Outside of the time he thought he was playing college football and almost pulled a Plaxico/Santonio Holmes with the ball after his catch.
It's the Little Things: Pick Your Favorite Unsung Effort From SB 51
- Thread starter BigSoxFan
- Start date
I don't know. There were a lot of little plays that were huge.
I wanted to go with Bennett's catch on the tipped pass. That should've been a pick. And Danny F'n Amendola came up with so many huge catches. And Mitchell's fall down, get up and make the catch was awesome.
But I'm going with Chris Long getting the holding penalty on Atlanta's last drive to push the Falcons out of field goal range. Credit to the zebra for throwing the flag there. They also made a great call on Edelman's miracle catch.
I wanted to go with Bennett's catch on the tipped pass. That should've been a pick. And Danny F'n Amendola came up with so many huge catches. And Mitchell's fall down, get up and make the catch was awesome.
But I'm going with Chris Long getting the holding penalty on Atlanta's last drive to push the Falcons out of field goal range. Credit to the zebra for throwing the flag there. They also made a great call on Edelman's miracle catch.
This might be borderline for "little things", but the Patriots running up to the line after Edelman's ankle catch forcing Quinn to burn his last time out on a rejected challenge. This left Atlanta with zero time outs when they got it back with 57 seconds left. That last drive by them might have had a much different (and scarier) complexion with a time out in their back pocket.
The tackle on the first down run after Jones' fantastic catch on the sideline. I can't remember who made the tackle. Getting the tackle for a loss caused Shanahan to go brain dead and call 3 straight passes. If the Falcons gain a couple of yards on that play they probably keep it on the ground.
This is a great call. They likely forced him to challenge it without actually seeing the replay too. This stopped the clock 2 seconds before the 2 min warning and burned their time out. If he didn't challenge, I bet they just snap and spike it there. Outstanding awareness.
The decision to kick the field goal to make it 28-12. It's the textbook play to make it a 2-score game, but Belichik was killed for it on Twitter at the time and I'm sure there are a few coaches who go for the desperation TD with under 10 minutes to go down by 19.
Also, TB12 avoiding the safety (both by avoiding the sack and by avoiding intentional grounding in the end zone) starting out the final drive of regulation.
Also, TB12 avoiding the safety (both by avoiding the sack and by avoiding intentional grounding in the end zone) starting out the final drive of regulation.
Re: delay of game - so with teh Falcons up huge, it would have made some sense to keep taking as many delay of games as possible before 5 minutes left. seems like the rule should be changed but it won't
Field goal decision was fairly close. Barnwell makes a reasonable case for going for it in his writeup as making it a "two score game" at 28-12 is very different from making it a "two score game" at 28-14, but I think its pretty close. They should almost definitely have gone for it without the third down sack. Yeah going for it is going for a desperation TD, but when you are like 200-1 to win desperation is the right adjective (and, incidentally, thought the coaching staff did a good job emptying the playbook with the onside kick, the Edelman pass, and the misdirection punt return attempt)
Carl Cheffers was the same ref that called the same exact hold in the KC-Pittsburgh game.
I'll add to this the back judge rushing in and emphatically calling it a catch. If he wasn't so emphatic, they might have huddled and discussed which would have given the Falcons booth some time to determine if they would challenge it. Considering the ball was 1 inch from the ground, the certainty the ref had was absolutely remarkable.
I was the lone optimist at the party I was at, but after that Edelman pass failed I thought we might be cooked. Figured at that point we were throwing the kitchen sink at them but nothing was going to work.
Yeah, refs can theoretically rule a palpably unfair act if they do that (league office said refs are taught to rule this if someone uses the defensive holding loophole for more than one play), but seems like they should explicitly close the loophole. This is like the old 12 man loophole, someone will use it at some point.
Falcons were up enough they probably could have just thrown a couple of intentional false starts in to burn a couple of minutes.
I think after the 2nd one they would get called for unsportsmanlike penalty and the clock stops there? Even if the clock doesn't stop, I think the refs can start issuing points on the scoreboard for the Patriots if they continue with unsportsmanlike penalties there.
Was it the 1st Falcons drive of the second half when the Falcons had a run out into the left flat that looked to be a sure 1st down and Logan Ryan took a wicked angle and stopped it for a 5 or 6 yard gain with a beautiful tackle? Think it forced a failed 3rd down but my memory is very fuzzy about it. Just thought it was a great play by Ryan.
So much elation and so many kudos to go around, but the thing that keeps hitting me is that it's not just about the Game, it's the What Goes Into the Game: holy hell, did the strength & conditioning personnel help win the day in this one. I can't think of a Pats player who looked slow (outside the start of the game, when everyone looked slow compared to Freeman, ha) or run down later in this contest.
This team's got truly tough players who take coaching well, and seriously. "Mental and physical toughness" isn't just some baloney cliche BB spouts off about.
This team's got truly tough players who take coaching well, and seriously. "Mental and physical toughness" isn't just some baloney cliche BB spouts off about.
I rewatched the game last night, and one of the things I looked for specifically was to see when the Atlanta D ran out of gas. And it wasn't until OT. There's a reason those last two regulation time Pats drives took so many plays...the D was putting pressure AND covering guys tight. Just tough as nails.
As for the "little things", the refs were superb. They got all the close plays exactly right.
The depth the front office built. The recent success has been built on Gronk being Gronk and prior to this year we weren't the same without him. This team had three running backs they could use to match-up against weaknesses in other teams. The #3 and #4 WR's came up big. The front seven survived losing Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins. And they needed every member of that secondary to hold down Julio Jones and company. Of all the great teams in the Belichick era, this team had the most depth and is the reason they brought home #5.
Gotcha. I rewatched the last few drives last night but I wasn't in much of an Xs and Os mode!
This won't get much mention because it's a combination of effort by the Pats and luck, but the 3 (?) times they got the clock stopped because of Falcon injuries really helped with clock management. They may have saved a timeout and at least 1 min plus on the clock.
Bennett ended up being a much more important pickup than people thought at first. He softened the sting of losing Gronk just enough for them to be able to continue on without him. He had a couple huge plays last night too.
Sort of funny, but the Pats actually didnt end up needing extra time. By the time they got the tying TD they legitimately had to be thinking about running more clock.
Bennett ended up being a much more important pickup than people thought at first. He softened the sting of losing Gronk just enough for them to be able to continue on without him. He had a couple huge plays last night too.
He clearly wasnt close to 100% either, but played through it.
Bennett ended up being a much more important pickup than people thought at first. He softened the sting of losing Gronk just enough for them to be able to continue on without him. He had a couple huge plays last night too.
He clearly wasnt close to 100% either, but played through it.
Yeah there must have been at least 3 different moments in the past 6 weeks where you thought "oh shit, there goes Bennett now for the rest of the season"....and he came back on the field a couple plays later. He def played through some injuries but stayed effective enough to be an important factor. Defenses had to account for him.
For me a very under the radar little thing was the Tevin Coleman injury. That forced them to put Freeman in to pass protect, which he's not very good at, and he got absolutely schooled by Hightower. Good on Patricia for recognizing that weakness and DH for the fantastic forced fumble.
Not sure where to post this...was anyone else thinking of the Fair Catch Rule when Falcons punted at the end of regulation? (After a fair catch, the receiving team has the option to put the ball in play by a snap or a fair catch kick (field goal attempt), with fair catch kick lines established TEN yards apart. All general rules apply as for a field goal attempt from scrimmage) Edelman caught the punt at their own 40, but a shank could have resulted in a free kick with the defense lined up ten yards off the kick for the win.
It came up in the post game interviews, but the coaching staff also told Bennett to start chipping Freeney to slow him down, and if you watch the game again, you'll see a few plays where he nails Freeney hard enough to make the rush from that side a non-factor on the play.
Thank god they learned that lesson in the Seattle game and didn't get cute and just scored.
I'd go further and say that the unsung, top-notch effort of the refs throughout the entire game should be mentioned. They didn't call a "only throw a flag when there's blood" playoff game like the AFC Title Game crew did, they didn't call a "It's Week 1 so flag everything to show those teams/players that we really care about new point of emphasis #437" flag fest, they just called a standard, middle-of-the-road, precision game.
They got the catches right, they flagged both teams when they earned it, they didn't seem to categorically ignore any particular "type" of penalty, and they threw flags at the end of the game for the same kind of fouls that they did in the 1st quarter. I think that's a pretty rare, top-notch performance from an officiating crew in a game where any one "extra" flag or ignored foul going either way could have ended the game.
Good thought. I also asked about this in the Atlanta thread and wondered whether not having Coleman also affected some of their play calling late. I don't watch them enough to know how they split duties, and Freeman certainly was running really well, but I wondered if maybe that led to some of the decisions.
Don't think they learned much given the only real mistake in the Seattle sequence, IMO, was the 4th down call and they threw a fade to Bennett in OT.
This was a little bit different because 1) there was less time left for Atl to come back than against Seattle and Atl was already out of TO's 2) they were in hurry up mode and probably liked who was on the field to run against for Atlanta 3) they were down 8, not 7, so more plusses of having time left if the 2 fails 4) defense was pure trash against Seattle where they had just stopped Atlanta three straight possessions.
This was a little bit different because 1) there was less time left for Atl to come back than against Seattle and Atl was already out of TO's 2) they were in hurry up mode and probably liked who was on the field to run against for Atlanta 3) they were down 8, not 7, so more plusses of having time left if the 2 fails 4) defense was pure trash against Seattle where they had just stopped Atlanta three straight possessions.
Belichick mentioned that option in the post-game and said it was too far---"75 yard kick". So we can be sure they were thinking about it.
I have absolutely zero doubt that Edelman knew the exact yard line at which he was instructed to call the fair catch for the free kick, and also that the FG unit was prepped to come onto the field for the free kick. This is what BB, and the Pats, do better than anyone in history (other than win games, of course): understand situational football.
I have a lot more doubt whether the Fox crew would have been able to explain what was happening if that occurred---though Pereira would have been.
Plus they had to plan for an onside kick in the event of a failed 2 point attempt.
When BB called TO you can see him on the broadcast telling Edelman to fair catch the ensuing punt.
He tried to set it up one other time in the 2002 finale vs. Miami and was visibly pissed on that broadcast that they didn't catch the shitty punt.
He tried to set it up one other time in the 2002 finale vs. Miami and was visibly pissed on that broadcast that they didn't catch the shitty punt.
It's weird. I love DA, but aside from his first ever regular season Pats game against Buffalo he's been a disappointment in the regular season. But man alive has he earned his money in the playoffs. He was just huge yesterday.
Wow. Didn't realize that. Great call against KC and great call last night -- particularly impressive that he was publicly called out and stuck to his guns in the Super Bowl. Fuck Travis Kelce.Carl Cheffers was the same ref that called the same exact hold in the KC-Pittsburgh game.
Yes! Was trying to think of when that play was. I remember thinking damn, there's another huge chunk of yardage and then Ryan just flew at the runner.
I'm going to go with the Alford breakup on the pass to Edelman on 1st down on the tying drive that he wasn't able to intercept a couple of plays before The Catch
The most "Belichick" possible end to the game would have been the Pats winning on a free kick on a fair catch thanks to a rule that few have even heard of.
Quinn initially sent Julio Jones out there---I was unsure if that was to play 'deep safety' on a hail mary or stand under goalpost for a free kick.
Quinn initially sent Julio Jones out there---I was unsure if that was to play 'deep safety' on a hail mary or stand under goalpost for a free kick.
This is a good point, but I would say that the missed extra point before that was the wrong choice -- I'm not sure what bringing it to an 18-point deficit does for you there vs. going for 2 and a 17-point deficit. It didn't matter since they missed the XP, but if they get the XP, they still need to make one 2-pt conversion later. If they get the 2 there, you can tie it with 14 points (or win in regulation with one conversion*).
Also I agree the refs were MOSTLY good, but they are lucky that the Pats didn't lose by 1 point because they totally blew the McLellin blocked XP (which was unreviewable).
*Teams never do this but if you're down by 14 and score a TD, you should go for 2. Then if you convert, you just need 7 points to win, but if you don't you can still tie it with 8. This might change if you think you're really unlikely to convert but obviously XPs are no longer automatic. The problem is that teams seem to just be trying to get to OT and don't take into account that OT is literally a coinflip.
Bennett mentioned in a post-game interview that BB was making them run hills in Foxboro everyday before they left for Houston. He said they weren't happy about it but after the game, they were like "Guess that the conditioning helped."
On one of the pre-game shows the correspondent who was covering the Pats made jokes the whole segment about 'hydrating' and said the Pats were talking about hydration all week and insisting the players hydrate all day Sunday. Just another example of managing all the little details---many other teams do (but I suspect not all) and many end up not mattering in any given game, but nothing is too small.
Sometimes, depends on other factors. Teams haven't changed strategies with the new extra point rules, closest is Steelers/Tomlin but he just basically is randomly clicking buttons.
Right -- I think he was saying "if it's short." He also calls over one of the officials to let him know that they are thinking about it and, if my lip reading was any good, to make sure BB was properly interpreting the rule.
Not entirely "little" but it's remarkable that twice Atlanta had the ball in FG range after they went up 28-3 but then blew their field position badly.
After the onside kick when it was 28-9 they had 2nd and 1 at the Pats 32 (1:30 left in the 3rd) before a holding penalty and sack sent them back to their own 49.
After the Julio Jones toe-dragger when it was 28-20 they had it 1st and 10 from the Pats 22 (4:40 to go in the 4th) before the now infamous sack and holding penalty pushed them back to the Pats 45.
Holds and sacks, sacks and holds.
After the onside kick when it was 28-9 they had 2nd and 1 at the Pats 32 (1:30 left in the 3rd) before a holding penalty and sack sent them back to their own 49.
After the Julio Jones toe-dragger when it was 28-20 they had it 1st and 10 from the Pats 22 (4:40 to go in the 4th) before the now infamous sack and holding penalty pushed them back to the Pats 45.
Holds and sacks, sacks and holds.
Direct snap to White for the first 2-pt conversion was less than optimal. Incredible it didn't go right past him.
Could hear Gil Santos calling that play as soon as it happened. Direct snap to Faulk!
Good point on the bad call by the refs on the "would have been" blocked XP attempt by ATL. I completely blanked on that one.
Regarding 2-point conversion attempts, I wonder if there is an element of diminishing returns when it comes to going for 2, unless you have some kind of Cowboys-level dominant OL that lets you just slam it in more than half the time. During NFL Network's postgame coverage, Tomlinson and Sanders were talking about how good the Patriots' 2-point conversion playcalls were, and mentioned that the Patriots have (paraphrasing) "the best 2-point conversion plays in the league." If there are plays that are particularly effective in 2-point conversion scenarios, there might be an advantage to only using them when absolutely necessary, as they'd be "spent" or less effective when they are more desperately needed later in the game. Therefore, always go for the XP until you really have no other viable option.
My subtle observation was the difference in Hightower's alignment in the 2nd half. in the first half, Atlanta was pulling Julio and another receiver tight to the slot, crack blocking the edge and running outside that. The LB's had trouble making it through the traffic and they got some big gains.
In the second half I noticed Hightower lined up at OLB, on the line of scrimmage outside the widest lineman. It was an "OK motherfuckers I'm right here, try that shit now" adjustment. I remember hoping they would send Julio in to try to crack Hightower. I don't think they ever did.
In the second half I noticed Hightower lined up at OLB, on the line of scrimmage outside the widest lineman. It was an "OK motherfuckers I'm right here, try that shit now" adjustment. I remember hoping they would send Julio in to try to crack Hightower. I don't think they ever did.
I noticed this too. They never really tried to run up the middle, early or late -- I wonder if they were worried about the Branch / Brown vs. whatever injury Alex Mack had matchup.
What did people think about the Patriots' clock management on tying drive? I was watching the game with my brother and we were split - he wanted to run the clock down to nothing, leaving Atlanta no shot at a typing FG. I wanted the Pats to score quickly, figuring that with the momentum having shifted I would rather trust the defense to make one more stop in order to give the Pats a chance for an onside kick and FG drive had they ended up missing the 2-point conversion.
That would have been interesting.
Re-watching some highlights, I'll have to agree with BigSoxFan in the opening post of the thread. Roberts was on the ground at least 15 yards away from Freeman when he caught the ball.
Link to video of play (14:11 on the video)
If Roberts hadn't gotten up and hustled to chase down Freeman, he would have easily scored, as Julio Jones appeared to have Malcolm Butler completely blocked out and there didn't seem to be anyone else left to beat once he got by Harmon.
Link to video of play (14:11 on the video)
If Roberts hadn't gotten up and hustled to chase down Freeman, he would have easily scored, as Julio Jones appeared to have Malcolm Butler completely blocked out and there didn't seem to be anyone else left to beat once he got by Harmon.