Using an obscure rule to win a Super Bowl as time expired would really have been the most Belichick moment possible.
It's the Little Things: Pick Your Favorite Unsung Effort From SB 51
- Thread starter BigSoxFan
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I agree. I think the lack of attempts there, for whatever reason, made it an obvious adjustment. Put Hightower in a spot where he can be most effective.
They're still probably better off with less time left, particularly once they dont score with enough time to get the ball back with like 30-40 seconds after a failed onside. They werent really in the hurry up after the 2 minute warning and I dont think its a situation where you want to just eat a play at the goal line to run clock so not sure there was a lot they could do in order to manage the clock.
Just rewatched the Amendola two-point conversion. It really was a fantastically executed play. The timing has to be just right to avoid a PI call on the offense, and that starts with Brady slinging it quickly. It almost looks like Hogan has a very slight hitch in his step to avoid engaging the defender too early. Edelman's man is lined up one yard away so Edelman can engage him without much concern, but Hogan's man is on the goalline and so he's not supposed to engage him in a block until receiver has the ball. I think he actually got him a touch early, but the timing was so perfect that there's not much chance you're going to get a call there viewing it with the naked eye.
But what's pretty amazing about the play is that Hogan doesn't actually get a very good block in there. Collins fights him off really well to make the tackle. Well, to make what would have been a tackle, but Hogan got just barely enough of him to make the play work. Even if he doesn't get in, they get a second chance because of the offside play but at that point they would have shown two of their two-point conversion plays and I would have hated to have to retry. Game of inches indeed.
But what's pretty amazing about the play is that Hogan doesn't actually get a very good block in there. Collins fights him off really well to make the tackle. Well, to make what would have been a tackle, but Hogan got just barely enough of him to make the play work. Even if he doesn't get in, they get a second chance because of the offside play but at that point they would have shown two of their two-point conversion plays and I would have hated to have to retry. Game of inches indeed.
Bennett and Freeney locking helmets is something I don't recall ever seeing before.
Brady's scamper for 15 yards and a 1st down right before that was key but won't get much hype.
Brady's scamper for 15 yards and a 1st down right before that was key but won't get much hype.
Not a single play, but I think the general success we had moving the ball in the first half and the number of plays their defense was on the field for contributed to the defense wearing out in the second half. The turnovers and score was a disaster, but it may have helped in the long run.
Ok, starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with some of these plays, but how about the defense on the third and 33. The Falcons didn't need 33. They needed ten. Rushed four, and Butler with great coverage on Gabriel. Ryan really had nowhere to go with the ball. I'd love to see the end zone shot to see the coverage on Jones.
Yep, that was huge. Not often you have to defend a 3rd and 33 like it's a 3rd and 5, but that's the position the Pats were in.
Defensive play calling in the second half was aggressive and smart. The one "good" thing about being down was you could play DGAF in some ways even though it typically goes against how the Pats like to play defense. Like on the Hightower strip sack, its 3rd and 2 but 30 yards is about the same as 3 in that spot so may as well play aggressive.
Edelman's block on the game-winning overtime touchdown is vicious.
Also, after the linesman signals TD and most of the team starts freaking out, Shaq Mason walks calmly upfield in the midst of the chaos like he has nothing else to do.
Also, after the linesman signals TD and most of the team starts freaking out, Shaq Mason walks calmly upfield in the midst of the chaos like he has nothing else to do.
Yes. Butler got tripped up in Gabriel's feet, which was bad, but also slowed Gabriel down so Harmon could make the play.
After re-watching the game, Trey Flowers and Malcolm Mitchell are my votes. Flowers was a beast in the pass rush. His sacks changed the complexion of the game and numerous pressures forced Ryan into bad throws. Mitchell's fourth quarter performance was nothing short of spectacular with several huge first down plays.
Brady was still under heavy pressure until the last drive of the 4th and the drive in overtime.
Chung's over the shoulder/ back to the ball catch on the punt was amazing and in the fog of the game was easy to sort of blow past, but re-watching, that was something else.
Just rewatched the game. On the Falcons series following the failed onside kick, the Falcons get into a 2nd and 11 after the 9 yard run and holding penalty that knocked them out of FG range. On that 2nd and 11, Ryan hits Hooper for what would be been a 5/6 yard gain but Chung swats the ball out of Hooper's hands. A completion there and it is 3rd and 5ish with the Falcons back in 52ish yard FG range. Just another play in a string of plays where the Pats twice drove the Falcons back out of FG range when they absolutely could not allow points. Crazy.
Brady quick-snapped with :20 left on the White TD at the end of regulation. Looked like he wanted to catch the Falcons nodding off.
I think in situations like that, you do whatever you need to do to score the TD (or prevent it on the other side) and don't worry about the clock.
Maybe it's part of being the G.O.A.T. but Brady looked calm, cool and collected throughout the whole game even when it looked really bleak. Conversely, "Matty Ice" looked to be melting down when it got tight. Things like running his fingers through his hair and glancing up at the clock on the sideline a lot, and, what else? Who knows what might end up on camera though.
It is hard for me to pick out just one little thing. There were so many little things that had to go right to make this happen. The fact that not one single Patriots player or coach gave up says a lot to me about this team. They just never seemed out of it.
In re-watching the game, Mitchell absolutely puts the ball on the ground without being touched after his big 3rd down conversion in the last drive of the game. After that brain fart, he still managed to bring the ball back in when the Falcons defender comes to down him.
If Mitchell does not hold on to the ball, there's a national controversy over the ball-carrier "giving himself up." Gross.
If Mitchell does not hold on to the ball, there's a national controversy over the ball-carrier "giving himself up." Gross.
I think it was Logan Ryan that said after the game that at halftime, nothing was really said. Belichick simply stated that 21 points was not going to beat them. There was no big speech, no rah-rah moments. He said you could just tell that nobody thought it was over and they were pretty calm. It's pretty amazing.
He also said at the start of OT, he knew it was over. He put his helmet down, sat up on the bench, and watched 12 go to work.
This. When you're down 8, you score the TD when you can and deal with the clock later. 2 point conversions are no gimme; neither is getting into the end zone from the 1 yard line on 2nd down (recall that Seattle loss).
I didn't re-watch last night but i thought (live) that he put it down but never took his hand off of it so as soon as the DB touched him, the play was dead
edit: Just saw the highlights posted in the video thread. he put it down and immediately pulled it into his hip, doesn't look look like he ever let go of it
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The o-line deserves a ton of credit for shoring things up late (I'm sure the Falcons rotating cast of pass rushers getting tired as the game wore on had something to do with that). Barnwell mentioned that Brady wasn't pressured once in OT, and I remember only one play (the first one) on the tying drive where he had guys in his face.
On another note, I'm starting to get really sick of Patriots offensive linemen deciding to play the worst game of their careers in the Super Bowl. Mason was pretty horrific, and I don't remember Solder playing worse since he's been here either. The other 3 were all alright, or at least I don't remember them getting annihilated up front.
On another note, I'm starting to get really sick of Patriots offensive linemen deciding to play the worst game of their careers in the Super Bowl. Mason was pretty horrific, and I don't remember Solder playing worse since he's been here either. The other 3 were all alright, or at least I don't remember them getting annihilated up front.
There were many moments in the first half where Brady looked exasperated and frustrated. Not unhinged or anything, but not sure I'd call it cool.
Ryan did look agitated in the 4th quarter though. Lots of scoreboard staring.
Try to reconcile that with the fact that Beasley's name wasn't mentioned until the pass break up against Bennett in OT. A play which if he could have over, I bet he goes for an INT instead of just batting it down. Obviously, the Pats OL was focused on Beasley and that's why the rest of the DL was disruptive, but make the other guys beat you etc.
I've watched that play a bunch and wondered if Edelman gets to choose which defender to crack. He cleans his guy out, but had he cracked Deion Jones (45), White probably walks into the end zone. But the more I look at it, I think Jones just makes a great read making it difficult for Cannon to clean him out at the point of attack. I'm sure that its designed so that Cannon can get outside Jones on the block and White runs to outside daylight. But hey it worked, but it was a really great effort by White pushing through the defenders that got to the edge.
I've been waiting a decade for them to throw out the Kevin Faulk direct snap again. At least once a season, I call for it on the goalline. I always ask for it. Like, a lot. I've been left disappointed for years.
Until this Sunday.
They waited until the biggest game of the year, in the biggest moment (up to that point) of the season, to pull it from the depths of the playbook.
Long live the Kevin Faulk direct snap!
Until this Sunday.
They waited until the biggest game of the year, in the biggest moment (up to that point) of the season, to pull it from the depths of the playbook.
Long live the Kevin Faulk direct snap!
Several players have said that about OT....you get the sense that if they were honest, many of the Falcons defenders thought the same.
I know for a couple of years vs Peyton Manning I felt that way when Colts had the ball---part of why I liked the '4th and 2' attempt (that, and math). But it is different to imagine feeling that way in a Super Bowl OT.
McCourty re-iterated it on a taped segment for Quick Slants. he said when they won the toss, Matt P. started diagramming and planning and the D was like "It's over, coach"
I think you're right that Cannon is supposed to get outside of Jones to seal off the outside. Jones made a GREAT read on the play. Coming from his MLB spot, he beats Cannon to the outside and forced White back inside.
It looks to me like Edelman has responsibility to block the outside LB, which happens to be a DB. How Jones got outside so quickly, I don't know, but I don't see why you'd want Edelman passing the OLB on that side to block the MLB.
One thing I really, really like about Belichick is that he never goes for the rah-rah speech, as least based on what I've seen. None of that nonsense about calling players heroes, or warriors, or the like - he saves that kind of language for the military.
That play looked like it was going to be a walk-in for White initially, and then Jones came out of nowhere. Fantastic play on Jones part
Yea, the guy Jules blocks sort of bites on Brady's spin and you can't assume he's going to do that. If he had the read Jones did and goes unblocked he blows up the play, so he has to be priority. It just happens that Jones had a great read on Cannon and gets moving immediately. Really good play by Jones there, very impressive.
Read somewhere that Brady was not under pressure on his last 15 throws.
Yes, in that line up, Edelman made the right block. That is a very difficult block expected of Cannon. His read is supposed to be inside-out. So he was supposed to seal the MLB, which would allow White to be 1 on 1 with the corner. Jones made a great read, and almost made a great play.
They also ran it with Sammy Morris in the 2010 divisional loss to the Jets.
I literally said they were about to do it on the first two point conversion. I was real nervous though because you can't do it twice, right?
To me the play didn't really "work" as designed given the number of defenders who got to the point of attack, but White muscled it forward just far enough. Meanwhile, as mentioned in another thread, the fake kneel down play at the end of regulation "worked" with Lewis' blockers outnumbering defenders about 2-1, but Dion couldn't cash in the potential big play.
Yup. You can see if Cannon beats Jones to the outside that White would've walked in with Mitchell having the CB locked up on the outside.
But once Jones beat Cannon to the outside, Cannon had no choice but to push him towards the sideline to create that small lane to the inside. He got just enough of him to allow White some room.
Really a great read by Jones. The other guys just didn't get to the ball in time and White made a hell of an effort to get in.
The play is really creative. Presnap, it looks like ATL has 6 defenders to our 4 (3 WR+ Cannon) on the right side of the field. Cannon kicks out leaving Hogan to block the DE, Vic Beasley.You can then see Edelman draws his man to the middle and takes out the LB, eliminating 2 players from that side of the field. The safety, #37, reacts inside initially (I think, again, because of Jules) and is a half step late to make the tackle to stop White from getting in while Mitchell had his CB blocked on the edge. Jones was the only ATL defender to read the play correctly.
I stopped the video right as White cuts back, you can see what the field would have looked like if Cannon gets outside Jones. So in that sense, the cutback brought a bunch of defenders in the play that wouldn't be there. And Jones probably hits him for a loss if he doesn't cut back. So again, great read, White just got it done.
Also great block by Malcolm at the bottom. Rook showed up.
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You're probably right. Maybe I blacked out the first half/three quarters in my mind. When it was 28-9, 28-12, and on though, Matt seemed to tighten up while Tom looked just business-like, while pressure was really on both QBs equally.
This is not a specific play, but the coaching staff / BB for learning and adapting from two recent experiences that partially resulted in losses:
1) In last year's AFCCG, the Pats were down 8 for much of the 4th quarter (from 10 minutes to go until the TD with 12 seconds to go). During that time, they got into scoring territory 3 different times, but because they were down 8, BB neglected to kick any field goals. This was debated a lot a year ago. On Sunday, while technically the field goal made it a 2 score game, it was still a 2 score game that required a pair of 2 point conversions. Credit to them for not chasing points and just taking what was there and moving forward
2) In the Seattle loss this year, they got cute at the end trying to tie the game without leaving any time, and it backfired. Sunday, they scored as quickly as possible
The coaching staff / BB aren't perfect, but they never panicked and gave the players a chance
1) In last year's AFCCG, the Pats were down 8 for much of the 4th quarter (from 10 minutes to go until the TD with 12 seconds to go). During that time, they got into scoring territory 3 different times, but because they were down 8, BB neglected to kick any field goals. This was debated a lot a year ago. On Sunday, while technically the field goal made it a 2 score game, it was still a 2 score game that required a pair of 2 point conversions. Credit to them for not chasing points and just taking what was there and moving forward
2) In the Seattle loss this year, they got cute at the end trying to tie the game without leaving any time, and it backfired. Sunday, they scored as quickly as possible
The coaching staff / BB aren't perfect, but they never panicked and gave the players a chance
Kicking field goals in the Denver game would have been super dumb, so dont think that's really a learning/adapting. They'd go for both 4th downs again in similar spots. They'd probably have gone for it Sunday if it wasn't 4th and 16, as it was the decision was pretty close.
Same for the Seattle end of game although that's more arguable. The situation here was different than in Seattle (down 8 not 7, better set up to succeed through the hurry up, less time left, defense playing better, etc). They've run clock at the end of the game before and they'll do so again in similar spots. I certainly hope they didnt "learn" to follow cliches rather than analyze each individual situation.
Same for the Seattle end of game although that's more arguable. The situation here was different than in Seattle (down 8 not 7, better set up to succeed through the hurry up, less time left, defense playing better, etc). They've run clock at the end of the game before and they'll do so again in similar spots. I certainly hope they didnt "learn" to follow cliches rather than analyze each individual situation.