Outside of the time he thought he was playing college football and almost pulled a Plaxico/Santonio Holmes with the ball after his catch.Anything Mitchell did.
Outside of the time he thought he was playing college football and almost pulled a Plaxico/Santonio Holmes with the ball after his catch.Anything Mitchell did.
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.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.
So huge. Was that the last time the Falcons DL got any real pressure?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.
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'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.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.
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.(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)
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.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
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.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
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.So huge. Was that the last time the Falcons DL got any real pressure?
Gotcha. I rewatched the last few drives last night but I wasn't in much of an Xs and Os mode!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.
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.
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.Sort of funny, but the Pats actually didnt
He clearly wasnt close to 100% either, but played through it.
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.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.
Thank god they learned that lesson in the Seattle game and didn't get cute and just scored.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.
The refs for actually calling a holding in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl (and a DPI in OT). It was the right call both times but a lot of refs swallow their whistles there, especially on holding calls...
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.As for the "little things", the refs were superb. They got all the close plays exactly right.
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.For me a very under the radar little thing was the Tevin Coleman injury.
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.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.
Plus they had to plan for an onside kick in the event of a failed 2 point attempt.Thank god they learned that lesson in the Seattle game and didn't get cute and just scored.
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.Sneaky? If we compare his production in the regular season to what he has done in the playoffs for this team, you can very much argue he's the most clutch receiver in Patriots history.
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.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.
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*).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.
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."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.
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.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."
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.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.
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.When BB called TO you can see him on the broadcast telling Edelman to fair catch the ensuing punt.
Could hear Gil Santos calling that play as soon as it happened. Direct snap to Faulk!Direct snap to White for the first 2-pt conversion was less than optimal. Incredible it didn't go right past him.
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.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.
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.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.
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.
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.Plus they had to plan for an onside kick in the event of a failed 2 point attempt.
That would have been interesting.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.