' defensive back Demond Washington to Fred Stamps for a 51-yard gain, setting up another big pass to Shamawd Chambers and a Hugh O'Neill field goal. With 22 seconds left, though, the Bombers got the ball back on their own 30 and had a chance to win the game in regulation. Instead, Burke elected to take a knee and send the game to overtime, where the Bombers quickly lost. That decision has since been widely criticized by Winnipeg media and fans, and it's turned into a bit of a meme. Here are some of the best tweets about Burke's move:

The criticism's justified on a lot of levels. Yes, the Bombers' chances of scoring in regulation weren't all that high; they'd have to go a long way to get in range for an attempted punt single, much less a field goal or a touchdown. Those chances were substantially less than the probability of losing in regulation without taking a knee, though; Winnipeg could only have lost this game in regulation by turning over the ball, and even then, Edmonton would still likely have to either work the ball into position for a punt single or field goal attempt (unless the Bombers turned it over at the line of scrimmage or the Eskimos were able to take an interception return all the way to field-goal range or the end zone).

What are the odds of that? By the box score, Winnipeg ran 38 offensive plays Friday (18 passing attempts, 17 rushing attempts, three passing dropbacks that resulted in sacks). Only three of those resulted in turnovers (two interceptions and a fumble), which is 7.9 per cent. When you consider the additional difficulty of doing anything with that turnover before the clock ran out, the chances of Edmonton winning in regulation seem minimal. Meanwhile, the Bombers had options; they could have thrown the ball deep a couple of times to see if they could get in field-goal range, or even attempt a throw-and-punt for a single similar to what Calgary did Saturday. Instead, Burke opted to throw away the advantage of possession and head to the neutral ground of overtime, where his team promptly went on to lose. For that, he deserves all the jokes he's taking.