Why Blitz?

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

The Giants played a great game and their defensive gameplan was excellent. They agitated and frustrated Brady all night. I don't want to take anything away from them. They earned and deserved the Lombardi.

But, that said, up 14-10, with under a minute left, and the Giants out of timeouts, why blitz on 3rd down and leave Hobbs on an island against Burress?

I would have had 6 DBs in and told them all the same thing: "Keep your men in front of you and on the green part! Two stops and you're World Champions, gentlemen!"

Letting Burress get so open behind Hobbs was ludicrous. We shut Plaxico down all night by double- and triple-teaming him. Why did we stop when it counted most?

All that said, it was a great season. Our beloved Pats gave us 5 straight months of pure joy!

Can't wait until next year!

 

[PrairiePat]

Between that and the 4th and 13 pass attempt, there were certainly some questionable coaching decisions from a staff that is normally at its best in big games. Very odd, and disappointing.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

Our coaching staff chocked last night. Simple as that.

 

[newton_tom_cat]

The Giants played a great game and their defensive gameplan was excellent. They agitated and frustrated Brady all night. I don't want to take anything away from them. They earned and deserved the Lombardi.

But, that said, up 14-10, with under a minute left, and the Giants out of timeouts, why blitz on 3rd down and leave Hobbs on an island against Burress?

I would have had 6 DBs in and told them all the same thing: "Keep your men in front of you and on the green part! Two stops and you're World Champions, gentlemen!"

Letting Burress get so open behind Hobbs was ludicrous. We shut Plaxico down all night by double- and triple-teaming him. Why did we stop when it counted most?

All that said, it was a great season. Our beloved Pats gave us 5 straight months of pure joy!

Can't wait until next year!

i agree, i wasnt happy when i saw so many pats at the line. even manning said he was happy when he finally saw pats bringing an all out blitz as it meant single coverage on plax

 

[frankiesfly]

The Giants played a great game and their defensive gameplan was excellent. They agitated and frustrated Brady all night. I don't want to take anything away from them. They earned and deserved the Lombardi.

But, that said, up 14-10, with under a minute left, and the Giants out of timeouts, why blitz on 3rd down and leave Hobbs on an island against Burress?

I would have had 6 DBs in and told them all the same thing: "Keep your men in front of you and on the green part! Two stops and you're World Champions, gentlemen!"

Letting Burress get so open behind Hobbs was ludicrous. We shut Plaxico down all night by double- and triple-teaming him. Why did we stop when it counted most?

All that said, it was a great season. Our beloved Pats gave us 5 straight months of pure joy!

Can't wait until next year!

How great BB is and his coaching staff. I have to say that was a horribly coached game. You're right. That was many bad decisions and play calls that were abnormal for the Pats. It was all the distractions leading into the game.

 

[BelichickFan]

I wouldn't have blitzed as much as we weren't getting a lot of pressure that way (some, not a lot) but if we'd have hit it and slammed him to the ground everyone would have loved the call.

 

[newton_tom_cat]

I wouldn't have blitzed as much as we weren't getting a lot of pressure that way (some, not a lot) but if we'd have hit it and slammed him to the ground everyone would have loved the call.

it wasnt a calculated decision no matter. even if someone broke free all manning had to do was get the pass off in a second or two because of how close they were to the goal line. and w/ plax's size advantage it was too great a risk he would come down with it.

 

[JoePats]

Don't overthink it. If Manning was sacked on that 3rd and 10 play, game over.

 

[BelichickFan]

Don't overthink it. If Manning was sacked on that 3rd and 10 play, game over.

Yeah, by the time of the TD we'd blown our chances. No pressure, maybe we get good coverage but it's tough going to stop them there. We had two chances on the drive - the INT Samuel almost had (would have been a great catch), the 4th and half a yard (tough to stop but it was a shot) and, of course, the almost sack which was the real chance as not only did we not get the sack but just an incomplete pass would have resulted in a 4th and 10.

Once those chances were gone we were seriously up against it.

 

[Spiral]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a coach, but one thing I hear and read a lot is that the Patriots are always changing their defensive looks. Having said that, they almost never switch their cornerbacks from one side of the field to the other. The Patriots have one good cornerback and Giants have one good WR. Not switching the CBs allowed the Giants to dictate the matchups, resulting in Hobbs being all alone vs. Buress at the 13-yard line.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a coach, but one thing I hear and read a lot is that the Patriots are always changing their defensive looks. Having said that, they almost never switch their cornerbacks from one side of the field to the other. The Patriots have one good cornerback and Giants have one good WR. Not switching the CBs allowed the Giants to dictate the matchups, resulting in Hobbs being all alone vs. Buress at the 13-yard line.

Hobbs was all alone because they blitzed. Coaches decision. And one I thought was poor considering it was TD by pass or game over for the Giants at that stage, whether on 3rd or 4th down, because they were out of TO. They don't switch because Asante isn't "comfortable" on the right side. Burress was a non factor most of the evening, and the CB covering him had the only pick of the evening. They made some plays on old Asante last night that kept drives alive. None moreso than when he let a relatively clean shot at a game ending INT slip right through his hands.

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

Don't overthink it. If Manning was sacked on that 3rd and 10 play, game over.

No doubt. That whole sequence was surreal for me. Alomost happened in slow motion.

We have Manning. We have his jersey. He IS going down. Wait! He gets away!

He lofts an airball up and Tyree grabs it on his helmet, has no control, juggles it, bobbles it, somehow keeps it from touching the turf and pulls it in with Harrison all over him.

Big reception. First down.

Ballgame.

 

[1976pats]

Why blitz indeed? Especially when the Giants O-Line picked it up almost all night. And going for it on 4th & 13 instead of a Gostkowski 49 yd FG in a freakin' dome? It was very un-Belichick like to say the least and did make me wonder whether or not all of this Spygate crap finally got to him.

On the brighter side when he successfully challenged the 12 men on the field (I had no idea it was even eligible to be challenged), we all proclaimed him the Greatest Coach Ever. Failing to score points after getting the reversed call however was disatrous.

 

[BradyisGod]

The pressure was starting to get there though. The problem I had with it was that they backed off after the tyree completion. THey should have just stuck with it.

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

The pressure was starting to get there though. The problem I had with it was that they backed off after the tyree completion. THey should have just stuck with it.

True. On that completion they damn near had Peyton - er - Eli.

That sack probably ends the game...7 yard loss, 4th down...

If only...

 

[karran_s]

The funny thing is that if they had decided on double coverage on PB and he had still come up with the ball, we would have been arguing .. they should have blitzed !

Hindsight is always 20 20 .. There were opportunities to win the game - not one but several... Each one of them went against us. In most of the close games we have won, at least one play went in our favor .. Each of them was a game ending one too.

However, Eli has that magic scramble out of the pocket and then a miraculous catch.. Seems like destiny finally caught up with him (and humbled us.. from perfect to "less than perfect".. Now we'll never hear the end of it from the 72 Dolphins)...