And A Classless Seahawk Thug!
Posted on 02/02/2015 4:04:53 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper
There were plenty of explanations offered, first by Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, then by offensive coordinator Darren Bevell and quarterback Russell Wilson, but at the end of Super Bowl XLIX, with everyone left breathless, the question still hanging out there along with the confetti falling on the victorious Patriots:
How in the world does Marshawn Lynch, as fearsome a runner as there is, not get the ball on second down from the New England 1-yard line in the final seconds?
“We had it,’’ Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin said. “I don’t know how you don’t give it to the best back in the league on not even the 1-yard line? We were on the half-yard line and we throw a slant. I don’t know what the offense had going on, what they saw. I just don’t understand.’’
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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That statement is correct, but the flub for the Pats was the penalty call.
Undisciplined players have a way of tilting the wheel of fate at the most inopportune moment. They get away with their infractions often when it is of little or no consequence, but fail to recognize why they invariably get caught when it does matter.
Glad they’re playing football rather than performing delicate surgery!
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They said that NE lined up with 8 down line men. they didn’t think it looked good for a run, so they thought let’s try for a pass, and if there’s a chance for a score pass otherwise throw it away.
With a timeout remaining, too. Clock's not going to run out if Lynch is stopped on 2nd down, and Seattle could have stopped it after third down if need be.
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That view suggests a certain amount of cynicism WRT the motives of the officials, and I’m not saying that it is unwarranted, but the tendency on the part of the less seasoned members of the secondary to thoughtlessly run the moment the ball hits their fingers has caused many four-and-outs or worse at the goal line.
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Differing opinion. It was a great defensive play. Had the defender got there a split second later, Seattle scores.
Had the intended receiver just deflected the ball away as he should have, the Seahawks would likely have scored on the next play.
(I’m not a Seahawks fan either)
They had one time out. A lot of people don’t realize that they couldn’t use that without invoking a penalty since they had just called a timeout.
There was a little bit of tactics going on even with the timeouts. From comments made, the Seahawks expected Belichick to call a timeout when there was about a minute left, to preserve time...but he didn’t - because he didn’t want to give Carroll more time to plan, and so the Seahawks coaching staff got a bit discombobulated.
Woody Hayes was my recollection as well.
The Pats subbed in a largely fresh line for that play...big bodies to jam up the line. Yes, Lynch was doing better in the second half, but he never dominated...and at 1-2 yards to go he was stuffed several times. Prior to the bobble play, the Patriots defense had held Seattle to 3 3-and-outs.
The Pats had two defenders on the side of the field where the pass was, with one of them occupied with a block. The Seahawks got the matchup they wanted, it just didn’t work...apparently because Butler was burned for a TD on the same play during a scrimmage this week with the scout team, and Belichick burned it into his brain. Butler didn’t even look at the defender.
I guess that is why they compare the “hooded one” to the evil emperor from “Star Wars”.
Yup. SIX defensive linemen, plus big linebackers Collins and Hightower.
Maybe not cynicism on motives so much as cynicism on the minutia of the game. We’ve all seen plenty of goal line catches right at the line called one way or the other based on an inch or so of ball position. Given the crowd on both sides of the catch there probably isn’t a replay that gives a definitive view (I certainly haven’t seen one) so if he kneels the play probably stands as a pick in the endzone and a touchback. But there is an old maxim of don’t give the refs a chance to see things differently. Once he got past the goal line which side he caught it on stopped mattering.
In an interview this morning Butler said they’d practiced that play a bunch of times Friday, and they kept practicing it because he kept not getting around the pick to defend the pass. Which plays into why Belichick didn’t call a time out, if the Hawks lined up for exactly the play they’d practiced and knew they could stop don’t give Carroll a chance to change his mind.
And A Classless Seahawk Thug!
Maybe Carroll was gambling on Belichick burning his timeout when they lined up for that play.
Because sometimes jammed up plays in your favor. The design of the play is that the lead receiver picks the two defenders leaving the second receiver open for the TD. Which apparently the Pats understood and practiced against that play, so Butler knew he had to take a different line and not get picked. But if the Pats don’t spot Seattle’s fondness for that play in tape review, and Butler doesn’t read it properly pre-snap and adjust the way he’d been taught, there’s a little pocket of peace right there for the receiver and TD Seahawks.
Carroll said they were expecting it. And 99% of the time taking the timeout is the right move there. All the way up until they line up exactly the way you want them to.
Yep. That’s where Belichick outsmarted him. I myself was wondering why the Patriots weren’t taking the TOs to leave some time on the clock if Seattle scored, because all they would have needed was a FG to force overtime.
But by not taking them, it forced Seattle to consider abandoning the run.
No argument to that anywhere. Butler sniffed it out. But as in politics, the premise caused the problem. The Seahawks SHOWED a pass play with an empty backfield. This is after a timeout. The PATs had to scramble because they had the run defense called. But all of that is a moot point. The play was way to risky for 2nd and goal from the 1 with 20 seconds on the clock and a timeout left.
That might have been the call on 4th down or even 3rd down if they stopped a run and had burnned a timeout.
By the way, I am a Colts fan. I was rooting for both teams to lose.
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