The Game Ball Thread: SB vs Atlanta
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They probably wouldn't have. Belichick is awesome and he knows things that I cannot even think about comprehending, but down 1 with a few seconds left in the game, he's probably kicking the XP.
I think he went up to McDaniels and said "stop calling the fucking game like we're trying to hold possession and run out the clock. Get Brady throwing within a couple seconds and tiring out the DL."
Everything changed when they went hurry up and got Blount out of the game. That game plan went surprisingly poorly to start, but man did it take a while for them to adjust. Just in the nick of time, one might say.
How many big catches did Amendola have last night? Hope he's back next year at a reduced price.
They shouldn't. They 3 holding calls were on a drive NE didn't score.
The DPI was the correct call because he made contact without turning around. You can faceguard all day long, but you can't make contact with receiver. Had he turned around, that would have been a tougher call.
Before last night, postseason teams had a 93-0 record when holding a lead of 19 or more in the 4th quarter.
Now they're 93-1.
Now they're 93-1.
If I'm forced to just one game ball, it goes to Jules for that unbelievable catch. We finally have our own, and it's the best.
Sometime in the third quarter, I started to hear Rudy Tomjanovich's voice in my head, from that old, iconic and immortal clip- "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion."
Sometime in the third quarter, I started to hear Rudy Tomjanovich's voice in my head, from that old, iconic and immortal clip- "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion."
Obviously, Freeman plays on a lot of pass plays, but I wonder if that was a play Coleman was usually in for? or if Coleman is better at pass protection? Because he got knocked out the play before (so a game ball for Flowers and Ryan (listed as the tacklers) or whoever injured him?)
In the sense that one playoff game in football is like an entire playoff series in baseball, that Patriots win was similar to the Sox coming back from the 3 game deficit against the MFY. (Without the historic significance.)
Game balls to virtually everyone.
Whoever stole his jersey needs a beating.
The double team on Julio gets a nod. Just 4 balls in this game is ridiculous. That catch at the 22 was one of the greatest acts of pure skill I've seen by a player. Jones was covered...he just got it.
Incredible game.
The double team on Julio gets a nod. Just 4 balls in this game is ridiculous. That catch at the 22 was one of the greatest acts of pure skill I've seen by a player. Jones was covered...he just got it.
Incredible game.
Three of JJs catches were crazy he had the one in traffic that he took away from Ryan then he had another down the sidelines that he somehow kept his feet in and then the absolutely stupid catch near the end of the game.
I don't recall his other catch and since I don't I assume it wasn't crazy.
I don't recall his other catch and since I don't I assume it wasn't crazy.
Is this the place to talk about McDaniels' shitty first 40 minutes? Because we're all in bliss right now but I don't want that to disappear.
I'll never understand the football fan's defense mechanism of blaming coaches when a team is clearly getting physically dominated. The play calls in those first 40 minutes really didn't matter because Atlanta's defense was simply blowing everything up. I know people hated seeing Blount run the ball instead of Lewis but what were they expecting Lewis to do with defensive linemen two yards deep in the pats backfield? People were screaming for the no huddle in the first half, but why? To reduce the amount of time between free rushers came running at Brady and have him get the crap kicked out of him more?
There are certainly times when it's coaching and a bad game plan. Last night wasn't one of them. I'm sure there were a handful of questionable play calls, no one is perfect. But it didn't matter what they ran, Atlanta's D was playing faster and more physical then the Pats offense. I get that a lot of people put the players on pedestals, but last night it was on them. That was a 40 minute execution gap, not 40 minutes of bad play calling/game planning.
It's weird that fans can't be objective about this and that it must be the coaching when things go badly.
the truth is always somewhere in the middle, yes. But it was clear the Blount gameplan was failing early in the 2nd quarter and they stuck with it far too long. at the same time if Blount doesn't fumble we likely score first and it's a different game, so perhaps, what do I know...?
There's also something to be said that Atlanta's D seemed to be right on every little wrinkle we had. Felt like we were being predicted and they recognized our formations, all the play action fakes, etc. some of that is on our coaching
There's also something to be said that Atlanta's D seemed to be right on every little wrinkle we had. Felt like we were being predicted and they recognized our formations, all the play action fakes, etc. some of that is on our coaching
Agreed. The playcalling was largely fine. Not much McDaniels can do when Brady is getting pummeled, and when he isn't, throws are either off-line or dropped. The Falcons D was too fast for the RBs to screw around and run horizontally, but that's just what Blount did a few times. Again, not McDaniels fault.
Execution is what matters. Thank God we finally executed.
This story on Malcolm from 60 Minutes validates your theory that he is a keeper:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/football-star-shows-you-cant-judge-a-book-by-its-cover/
If I'm thinking of the same play, wasn't it the 3rd play - because it was 3rd and 10. Making it even more unbelievable and awesome.
They were running stretch runs to the outside against a fast defense with their slowest RB. They must have seen something on film that they thought was a weakness but it very clearly didn't translate to the game. They stuck with it much longer than I'd have expected. Either what they saw on film wasn't accurate or they didn't properly translate it to the skillset of their team and players. Either way, it's a major coaching issue and I think any fan who was on them was absolutely right. Stretch runs were not a major part of the Patriots gameplan all year, so it's not like they were calling their usual packages and the defense was just blowing up their normal stuff. They committed to something unusual and they spent a while learning that it wasn't going to work.
Atlanta's D may have done very well against a lot of other options. They were flying around and did a great job of playing some man coverage on the Pats options. The Patriots had to dig deep to find the Mitchell and Amendola matchups to really move the ball later in the game. So I bet the outcome isn't a whole lot different if the Patriots run their normal stuff. But I think it's absolutely reasonable to question the play calling and coaching here because they seemed to specifically try to do something out of the ordinary and it wasn't working.
I'll bet a Buffalo nickel they were hoping to wear out Mack and whatever equine strength pain killers he was on for his busted fibula.
That 3rd down conversion to Hogan and the 4th down conversion to Danny are the two biggest throws of the game, right? Brady threw that one from his own end zone, put it right between two defenders (the play before, Collins had great coverage on Hogan, but they went right back at him), and if he misses that throw, for the second straight year it's 4th and 10 with the season on the line, only this time without 87 to throw it up to. Earning the fresh set of downs there made the comeback feel as inevitable as the Edelman catch a few plays later.
Anybody know where to find an interactive win probability graph, where you can see which specific plays changed win prob the most? It'd be interesting to see which play or sequence of plays moved the needle. I'm wondering which was bigger, the Falcons backing up on the sack and hold, or the 2pt conversion to Amendola.
Dan Quinn deserves an honorable mention for burning up his second-half timeouts - challenging Amendola's return in the 3rd quarter was a needlessly aggressive gamble for, what, 8 yards if he was successful? Not worth the risk of missing timeouts in the 4th quarter against Bill Belichick.
They were hoping to wear out a center? By making it more easy for the Atlanta offense to get back on the field?
I come down pretty close to this. They seemed wrong about what they thought they could do with the running game, although part of what they were trying to do was wear down the defense for later in the game. Id probably would have been a little bit more uptempo on the long third quarter drive (although I thought the criticism on the 4th quarter drive where they went 55 yards or whatever in 2:30 was a little over the top). Im somewhat surprised Lewis wasnt playing over Blount as I think he's clearly the better back (at least threaten the RB in the passing game). But basically, the OL got blasted with four rushers and the team was -2 TO's with a pick six. Pass/Run (by my quick count) was 22/13 in the 1st half and Brady was still getting beaten up (if someone has a blocking scheme criticism, Im all ears) so I dont know if just chucking the ball around more than 62 times in a 1.9/1 ratio or w/e was gonna work great. BB in his post game said they figured out by the end of the first quarter they were going to mostly have to throw the ball to the perimeter and the playcalling from that point on largely reflected that. Blount ended up getting only 17 snaps, James White got like 70, so they certainly adjusted on that front. I personally didnt watch the first three quarters and think "man this is a gameplan issue".
How are they wearing out Mack by running the ball while Mack is on the sideline?
The TE screen to Bennet at the end of the half was an all time head scratcher, zero chance he scores and a decent chance he gains enough yards to run out the clock.
Yeah I thought that was from the Rex Ryan school of challenges. You won the challenge but was it really worth it?
The question is when did he throw the flag? If right away, then it was Ryan-esque. I suspect he waited through the entire commercial break, and his staff told him they had rock-solid video evidence first.
I know it was mentioned on Twitter just as the commercial break was starting. Even if you're 100% sure you're right and you will move the Pats back 8 yards, I don't think it's worth it to challenge. Either way it will be 1st down for New England, and you're severely hurting your replay ability for the rest of the game (one missed challenge in the final 28 minutes and you're out of challenges.) If you're challenging for 8 yards, it has to be something that's crucial for a first down conversion to extend or stop a drive.
Ive started to change my mind on the merits of challenging eight yards if its a slam dunk. Doing so on a return is like the least valuable eight yards possible, and its an oversimplification because losing one challenge may alter behavior regarding the second challenger, but since they started reviewing every turnover and every scoring play can anyone remember a single example where a coach actually couldnt challenge an incorrect play?
Late to the party but I would have made James White co-MVP. 7 first downs (not including TDs), 3 TDs and a 2 pt conversion. White was their most consistent player all game and was outstanding. I thought Vereen's SB XLIX performance would reign supreme for a Patriots RB. I think White is now on top.
Cant find the original question to quote, but Amendola 2 point conversion is going to be the biggest play, takes WP from roughly 1/4 to roughly 1/2. The sack obviously mattered but the Pats were still going to be pretty big longshots by WP 90+ yards from the end zone down 8 with little time left.
The defense gave up 21 points to the 8th greatest offense in NFL history.
21 points.
We all would have GLADLY taken that two days ago. Where are all the dipshits in the media that called them paper tigers and "not tested?"
They gave up a few plays, but 21 to the EIGHTH best offense in NFL history? Game ball to all of them for hanging in there and doing JUST enough.
21 points.
We all would have GLADLY taken that two days ago. Where are all the dipshits in the media that called them paper tigers and "not tested?"
They gave up a few plays, but 21 to the EIGHTH best offense in NFL history? Game ball to all of them for hanging in there and doing JUST enough.
Rewatching the 4th quarter.
I'm sorry I can't give a secondary game ball.
One game ball to
James White
As great as GOAT and amen and Edelman and Patricia were
I'm sorry I can't give a secondary game ball.
One game ball to
James White
As great as GOAT and amen and Edelman and Patricia were
I cannot fucking wait for the SoundFX stuff and the coming Americas Game. Love another Do Your Job type program too.
Right. I think you'd lose that Buffalo nickel. I would like an explanation of those stretch runs with Blount -- made no sense but they obviously thought they knew something. Thank god they eventually stopped.
Atlanta D was already gassed when the Pats went hurry up. Great example of good awareness, sound situational football by the Pats and probably an advantage in terms of conditioning. The Pats took advantage of the situation and Atlanta D showed themselves to be what we hoped they would be - a not very good unit. And of course the Pats executed time after time.
So I guess this is a round about way of saying the Pats' O line was a group of unsung heros.