Replies

Your reality check is that he threw as well if not better in the second half than he did in the first.

I'll say it again... it is a crazy statement, and unlearned, no knowledge statement, that says Brady or his coordinator would think "wow, I can throw it deep now that the ball has a pound and a half less air in it". Period. It is a dumb thought to believe that.

Your reality check is that he threw as well if not better in the second half than he did in the first.

Yard-wise, yes, but not completed "downfield" passes.

ALL of Brady's completions, as far as I can tell, were short passes...EXCEPT the one to Vereen in the first quarter...and the 22-yarder in 2nd half to Edelman down the middle.

But once you're up, you don't even need to throw downfield, do you?

If you review ALL of the 2nd-half pass plays, as I have in Espn's play-by-play account, you'll see any double-digit gains in 2nd half were ALL (except 1 by Edelman) short passes. Quite significant YAC (Yards After Catch) kicked in on 3 other passes:
* 16-yarder by Gronk (was a "short" pass)
* 16-yard TD by eligible lineman (you can see this one online somewhere)
* 23-yarder by Edelman on wide-out screen

So we're back to confidence-level issues: Teams are going to pass, no matter what the weather conditions are. They are more likely to throw it short in wetter conditions, and especially when ahead.

Indy didn't have that luxury once falling behind by multiple scores...and Luck is probably #2 Q in league behind the Ravens' QB in throwing downfield as a regular part of offense...so you could see reluctance to move away from that because that success is what got them where they were.

I’ll say it again... it is a crazy statement, and unlearned, no knowledge statement, that says Brady or his coordinator would think “wow, I can throw it deep now that the ball has a pound and a half less air in it”. Period. It is a dumb thought to believe that.

Not only that, but the effect of under inflating the ball is to make it a little less accurate, and a little less likely to go as far....like .003 seconds slower to go 20 yards.

The NFL should change the rule or enforce it, even with a small penalty. If a runner steps out of his lane or a swimmer leaves the block a hundredth of a second before his relay partner touches the wall, they are DQ’d. It doesn’t matter if they finish ten yards ahead of the next competitor. I am saddened by how many people I have heard say that it didn’t effect the outcome of the game so what difference did it make. When did we start thinking that cheating is ok if it doesn’t seem to effect the outcome?