Re placekicking - I am sure you are right, it's just that it hadn't occured to me before. Seems bizarre really when everything else is so carefully managed. Not sure what I expected really - perhaps that some other player may have some responsibilities as an emergency kicker. I was rather hoping that the Aussie guy would have a crack at a drop-goal, but I imagine they went for 2-point conversions in the second half as they did't rate his chances!
Re: the running game. I think on the highlights of the second half I saw them try to run at 3rd and 7!? Did they manage to run the ball even half that distance on any play prior to that? It was like watching a sporting version of Einstein's definition of insanity. American football is a really complicated game and I don't pretend to understand it to even GCSE levels, but I would be interested to see if anyone who better understands the game can defend those play calls.