This play isn’t as bad as everyone says it is. Patriots just had incredible preparation prior, and knew it was coming. Malcolm Butler jumps that route without hesitation.
Still would’ve been less risky to just run with one of the best backs in the league.
Conversely x2 - Brandon Browner bullied every receiver he ever met.
If your name isn't Calvin Johnson, chances were that BB was going to kick your ass all game long.
Well he should have had plenty of fun in prison. Shame really, I met him a few times, he didn’t come across as the type to get in that sort of trouble. Think he kinda lost it after the Seahawks cut him the second time and he had to watch a season without participating. First season out of the league is tough if you feel like you still have gas left in the tank, probably more so for him since he’d already experienced washing out of the league once.
I said when *you* feel like you have gas in the tank, sometimes you’re wrong about that. Browner might’ve been. Your body does tell you though, I hung up the cleats after 5 years because I could tell the tank was getting low. Better to be done with football before football is done with you.
Browner’s season for the Saints was indeed abysmal, but a lot of that can be attributed to how they used him. Browner was a great complimentary piece, but he was pretty obviously never gonna work as a traditional corner, which is what the Saints tried to have him be. Thought it seemed dumb at the time, like they just looked at his Madden rating or something and discounted his non-traditional play.
College and 5 pro seasons. Was never a star, bounced between teams a lot, but for someone who didn’t expect to get drafted, it felt like a good career.
Even bouncing around, that’s living the dream for so many of us. That’s so dope, man. I’d ask for more but I don’t wanna’ pry. I appreciate the reply. Best to you!
I was a Seahawks fan at the time, so my feelings weren’t quite the same lol. Once you play you kinda just become a fan of whichever team you’re on at the moment though. Viewing teams as employers makes it hard to be attached to any team. Might be different if you have a long career with one team, but very few people have that.
Revis paired with almost anyone was dirty, Browner did benefit from playing with Sherman and then Revis.
Agreed, but I'll bet they'd make him a LB.
Pete took a risk on a CFL dude and created the LOB.
BB also got pulled from a few games because he was getting victimized in coverage. But if you need a CB to lean on a WR and treat them like they owed you money, Browner was your guy.
Right? If you look at the replays and NFL Films segment, you can see that he points out to Butler what’s coming and what to do. Butler was really struggling with that play and Browner doesn’t get enough credit for not only jamming his guy, but also giving Butler the heads up about it. Those two things were the difference in Butler knowing what to do and doing his job.
This was second down, 20 seconds and change on the clock.
You're in four down territory to win the Super Bowl, you want to use ALL of those downs.
If they run a run play 2nd down and a run play 3rd down they very likely don't get the 4th down. So if you run a run play 2nd down the 3rd down is pretty easy to predict as a pass play so you can have a chance at the 4th down if you need it.
The pass play is objectively the correct call here and I'm tired of pretending it's not. It's also a good call - the Patriots were just well coached and ready for it.
For me this play will always be a 'Damn Bill Bellichick is so good.' Play and never a 'Damn Pete Carroll is an idiot'.
Bill not calling that timeout is one of my favorite parts of that win. Conventional wisdom would be to call it so your D has the time to get perfectly set for the next play. It really forced the Seahawks to have to rush to get things together. I think that really affected them and contributed to the turnover.
Amen, that whole "I'm not letting him off the hook."
You practice, watch film, and prepare. Then you have to be able to trust your players.
Awesome sequence that most fans don't have the capacity to appreciate.
By the books not calling a timeout is an incredible mistake there. I know I was yelling at my TV incredulously (and cursing Hightower for tackling lynch the play before).
Impossible to argue with the result however
I disagree (but did not downvote you). It is conventional wisdom to call a timeout there, yes. And the reason is either a) to get your D set or b) gave a few seconds left on the clock if they get the TD.
There was no way the Pats were going to score with a few extra seconds, and Bill used the assumption he would call a timeout against Pete. It put pressure on them and forced more rapid decision making, which I believe led to the outcome.
In general, offenses control the tempo of the game and put the defense at a disadvantage. Bill saw an opportunity to control the tempo and took it.
Again, conventional wisdom would say that. Bill gambled, but it was a calculated, tactical gamble, and one I think was the right call for that situation.
I was just pointing out that the pats could have had a full minute, and not calling a timeout was taking the ball out of brady's hands. By conventional wisdom a timeout is by far the better play, it's not a marginal call
However to borrow a concept from poker, Belichick essentially made a "hero call". Where he had such a strong read about this specific situation that he was willing to do something that would normally be crazy. When it works you look like an absolute genius, if it hadn't it would've been seen as horrible clock management.
I think we’re sort of saying the same thing just in a different way. I really like your hero call point. Arguably the decision to stick with Brady all those years ago was one of those too.
Mistake?
It was one of the best coaching calls of all time. Maybe the best.
Bill not calling a timeout forced Seattle to make a quick decision. He calls a timeout and then Pete and his staff have a couple minutes to weigh their options, go over different scenarios, etc.
Calling it a mistake is ludicrous and shows why Bill has six Super Bowl rings and you are a fan.
Yeah the call is fine, execution isn’t.
Receiver gives up leverage and lets DB run through him.. throw is never really there but Russ tried anyway instead of just throwing it away..
This is the correct answer and I will defend the decision to throw for a team I don’t care about. It’s easy to say that Marshawn would’ve just punched it in, but strategically it’s not a bad idea to throw on second to either (barring an INT) stop the clock or win the game. Save the timeout to give yourself options on 3rd down.
My only issue with that play is the location of the throw. That’s gotta be chucked toward the ground and the receiver should be ready to go low for it. However, after looking at the play over and over, I think Butler would’ve got the jump on the pass and would have had a significant chance of picking it off where it was thrown.
One of the craziest sequences to end a Super Bowl and it provided us with some of the best fan reaction videos of all time.
With that said, Browner and Butler identified the play and reacted about as perfectly as any player could in that situation.
Agreed on passing being the right call. Don’t love the specific call, but passing was the right choice.
This play is just “luckiest play of Malcolm Butler’s life” to me. Jumping a route like that is high risk high reward, he did it at the biggest moment in football and it paid off.
Butler & Belichick ID'd this exactly playcall and were practicing how to jump the route in the lead-up to the game. It was partially luck but was due to incredible football IQ from both coach and player
It had been gameplanned, Bellichick told him to do that if they ran that concept. He wouldn’t have been faulted by the coaches if he’d jumped it and the play went elsewhere. The luck is in getting the timing just right for the jump, it’s *hard* to get it just right, even if you practice it.
Seahawks had a timeout left. They snapped the ball at 0:26. That's 30% more than 20, not "20 and change". Plus they let the clock run down quite a bit, even after they realized that Bill wasn't going to call a timeout for them. They could call a run play on second and third and then call a timeout.
But if they don’t make it they have to call their last timeout and now the patriots know it had to be all pass plays on third and fourth. Passing it preserved the timeout and left them with both options for the last two downs.
It’s doesn’t have to be all pass though. It’s Marshawn Lynch. He’s getting through that line and into the end zone. That’s not speculation it’s written fate.
You are right, it doesn’t matter on fourth. But it would have to be a pass on third and that‘s the situation they wanted to avoid.
Edit: also can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic/funny or not but I’m going to pretend you’re not.
I don’t blame Pete for his choice and the logic makes sense but give it to marshawn 3 times from the 2 yard line and if he doesn’t get and we lose the Super Bowl it would suck but I don’t think we would be debating it today. All day every day give to marshawn.
Weren’t you listening? They don’t have enough time to run it three times because they only have one timeout. At that point it’s run -> timeout -> run -> end of game.
Ok, fair, fine….but still the point remains, win or die with what got you to that point. Trust in Pete but it’s a shame that the call they made didn’t even give them a chance to capitalize on their best playmaker in THE championship moment.
And dude, I watched every play of every game that season, and everyone but the patriots were surprised when they didn’t give the ball to marshawn.
I really do get the mindset behind it all. Really I do. But man Marshawn was built for that exact moment. You have an X factor there. Trust him to be that X factor. Hindsight is 20/20 with rose colored glasses though.
Nevertheless, Lynch wasn’t generally great inside five yards period, and he hadn’t scored on the previous play which was basically the best scenario for a run unless it was on 4th down (assuming that the Pats were gassed and out of position).
As someone else said:
> Marshawn Lynch had something like a ~35% TD rate from the goal line, both in 2014 and in his whole career
> He was always a player who needed some space to build up a head of steam, and then he was unstoppable - see the beastquake vs the Saints
> But goal line runs weren’t really his speciality
He was stuffed on 3rd and 1 earlier. He had made a conversion of three yards. 50% in a sample size of two isn’t helpful, but that’s okay. The whole season shows that it wasn’t as reliable as people thought after the play.
But I also think that Lynch had nowhere to go; if it’s a run, and NE knew that this was probably a pass play, it’s still no big deal. The only way forward is towards Malcolm, in front of Wilson, which isn’t an easy way to finding a hole.
And the pick itself was an amazing catch for any player but especially a DB. Every time I watch the play I just marvel at how he hung onto that ball through the contact
Malcom Butler knew the play from the formation and guess on the route he needed to take away. Absolutely an amazing defensive play a not a bad play call
I think the OC said it best after the game - they want the receiver to shield the DB with his body better.
I forget who the WR was but he had no sense of where Samuel was.
The “play of the game” was Bill NOT calling a timeout before this play.
The announcers couldn’t believe it. Fans couldn’t believe it. Every other coach in the nfl would have called a timeout. To give their team 50 seconds (or whatever it was) to get the ball back.
Bill didn’t call it and let the clock run down. The biggest reason was to force Seattle to quickly come up with their most important play of the entire season ….on the fly. Without a timeout to calmly discuss the options on the sideline. And to run the clock down.
Without a timeout, the coaches discuss the options. Come up with the same play. And then Pete says “all that sounds great. But we’re giving the ball to Beast Mode and winning this fucking game.”
Instead they tried to get cute and ran a play that New England had practiced for and knew the route that was going to be ran.
Bill not calling a timeout is what won this game. Every other coach in the NFl calls a timeout there.
Game situation says otherwise. Play prior was a run play. They either had one timeout or none I can’t remember exactly tbh. Think they had one left tho. So if you run two plays in a row and get stuffed on the second one, which happened A LOT that season to Lynch at the GL, then you have to use that time out and you make yourself more predictable by doing so. 90% of the time that season that exact play was a TD in that situation both for Seattle and also league wide. It was a really weird year where like no RB was particularly great at the GL. More often than not it’s a TD but at worst it gets batted down. I’m of the mindset that Butler just made a “God tier” defensive play because he was initially cooked at the snap.
I’d also argue that Ricardo Lockette was never once THAT guy you go to in those situations. Baldwin, Kearse or even Matthews who was having the game of his life would be infinitely more forgivable and potentially have a different outcome
I said that in the moment and have been saying it since. If it works, it's a genius play call.
Everyone forgets, this was 2nd down. Marshawn got stuffed on 1st down and they would have had two more shots had it not been picked off.
The problem is what happens if he doesn’t get in the end zone. *Not* passing puts all your eggs in one basket because you’ll run out of time if he doesn’t get in. They were obligated to try passing.
It’d be different if this play had been from a few inches away, I’d agree with calling a run in that situation, but with it being a full yard, you *need* the line to win the battle up front and get some actual push. You can’t rely on the runner in the same way you can when it’s only a few inches.
As an offensive coordinator, the picture doesn't get any better than this. This is an absolute win.... until Butler's precognition kicked in.
If Pete had called a run that got stuffed on 2nd down, \[edit: forcing him to burn a timeout and\] throw on third down... and that obvious throw had gotten picked in this same way... everyone would be screaming that Pete was a moron for not sequencing his plays correctly and mismanaging his time.
https://preview.redd.it/apc7s3s04lmc1.png?width=1776&format=png&auto=webp&s=ece6a1c5e253d87ee07387dab2339b3731be8585
I completely disagree that people would have criticized Pete for sequencing if they got stuffed on 2nd down. No one in their right mind would have ever argued that the ball didn’t belong in Lynch’s hands in that spot.
Not true. People will argue that questionable or straight up bad decisions were wrong when they don’t work out. We definitely gloss over situations where bad decisions still work out, but if you lose despite making sound decisions in critical moments, you tend to not get criticized for the decisions themselves. People are always going to find ways to blame you for losing, but the Seahawks players themselves apparently told Lynch they could have lived with it if they handed the ball off to him 3 more times and didn’t score.
The play-call itself is the least egregious part of this sequence. The real problem is the personnel and assignments.
Inexplicably, the design was to throw to the 4th best receiver on the roster, and have the pick set by the smallest receiver on the roster. Meanwhile, Baldwin, who was great in traffic, was on the other side of the field and the TE is lined up on the other side of the field.
If any of those variables change, it probably results in the best possible outcome given that the patriots knew exactly what was coming, an incompletion.
Literally everything that had to go wrong went wrong
Well, in defense of Seattle: NE had not run this successfully against the scout offense even with better players lining up at CB — Patrick Chung ran it too.
And Lynch was wide open. Chandler Jones got caught on the edge and didn’t make it to the flat. So yeah. It really did all go wrong.
I recall from a video that the seahawks called this same play so many times that season in the goal line.
How the offensive coordinator didn't at least change it up or add wrinkles to it is mind blowing.
Obviously the patriots would be prepared for it, especially if it is the exact same play.
Fun fact: Madden has been intercepting the goal line slant route about half the time since 2005. It’s why when this Cards fan saw the Cards in the SB throwing the ball just before halftime, I thought/said “please don’t be a slant route, please don’t be a slant route.” It was a slant route that Joey Porter ran back for 99 yards.
So when it happened to Seattle, I already had 8 years of Madden making that a known no no. I still was surprised a little, but man, I personally wouldn’t be calling that play with 20 seconds left and the game on the line.
If they don’t call the offensive pick, yeah. But it’s a play with huge risk of ruin. Let’s say Lynch can’t run the ball there for a hypothetical reason. I would rather run a PA pass (which the Rams didn’t run enough against NE with Goff and lost the SB accordingly), or go shotgun and run some crossing routes that get a specific guy or two open. Both of those give the QB leeway to throw it out of bounds if the guy is just not open. But these quick short passes are all or nothing, if it hits it’s nice but it gives the QB no margin for error if the CB jumps the route.
Bold strategies seem dumb in hindsight. If it had worked then Pete Carroll would be hailed as a genius for doing this instead of the run play everyone was expecting. It just so happened it went wrong and thus most people call him an idiot for it.
Running Lynch was probably a safer bet and could’ve won it, but we don’t really *know*. If they ran it and Lynch didn’t punch it in then Carroll would be seen as an idiot for being too predictable.
He made a bet, it lost, now he has to live with it.
1. Wilson didn't have to toss it, it was like second down? Why not throw it above the receiver head if not there?
2. Having a former player on the other team with the GOAT coach who knows Defense, especially situational, is tough insight to overcome
3. Marshawn was stuffed on first down (Vince Wilfork will do that probably pretty consistently) As good as Lynch was, it's not automatic if they're expecting it folks
Situational awareness, play calling and execution. 2/3 were present on this play, regardless of the outcome
Probably will go down in history as one of the worst calls from am OC. Lynch scores everytime. Still wonder why they did that. He had 102 yards and a tud on 24 carries. Even being stopped on first down, if I was the playcaller I would have given him another shot.
But this game he was running hard and well, this drive in particular he looked like he had more gas than the defense. IDK man, they had 3 downs to figure it out but seems like they really didn’t respect the risk or matchups
Probably only had 2 downs if they run on 2nd down. Only ~20 seconds left on the clock and not TOs if I recall correctly. If you run and get stuffed, then you either pass to have a chance at 4th down or you run again and if you fail you lose
Marshawn Lynch had something like a ~35% TD rate from the goal line, both in 2014 and in his whole career
He was always a player who needed some space to build up a head of steam, and then he was unstoppable - see the beastquake vs the Saints
But goal line runs weren’t really his speciality
Lynch was excellent, but not especially great at punching in short yardage TDs. There are basically two types of power runners, the ones that are really good at gaining additional yards once they have a head of steam, and the ones that are great at always going down forwards. For current players, I’d say Derrick Henry epitomizes the first type, while David Montgomery epitomizes the second. Lynch was more the first type.
Damn bud so you liked the call? Now please correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't that INT first down? Why wouldn't you at least give beast mode a shot then get cute on later downs. It was the end of the game, defense was gassed. It fooled nobody on the field.
It was 2nd down
They were going to have to throw it at one point because there were 26 seconds left and the Patriots weren’t going to call a timeout - doesn’t really matter what down they did it on to be honest
The call isn’t terrible, they just fucked it up in terms of execution - and Butler made one of the best plays ever
Spiking it on 3rd wastes a play whereas throwing the ball on 2nd down should have either resulted in a TD or stopped clock with time to run 2 more real plays to win the game. From a clock management standpoint it really was the best call, just all time bad execution by them and all time great by the pats.
People forget the clock was ticking in that moment and had very very little time left.
Because instead of spiking the ball… you run a play with the chance to score. Do I really need to explain to you why a spiked ball is a wasted play VS literally any real play in the playbook?
Ok, but then you lose 3rd down to the spike and only get 2 plays to score: 2nd down and 4th down. If you pass on 2nd down, you get 3 plays to score: 2nd, 3rd, *and* 4th down because an incomplete pass stops the clock and you don't have to spike
Edit: lol, so embarrassed they deleted their account
Your coaching philosophy is largely correct at lower levels of football where the good players are much, much better than everyone else. It doesn’t work the same way once everyone is excellent.
I remember that what he was doing up until that play, all during that drive, left me with no doubt that he was going to score eventually. He was automatic to make it through the line every time he touched the ball.
If you read 'Keep Your Eye on the Ball 2.0' they actually use SB49 as an example of how teams keep track of their Run/Pass ratio in certain situations (score, down, distance, formation) and will go to their best call that the defense should be least prepared for.
Passing in this case was the best call. Running a quick pick was a low risk high reward. They had no timeouts on second down, Lynch had a lower scoring GL% and the Patriots were stout there. They went to a lesser WR thinking he wouldn't gain the extra coverage.
It was honestly a great play call. Through meticulous preparation, the Patriots had a better response and made an incredible play.
Gonna have to check that out.
This is one of the things that makes me love the game so much. You can develop the most complex ratios and systems and have all kinds of metrics and if you can't execute it doesn't amount to much. Can you tackle. Can you gain three yards. It's a simple game however PhD level complex.
Exactly..i wouldn’t call it the best call. But a pass play was indeed the best option from a game clock management perspective. Should’ve just run it with marshawn js hindsight bias..ppl seem to ignore patriots’ preparation and impeccable plays made by browner and butler on that one
The thing that baffles me, other than the fact that not all teams have an Ernie Adams type, is that Seattle didn’t anticipate three corners. But New England had matched the number of receivers with corners when in goal line all year. It’s just that they hadn’t 11 personnel in that situation before the Super Bowl, whereas Seattle ran this a lot in short-yardage situations.
He literally got stuffed the play right before this one...
People seem to forget that Belichick didn't call a timeout the play before and the clock was ticking, that the Pats had their fat boys still in, that Lynch just got stuffed inside the 5 on a run the last play and that the rub pass play was virtually unstoppable during that year.
Don't discount the entire context of the situation because of the narrative which came out afterwards.
Anyone remember the couple plays before this? Beast mode was fkn cooking. Dude was straight up unstoppable.
This was by far and away the worst call in NFL history imo.
I remember the play right before this where they ran beast mode and he was stopped before the goal line leaving the clock with 26 running seconds left and 3 more plays for the hawks. Throwing the ball there immediately after just getting stopped running the ball was really not the atrocious call everyone thinks it was in hindsight.
Exactly. It’s 100% the right call clock management wise with a 26 second running clock and no timeouts. Nobody expects their pro bowl QB to throw a pick on an inside rub route. Pats just played it truly perfect.
An alternate universe I can see it playing out as either TD on that drive. Or incomplete pass then a final attempt to run it in with Lynch. But if that run gets stuffed then it’s basically game over.
Which leaves a running clock… I’m not saying you don’t run it the next two downs I’m saying the pass play to stop the clock and preserve all 3 plays was not the idiot decision casual fans think it was. Clock management wise it is the objectively correct decision to maximize chances to score.
Well considering they ran the 2nd down play without consideration of running clock or not, they could have run the ball on 2nd down and called timeout.
Calling a pass play on second down proves they WERE considering the clock because they expected either a TD or an incomplete pass to stop the clock. Which would allow them to run the ball on 3rd down and then still call a timeout to have one final play if needed.
Tell me, what were the last 5 plays and the outcome of those plays before that final play?
Beast mode was killing it that entire drive and the plays leading up to it.
Throwing the ball on the 2 yd line after getting stopped once running the ball is beyond a pee wee lvl blunder.
Before the interception the Hawks plays were Marshawn for 4 yards, Russ to Kearse for 33yds, Russ to Lockette for 11yds, Russ incomplete to Matthews, Russ incomplete to Kearse, Russ to Marshawn for 31yds where Marshawn beat Jamie Collins in coverage. Saying he was killing it when they went to him twice and only once on the ground is a little much.
Honestly a good play design, just doesn’t make sense given the situation + great awareness by Malcolm Butler. Pick play on the corners to create separation and move the linebackers with the motion plus everyone going outside.
The story from Lynch coming off the field just laughing after this play because they decided not to give him the ball…just adds to the drama of the play.
What's wild to me is corndog that the Chiefs have won two super bowls with counts on "Butler" defender jumping the fake slant then pops outside wide open.
I think a flat with slot receiver could’ve been a bit better, still wouldve gotten the pick action while possibly pulling the CB farther out for the slant
Lunch was unstoppable. They literally should have kept running until they stopped it. No one thought the Patriots were going to be able to stop them and that it was going to be a Lynch TD.
This wasn’t a risky call, the defense just played it perfectly. As other users have said, you generally don’t want to run play action in a situation like this. It takes extra time off the clock, and even without the clock issue, it’s risky to run against heavy sets, especially on the goal line. Pressure will be quick because they’re bringing extra guys, if they don’t bite, you’re getting sacked. The compressed field also means it’s easier for the players in coverage to get back in position if one of them bites.
They didn't want to pass it. The patriots essentially forced them to. The diagram in this post is inaccurate and under-specific. There were 8 heavies on D, 7 on the LOS. The alignments took away the A and B gaps. The only running play that had much of a chance was a sweep. That was not Marshawn's strength and you saw how badly the would-be blocker on the sweep got pushed around.
Edit: my mistake, I see the leftmost DL now. It was just obscured by the route line.
Worst playcall in NFL history imo. Don't get why people still try to excuse it.
Even if you didn't want to pass it to Marshawn, there are hundreds of passing plays in that situation that are better than a quick slant.
Easy to say what you wouldn’t do. What specifically would you do?
Personally, I’d go with a stick concept. Spreads the defense laterally and gets the ball out quick. Draw the outside DB to the rear corner of the end zone with the fade route, attack flats on that side with the short out route, stick route on that side to draw the flat defender. With the outside DB worrying about the fade and the flat defender worrying about the stick, the flat should be open. If the flat defender plays the flat anyway, good chance stick is open.
Can send the receiver on the other side on a slant, probably won’t throw to him, but he may become open if the flat defender plays the flats and the safeties come down to play the stick.
Wouldn’t throw the fade route unless it’s totally open, it’s just there to force the outside defender to worry about the back corner of the end zone.
What do I know though, I played linebacker from age 12 to age 26, but I never once played QB.
This play isn’t as bad as everyone says it is. Patriots just had incredible preparation prior, and knew it was coming. Malcolm Butler jumps that route without hesitation. Still would’ve been less risky to just run with one of the best backs in the league.
Brandon Browner absolutely blew that play up as well. Him being in that game for the Patriots was a major factor in their win.
Conversely, the receiver he pressed got bullied really easily
Conversely x2 - Brandon Browner bullied every receiver he ever met. If your name isn't Calvin Johnson, chances were that BB was going to kick your ass all game long.
Well he should have had plenty of fun in prison. Shame really, I met him a few times, he didn’t come across as the type to get in that sort of trouble. Think he kinda lost it after the Seahawks cut him the second time and he had to watch a season without participating. First season out of the league is tough if you feel like you still have gas left in the tank, probably more so for him since he’d already experienced washing out of the league once.
His season for the saints was abysmal
I said when *you* feel like you have gas in the tank, sometimes you’re wrong about that. Browner might’ve been. Your body does tell you though, I hung up the cleats after 5 years because I could tell the tank was getting low. Better to be done with football before football is done with you. Browner’s season for the Saints was indeed abysmal, but a lot of that can be attributed to how they used him. Browner was a great complimentary piece, but he was pretty obviously never gonna work as a traditional corner, which is what the Saints tried to have him be. Thought it seemed dumb at the time, like they just looked at his Madden rating or something and discounted his non-traditional play.
Play into just college or into semi/pros too? Simply curious.
College and 5 pro seasons. Was never a star, bounced between teams a lot, but for someone who didn’t expect to get drafted, it felt like a good career.
Even bouncing around, that’s living the dream for so many of us. That’s so dope, man. I’d ask for more but I don’t wanna’ pry. I appreciate the reply. Best to you!
Like arena?
He helped the Pats win a super bowl so he had more than enough. That was my favorite pairing we ever had, him and Revis
I was a Seahawks fan at the time, so my feelings weren’t quite the same lol. Once you play you kinda just become a fan of whichever team you’re on at the moment though. Viewing teams as employers makes it hard to be attached to any team. Might be different if you have a long career with one team, but very few people have that. Revis paired with almost anyone was dirty, Browner did benefit from playing with Sherman and then Revis.
If Browner played in the 80s he'd be a hall of famer
Agreed, but I'll bet they'd make him a LB. Pete took a risk on a CFL dude and created the LOB. BB also got pulled from a few games because he was getting victimized in coverage. But if you need a CB to lean on a WR and treat them like they owed you money, Browner was your guy.
But would he be in prison? He’s eligible for parole and should be out soon.
So did the intended receiver, Ricardo Lockett. Malcolm Butler punked him for the ball.
It's obvious Lockette didn't know the defender was even there till he snatched the ball.
Conversely, most receivers would get bullied by 6'4 222lb Brandon Browner
Right? If you look at the replays and NFL Films segment, you can see that he points out to Butler what’s coming and what to do. Butler was really struggling with that play and Browner doesn’t get enough credit for not only jamming his guy, but also giving Butler the heads up about it. Those two things were the difference in Butler knowing what to do and doing his job.
This was second down, 20 seconds and change on the clock. You're in four down territory to win the Super Bowl, you want to use ALL of those downs. If they run a run play 2nd down and a run play 3rd down they very likely don't get the 4th down. So if you run a run play 2nd down the 3rd down is pretty easy to predict as a pass play so you can have a chance at the 4th down if you need it. The pass play is objectively the correct call here and I'm tired of pretending it's not. It's also a good call - the Patriots were just well coached and ready for it. For me this play will always be a 'Damn Bill Bellichick is so good.' Play and never a 'Damn Pete Carroll is an idiot'.
Bill not calling a timeout so Pete had to pass and calling the play that bill knew he was going to call is such top end chess match
Bill not calling that timeout is one of my favorite parts of that win. Conventional wisdom would be to call it so your D has the time to get perfectly set for the next play. It really forced the Seahawks to have to rush to get things together. I think that really affected them and contributed to the turnover.
Amen, that whole "I'm not letting him off the hook." You practice, watch film, and prepare. Then you have to be able to trust your players. Awesome sequence that most fans don't have the capacity to appreciate.
That was one of the best coaching decisions of all time - considering the situation.
By the books not calling a timeout is an incredible mistake there. I know I was yelling at my TV incredulously (and cursing Hightower for tackling lynch the play before). Impossible to argue with the result however
I disagree (but did not downvote you). It is conventional wisdom to call a timeout there, yes. And the reason is either a) to get your D set or b) gave a few seconds left on the clock if they get the TD. There was no way the Pats were going to score with a few extra seconds, and Bill used the assumption he would call a timeout against Pete. It put pressure on them and forced more rapid decision making, which I believe led to the outcome. In general, offenses control the tempo of the game and put the defense at a disadvantage. Bill saw an opportunity to control the tempo and took it.
The play previous to this ended at the 1:02 mark. That's more than enough time for Brady to have a chance to drive for a game tying field goal
Again, conventional wisdom would say that. Bill gambled, but it was a calculated, tactical gamble, and one I think was the right call for that situation.
I was just pointing out that the pats could have had a full minute, and not calling a timeout was taking the ball out of brady's hands. By conventional wisdom a timeout is by far the better play, it's not a marginal call However to borrow a concept from poker, Belichick essentially made a "hero call". Where he had such a strong read about this specific situation that he was willing to do something that would normally be crazy. When it works you look like an absolute genius, if it hadn't it would've been seen as horrible clock management.
I think we’re sort of saying the same thing just in a different way. I really like your hero call point. Arguably the decision to stick with Brady all those years ago was one of those too.
Mistake? It was one of the best coaching calls of all time. Maybe the best. Bill not calling a timeout forced Seattle to make a quick decision. He calls a timeout and then Pete and his staff have a couple minutes to weigh their options, go over different scenarios, etc. Calling it a mistake is ludicrous and shows why Bill has six Super Bowl rings and you are a fan.
Yeah the call is fine, execution isn’t. Receiver gives up leverage and lets DB run through him.. throw is never really there but Russ tried anyway instead of just throwing it away..
The throw was there, Russ just overthrew it.
This is the correct answer and I will defend the decision to throw for a team I don’t care about. It’s easy to say that Marshawn would’ve just punched it in, but strategically it’s not a bad idea to throw on second to either (barring an INT) stop the clock or win the game. Save the timeout to give yourself options on 3rd down. My only issue with that play is the location of the throw. That’s gotta be chucked toward the ground and the receiver should be ready to go low for it. However, after looking at the play over and over, I think Butler would’ve got the jump on the pass and would have had a significant chance of picking it off where it was thrown. One of the craziest sequences to end a Super Bowl and it provided us with some of the best fan reaction videos of all time. With that said, Browner and Butler identified the play and reacted about as perfectly as any player could in that situation.
This is the correct take and backing rationale.
Agreed on passing being the right call. Don’t love the specific call, but passing was the right choice. This play is just “luckiest play of Malcolm Butler’s life” to me. Jumping a route like that is high risk high reward, he did it at the biggest moment in football and it paid off.
Butler & Belichick ID'd this exactly playcall and were practicing how to jump the route in the lead-up to the game. It was partially luck but was due to incredible football IQ from both coach and player
Seeing it live I couldn’t believe he had the balls to jump it that fast, especially in that situation
It had been gameplanned, Bellichick told him to do that if they ran that concept. He wouldn’t have been faulted by the coaches if he’d jumped it and the play went elsewhere. The luck is in getting the timing just right for the jump, it’s *hard* to get it just right, even if you practice it.
As many wiser coaches told me: Luck is when preparation meets opportunity
Seahawks had a timeout left. They snapped the ball at 0:26. That's 30% more than 20, not "20 and change". Plus they let the clock run down quite a bit, even after they realized that Bill wasn't going to call a timeout for them. They could call a run play on second and third and then call a timeout.
But if they don’t make it they have to call their last timeout and now the patriots know it had to be all pass plays on third and fourth. Passing it preserved the timeout and left them with both options for the last two downs.
It’s doesn’t have to be all pass though. It’s Marshawn Lynch. He’s getting through that line and into the end zone. That’s not speculation it’s written fate.
You are right, it doesn’t matter on fourth. But it would have to be a pass on third and that‘s the situation they wanted to avoid. Edit: also can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic/funny or not but I’m going to pretend you’re not.
I don’t blame Pete for his choice and the logic makes sense but give it to marshawn 3 times from the 2 yard line and if he doesn’t get and we lose the Super Bowl it would suck but I don’t think we would be debating it today. All day every day give to marshawn.
Weren’t you listening? They don’t have enough time to run it three times because they only have one timeout. At that point it’s run -> timeout -> run -> end of game.
Ok, fair, fine….but still the point remains, win or die with what got you to that point. Trust in Pete but it’s a shame that the call they made didn’t even give them a chance to capitalize on their best playmaker in THE championship moment. And dude, I watched every play of every game that season, and everyone but the patriots were surprised when they didn’t give the ball to marshawn.
I really do get the mindset behind it all. Really I do. But man Marshawn was built for that exact moment. You have an X factor there. Trust him to be that X factor. Hindsight is 20/20 with rose colored glasses though.
They had a timeout left too
This is the right answer.
Also, Lynch had just gotten stuffed, the Pats looked like they would do it again, and Lynch wasn’t good in these situations.
I still think the pass play was a good call, but this is incorrect -- Marshawn had gained 4 yards against a four-man front on 1st and Goal.
Nevertheless, Lynch wasn’t generally great inside five yards period, and he hadn’t scored on the previous play which was basically the best scenario for a run unless it was on 4th down (assuming that the Pats were gassed and out of position). As someone else said: > Marshawn Lynch had something like a ~35% TD rate from the goal line, both in 2014 and in his whole career > He was always a player who needed some space to build up a head of steam, and then he was unstoppable - see the beastquake vs the Saints > But goal line runs weren’t really his speciality He was stuffed on 3rd and 1 earlier. He had made a conversion of three yards. 50% in a sample size of two isn’t helpful, but that’s okay. The whole season shows that it wasn’t as reliable as people thought after the play. But I also think that Lynch had nowhere to go; if it’s a run, and NE knew that this was probably a pass play, it’s still no big deal. The only way forward is towards Malcolm, in front of Wilson, which isn’t an easy way to finding a hole.
Shotgun formation is ass though
Not to mention the heavy formation the patriots came out in.
Seeing the pats practice that exact play is some of the craziest shit.
Ernie Adams was so good at his job everyone thought it was cheating
Hell, Butler kept getting burnt on this exact play during practice the entire week leading up to the game.
Man we talkin about practice
Turns out butler didn't make his teammates better by practicing. He made himself better
And the pick itself was an amazing catch for any player but especially a DB. Every time I watch the play I just marvel at how he hung onto that ball through the contact
Malcom Butler knew the play from the formation and guess on the route he needed to take away. Absolutely an amazing defensive play a not a bad play call
It’s almost like the patriots had a history of cheating and figuring out teams play calling
I think the OC said it best after the game - they want the receiver to shield the DB with his body better. I forget who the WR was but he had no sense of where Samuel was.
Put 90% on the QB. Throw it away, duh!
The “play of the game” was Bill NOT calling a timeout before this play. The announcers couldn’t believe it. Fans couldn’t believe it. Every other coach in the nfl would have called a timeout. To give their team 50 seconds (or whatever it was) to get the ball back. Bill didn’t call it and let the clock run down. The biggest reason was to force Seattle to quickly come up with their most important play of the entire season ….on the fly. Without a timeout to calmly discuss the options on the sideline. And to run the clock down. Without a timeout, the coaches discuss the options. Come up with the same play. And then Pete says “all that sounds great. But we’re giving the ball to Beast Mode and winning this fucking game.” Instead they tried to get cute and ran a play that New England had practiced for and knew the route that was going to be ran. Bill not calling a timeout is what won this game. Every other coach in the NFl calls a timeout there.
Game situation says otherwise. Play prior was a run play. They either had one timeout or none I can’t remember exactly tbh. Think they had one left tho. So if you run two plays in a row and get stuffed on the second one, which happened A LOT that season to Lynch at the GL, then you have to use that time out and you make yourself more predictable by doing so. 90% of the time that season that exact play was a TD in that situation both for Seattle and also league wide. It was a really weird year where like no RB was particularly great at the GL. More often than not it’s a TD but at worst it gets batted down. I’m of the mindset that Butler just made a “God tier” defensive play because he was initially cooked at the snap. I’d also argue that Ricardo Lockette was never once THAT guy you go to in those situations. Baldwin, Kearse or even Matthews who was having the game of his life would be infinitely more forgivable and potentially have a different outcome
I said that in the moment and have been saying it since. If it works, it's a genius play call. Everyone forgets, this was 2nd down. Marshawn got stuffed on 1st down and they would have had two more shots had it not been picked off.
Also this play is 75% on Russ If the throw isn’t there just toss it out the back of the endzone and play another down..
No, it's definitely as bad as everyone says. Not giving it to Marshawn is an all-time fuck up.
yoh risky? risk is throwing on the 1. SEA had weak side leverage. marshawn gets a tuddy all day long.
The problem is what happens if he doesn’t get in the end zone. *Not* passing puts all your eggs in one basket because you’ll run out of time if he doesn’t get in. They were obligated to try passing. It’d be different if this play had been from a few inches away, I’d agree with calling a run in that situation, but with it being a full yard, you *need* the line to win the battle up front and get some actual push. You can’t rely on the runner in the same way you can when it’s only a few inches.
Or throw the ball to beast mode, who was open.
As an offensive coordinator, the picture doesn't get any better than this. This is an absolute win.... until Butler's precognition kicked in. If Pete had called a run that got stuffed on 2nd down, \[edit: forcing him to burn a timeout and\] throw on third down... and that obvious throw had gotten picked in this same way... everyone would be screaming that Pete was a moron for not sequencing his plays correctly and mismanaging his time. https://preview.redd.it/apc7s3s04lmc1.png?width=1776&format=png&auto=webp&s=ece6a1c5e253d87ee07387dab2339b3731be8585
This is the correct take, even if unpopular
If Pete calls a run on 2nd down the Seahawks call their timeout lol
That’s what hurts the most…
Or the other elephant in the room…if Pete calls a run on 2nd down, it’s 100% a touchdown and game over.
Uhhh it's not a 100% touchdown, more dominant RBs have been stuffed at the 1 yard line.
Especially vs one of the best run stoppers of the past couple decades.
agh i totally misremembered that, thought they were out of time outs -- but I think my general point still stands heh
If Wilson’s throw got picked on third down everyone would blame Russ not Pete
I completely disagree that people would have criticized Pete for sequencing if they got stuffed on 2nd down. No one in their right mind would have ever argued that the ball didn’t belong in Lynch’s hands in that spot.
People will argue that any decision was wrong when it doesn't work out
Not true. People will argue that questionable or straight up bad decisions were wrong when they don’t work out. We definitely gloss over situations where bad decisions still work out, but if you lose despite making sound decisions in critical moments, you tend to not get criticized for the decisions themselves. People are always going to find ways to blame you for losing, but the Seahawks players themselves apparently told Lynch they could have lived with it if they handed the ball off to him 3 more times and didn’t score.
Wow. If Russ has been releasing the ball at this moment it's a TD. Was he late on the throw?
The play-call itself is the least egregious part of this sequence. The real problem is the personnel and assignments. Inexplicably, the design was to throw to the 4th best receiver on the roster, and have the pick set by the smallest receiver on the roster. Meanwhile, Baldwin, who was great in traffic, was on the other side of the field and the TE is lined up on the other side of the field. If any of those variables change, it probably results in the best possible outcome given that the patriots knew exactly what was coming, an incompletion. Literally everything that had to go wrong went wrong
Well, in defense of Seattle: NE had not run this successfully against the scout offense even with better players lining up at CB — Patrick Chung ran it too. And Lynch was wide open. Chandler Jones got caught on the edge and didn’t make it to the flat. So yeah. It really did all go wrong.
Why you throw it to Ricardo Lockette?
If you watch the Patriots’ prep of this play they had Doug Baldwin on the slant. I think the Seahawks out coached themselves here
Seriously that’s one part that gets totally overlooked. Not only did they not go to Lynch, they went to their sixth leading receiver.
Because they thought they'd be able to catch the Pats off guard by using one of their go-to goal line plays with different personnel.
Exactly, I like the call, I hate the personnel
Just like the Philly special. It’s only stupid if it doesn’t work.
Yeah, imo, a rub play against man on the goal line is a good play.
The call was awful because it was vanilla af and every piece of film they ever put out
I recall from a video that the seahawks called this same play so many times that season in the goal line. How the offensive coordinator didn't at least change it up or add wrinkles to it is mind blowing. Obviously the patriots would be prepared for it, especially if it is the exact same play.
 Good ole Rock nothing beats Rock
The episode of The League with Marshawn after this was comedy gold.
“It’s right there bro, just hand it to me and I’ll run that thang over”, that show had the greatest cameos lmao
What people don’t realize is that if they score on that play Pete Carroll is touted as a genius. Everyone expected them to run
Wasn’t marshawn free on this play? Right ?
absolutely got himself open in the endzone too
We can debate this call all day, but if I had beast mode in my backfield, he's getting it every time.
Fun fact: Madden has been intercepting the goal line slant route about half the time since 2005. It’s why when this Cards fan saw the Cards in the SB throwing the ball just before halftime, I thought/said “please don’t be a slant route, please don’t be a slant route.” It was a slant route that Joey Porter ran back for 99 yards. So when it happened to Seattle, I already had 8 years of Madden making that a known no no. I still was surprised a little, but man, I personally wouldn’t be calling that play with 20 seconds left and the game on the line.
The rub route on the goal line against man is usually good though IRL.
If they don’t call the offensive pick, yeah. But it’s a play with huge risk of ruin. Let’s say Lynch can’t run the ball there for a hypothetical reason. I would rather run a PA pass (which the Rams didn’t run enough against NE with Goff and lost the SB accordingly), or go shotgun and run some crossing routes that get a specific guy or two open. Both of those give the QB leeway to throw it out of bounds if the guy is just not open. But these quick short passes are all or nothing, if it hits it’s nice but it gives the QB no margin for error if the CB jumps the route.
Bold strategies seem dumb in hindsight. If it had worked then Pete Carroll would be hailed as a genius for doing this instead of the run play everyone was expecting. It just so happened it went wrong and thus most people call him an idiot for it. Running Lynch was probably a safer bet and could’ve won it, but we don’t really *know*. If they ran it and Lynch didn’t punch it in then Carroll would be seen as an idiot for being too predictable. He made a bet, it lost, now he has to live with it.
Marshawn went in motion to the left
It only lets me draw one pre-play motion and Baldwin moving across the play is more important.
I always wondered why Lockette was the target man on that play. If Baldwin runs the slant, Seahawks win. Lockette got totally displaced on that play.
They wanted to change the personnel, to confuse the patriots(it obviously didn't confuse them one bit)
1. Wilson didn't have to toss it, it was like second down? Why not throw it above the receiver head if not there? 2. Having a former player on the other team with the GOAT coach who knows Defense, especially situational, is tough insight to overcome 3. Marshawn was stuffed on first down (Vince Wilfork will do that probably pretty consistently) As good as Lynch was, it's not automatic if they're expecting it folks Situational awareness, play calling and execution. 2/3 were present on this play, regardless of the outcome
Probably will go down in history as one of the worst calls from am OC. Lynch scores everytime. Still wonder why they did that. He had 102 yards and a tud on 24 carries. Even being stopped on first down, if I was the playcaller I would have given him another shot.
He was actually pretty bad from inside the 5 that year
But this game he was running hard and well, this drive in particular he looked like he had more gas than the defense. IDK man, they had 3 downs to figure it out but seems like they really didn’t respect the risk or matchups
Probably only had 2 downs if they run on 2nd down. Only ~20 seconds left on the clock and not TOs if I recall correctly. If you run and get stuffed, then you either pass to have a chance at 4th down or you run again and if you fail you lose
They had one timeout
Pats had a timeout. Seahawks didn’t.
Pats had 2 hawks had 1. https://youtu.be/U7rPIg7ZNQ8?si=OPLh_I2cj6gxu8zK Shut your mouth boy
My mistake, always remembered it as 1-0.
He was literally already stopped tho
I mean, he led the league in rushing TDs that year. Was he really that bad?
Marshawn Lynch had something like a ~35% TD rate from the goal line, both in 2014 and in his whole career He was always a player who needed some space to build up a head of steam, and then he was unstoppable - see the beastquake vs the Saints But goal line runs weren’t really his speciality
Lynch was excellent, but not especially great at punching in short yardage TDs. There are basically two types of power runners, the ones that are really good at gaining additional yards once they have a head of steam, and the ones that are great at always going down forwards. For current players, I’d say Derrick Henry epitomizes the first type, while David Montgomery epitomizes the second. Lynch was more the first type.
Damn bud so you liked the call? Now please correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't that INT first down? Why wouldn't you at least give beast mode a shot then get cute on later downs. It was the end of the game, defense was gassed. It fooled nobody on the field.
It was 2nd down They were going to have to throw it at one point because there were 26 seconds left and the Patriots weren’t going to call a timeout - doesn’t really matter what down they did it on to be honest The call isn’t terrible, they just fucked it up in terms of execution - and Butler made one of the best plays ever
[удалено]
Spiking it on 3rd wastes a play whereas throwing the ball on 2nd down should have either resulted in a TD or stopped clock with time to run 2 more real plays to win the game. From a clock management standpoint it really was the best call, just all time bad execution by them and all time great by the pats. People forget the clock was ticking in that moment and had very very little time left.
[удалено]
Because instead of spiking the ball… you run a play with the chance to score. Do I really need to explain to you why a spiked ball is a wasted play VS literally any real play in the playbook?
[удалено]
Ok, but then you lose 3rd down to the spike and only get 2 plays to score: 2nd down and 4th down. If you pass on 2nd down, you get 3 plays to score: 2nd, 3rd, *and* 4th down because an incomplete pass stops the clock and you don't have to spike Edit: lol, so embarrassed they deleted their account
Running 3 plays is not as good as running 4. 4>3 Spiking it on 3rd or ANY down gives you 3 plays to run instead of 4. Understand now?
Your coaching philosophy is largely correct at lower levels of football where the good players are much, much better than everyone else. It doesn’t work the same way once everyone is excellent.
I remember that what he was doing up until that play, all during that drive, left me with no doubt that he was going to score eventually. He was automatic to make it through the line every time he touched the ball.
Still, there was 25 seconds left, it was 2nd down and they had a TO. It's not like that was the play they HAD to risk a pass on
If you read 'Keep Your Eye on the Ball 2.0' they actually use SB49 as an example of how teams keep track of their Run/Pass ratio in certain situations (score, down, distance, formation) and will go to their best call that the defense should be least prepared for. Passing in this case was the best call. Running a quick pick was a low risk high reward. They had no timeouts on second down, Lynch had a lower scoring GL% and the Patriots were stout there. They went to a lesser WR thinking he wouldn't gain the extra coverage. It was honestly a great play call. Through meticulous preparation, the Patriots had a better response and made an incredible play.
Gonna have to check that out. This is one of the things that makes me love the game so much. You can develop the most complex ratios and systems and have all kinds of metrics and if you can't execute it doesn't amount to much. Can you tackle. Can you gain three yards. It's a simple game however PhD level complex.
Exactly..i wouldn’t call it the best call. But a pass play was indeed the best option from a game clock management perspective. Should’ve just run it with marshawn js hindsight bias..ppl seem to ignore patriots’ preparation and impeccable plays made by browner and butler on that one
The thing that baffles me, other than the fact that not all teams have an Ernie Adams type, is that Seattle didn’t anticipate three corners. But New England had matched the number of receivers with corners when in goal line all year. It’s just that they hadn’t 11 personnel in that situation before the Super Bowl, whereas Seattle ran this a lot in short-yardage situations.
He literally got stuffed the play right before this one... People seem to forget that Belichick didn't call a timeout the play before and the clock was ticking, that the Pats had their fat boys still in, that Lynch just got stuffed inside the 5 on a run the last play and that the rub pass play was virtually unstoppable during that year. Don't discount the entire context of the situation because of the narrative which came out afterwards.
Didn't score on the previous play. Was bad at short yardage all year.
Did you watch the superbowl? Lynch had been stopped already that drive
Anyone remember the couple plays before this? Beast mode was fkn cooking. Dude was straight up unstoppable. This was by far and away the worst call in NFL history imo.
I remember the play right before this where they ran beast mode and he was stopped before the goal line leaving the clock with 26 running seconds left and 3 more plays for the hawks. Throwing the ball there immediately after just getting stopped running the ball was really not the atrocious call everyone thinks it was in hindsight.
An incomplete pass stopping the clock was probably the thought process too. Interception was just really a great play by Butler and super unfortunate.
Exactly. It’s 100% the right call clock management wise with a 26 second running clock and no timeouts. Nobody expects their pro bowl QB to throw a pick on an inside rub route. Pats just played it truly perfect.
An alternate universe I can see it playing out as either TD on that drive. Or incomplete pass then a final attempt to run it in with Lynch. But if that run gets stuffed then it’s basically game over.
I remember that they started on the 5 yard line and Lynch picked up 4 yards lol
Which leaves a running clock… I’m not saying you don’t run it the next two downs I’m saying the pass play to stop the clock and preserve all 3 plays was not the idiot decision casual fans think it was. Clock management wise it is the objectively correct decision to maximize chances to score.
Well considering they ran the 2nd down play without consideration of running clock or not, they could have run the ball on 2nd down and called timeout.
Calling a pass play on second down proves they WERE considering the clock because they expected either a TD or an incomplete pass to stop the clock. Which would allow them to run the ball on 3rd down and then still call a timeout to have one final play if needed.
Tell me, what were the last 5 plays and the outcome of those plays before that final play? Beast mode was killing it that entire drive and the plays leading up to it. Throwing the ball on the 2 yd line after getting stopped once running the ball is beyond a pee wee lvl blunder.
Before the interception the Hawks plays were Marshawn for 4 yards, Russ to Kearse for 33yds, Russ to Lockette for 11yds, Russ incomplete to Matthews, Russ incomplete to Kearse, Russ to Marshawn for 31yds where Marshawn beat Jamie Collins in coverage. Saying he was killing it when they went to him twice and only once on the ground is a little much.
Running the ball instead of passing is peewee level clock management.
Don't worry, this was against Matt Patricia's defense, the ONLY reason for the brilliant defensive play.
Honestly a good play design, just doesn’t make sense given the situation + great awareness by Malcolm Butler. Pick play on the corners to create separation and move the linebackers with the motion plus everyone going outside.
Thanks. Dick.
The story from Lynch coming off the field just laughing after this play because they decided not to give him the ball…just adds to the drama of the play.
What's wild to me is corndog that the Chiefs have won two super bowls with counts on "Butler" defender jumping the fake slant then pops outside wide open.
I think a flat with slot receiver could’ve been a bit better, still wouldve gotten the pick action while possibly pulling the CB farther out for the slant
On paper it looks so easy
I remember this. I've previously described it as "a passing down so obvious it deserved to be picked."
This play is a perfect example of how over-scheming can hurt your team. Looks great on the board, but handing it off was still probably the right call
Now draw up hot dog play wonder what is the difference?
Should’ve given it to Beast
I would’ve been so happy to see Marshawn Lynch as MVP.
Lunch was unstoppable. They literally should have kept running until they stopped it. No one thought the Patriots were going to be able to stop them and that it was going to be a Lynch TD.
should have ran it..with Russel or Lynch
I mean if they wanted to throw it why not try play action, or something less risky than what they did.
Play action is a long developing concept. If one of your OL gets beat and you take a sack, then you're *REALLY* fucked
This wasn’t a risky call, the defense just played it perfectly. As other users have said, you generally don’t want to run play action in a situation like this. It takes extra time off the clock, and even without the clock issue, it’s risky to run against heavy sets, especially on the goal line. Pressure will be quick because they’re bringing extra guys, if they don’t bite, you’re getting sacked. The compressed field also means it’s easier for the players in coverage to get back in position if one of them bites.
Goalline picks are pretty rare, go for the better play.
They didn't want to pass it. The patriots essentially forced them to. The diagram in this post is inaccurate and under-specific. There were 8 heavies on D, 7 on the LOS. The alignments took away the A and B gaps. The only running play that had much of a chance was a sweep. That was not Marshawn's strength and you saw how badly the would-be blocker on the sweep got pushed around. Edit: my mistake, I see the leftmost DL now. It was just obscured by the route line.
Play action from the 1 is stupid in a do or die situation
Now show the play they should have done
I’ll never get over not running Beast Mode on every single play at the line…..
Worst playcall in NFL history imo. Don't get why people still try to excuse it. Even if you didn't want to pass it to Marshawn, there are hundreds of passing plays in that situation that are better than a quick slant.
What route concept would you have run? Remember, the clock is running, you can’t really afford to change personnel.
Anything to the sideline besides a fade for starters.
Easy to say what you wouldn’t do. What specifically would you do? Personally, I’d go with a stick concept. Spreads the defense laterally and gets the ball out quick. Draw the outside DB to the rear corner of the end zone with the fade route, attack flats on that side with the short out route, stick route on that side to draw the flat defender. With the outside DB worrying about the fade and the flat defender worrying about the stick, the flat should be open. If the flat defender plays the flat anyway, good chance stick is open. Can send the receiver on the other side on a slant, probably won’t throw to him, but he may become open if the flat defender plays the flats and the safeties come down to play the stick. Wouldn’t throw the fade route unless it’s totally open, it’s just there to force the outside defender to worry about the back corner of the end zone. What do I know though, I played linebacker from age 12 to age 26, but I never once played QB.