WELKER: " I let the team down "

Welker's reaction after dropping the catch says it all. Did his drop contribute to the loss? Yes. Did other plays contribute to the loss? Yes. It's football it happens.

Welker can and should walk around with his head held high. Hopefully, he'll get another opportunity to remedy the lack of Superbowl success recently for the Patriots.

I don't count Gronk because of his injury, but when the team needed them most, the receiving corps all took the gas pipe. Welker, Branch, Hernandez.....

all 3 came up small.

It looked to me like he was going to try and run with it and then realized there was no way, and let it go. Maybe he didn't want to risk a fumble.

I hope Wes is better today,better as in not taking so much on himself. I'm sure the team rallied around him. Honestly during his interview he looked pale and shaken, shoulders slumped forward like a wounded animal. So vulnerable-ugh it was awful to see. I really felt badly for him, it was heartbreaking and I'm sorry but he, Brady, and this whole franchise has done WAY too much for us as fans, for the community, and even for the game, to be in the condition he was in last night.

Light and Gronk probably crashed his room about 4 AM LOL.

Dagg said:

Not his fault that we lost, but yes he should have caught it.

A coach once said to me if you can touch it - you can catch it. Any WR worth his salt knows that statement and lives by it, so Im sure he will beat himself up about it.

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That coach was probably quoting Jerry Rice, who is the greatest WR of all time IMO. Anyway, it was a tough and very difficult catch to make, according to Michael Irvin, who knows about this well.

However, I don't blame Wes (or Tom) for that play. There were plenty of other opportunities to win the game and while this was the most obvious one, we cannot point to this play and say .. AHA... we lost because of this drop !

I do agree that there were numerous plays that led to the loss, but I can't help but think that it IS his fault in some way. However, it could also be said that if Brady hadn't of thrown that intentional grounding in his own endzone that gave the Giants an easy 2 points and momentum, the game might have been different. Maybe if our defense would have recovered at least 1 of the 3(?) fumbles, the game might have been different.

Simple fact is that the ball just didn't bounce our way often. And when it did, we didn't capitalize on it. Simple fact of football (like any sport) is that 1 team is gonna rejoice in victory, and the other won't.

I will say that if it hadn't of been the Giants we lost to (again), this loss wouldn't hurt AS bad. But, don't worry, as soon as we fix our defensive issues and get a deep threat, we'll be back in the Superbowl again. New England isn't done, not by a longshot.

Also, we should be happy that we even got this far. When Brady and Belichick are gone, do you really think we're gonna just automatically make the playoffs anymore? No, so let's just enjoy our great Dynasty while it's still possible to enjoy it.

Honestly, I can't believe more people aren't talking about the 12 men on the field penalty, where we handed the Giants 7 of their 19 offensive points.

That was probably the biggest killer right there.

EJ Blitz said:

It was the Patriots quality of play as a unit throughout the game that led Welker to be forced to make a catch like that. I feel like with two weeks to prepare, he should have never been put into that position in the first place. Now people want to make him the scapegoat as to why we lost the game, and that is by no means fair on him.

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Couldn't say this better.. you can't start a game with a safety, give up the ball, allow them to score and be down 9-0 for your opening possession.. ON top of that, have 12 men in the huddle negating the fumble / recovery.. In the first quarter itself, I had a sinking feeling.

To Brady's credit, there were 2 great drives and we were in a position to win, leading 17-9.... Then.. mental error from Brady .. pass to Gronk .. why throw it there on 1st down ??

How about the stripped balls.. both bounced the way of the Giants.. we just didn't catch ONE break while the Giants had MULTIPLE breaks.. Talk about Eli being lucky again..

Welker is going too far. I agree w/those saying "win as a team, lose as a team." I like rings & trophies too, but we get stupid w/all the "biggest stage"/judge a career on 1 play stuff sometimes. To read this board it seems like what we really need is Dilfer & Tyree not Brady & Welker. Hint: wrong.

pay da man!!! even this patsfans rookie knows this

ensoul said:

Was not a great pass but like I said in a post before: Welker makes that catches all the time so I think it is taken for granted that he should make it every time. The pats had every chance to end game on defense by making stops and they could not. You can ALWAYS point to one play and say "That is the play that cost the team the game!" The game did not end on on that play.

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I TOTALLY agree! Our defense failed when we needed them.

He should have been out partying take his shirt off and stuff.

He did not let the team down. His is not another Bill Buckner. The Patriots would have never gotten to the Superbowl without him. The Patriots had a some bad bounces on the fumbles and defensive problems.....

vuudu said:

He should have been out partying take his shirt off and stuff.

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If he was there, which it sounds like they kind of had to be, then he was probably just giving everyone that serial killer stare. I don't see him partying after that one,just not his style.

Leave No Doubt said:

I hope Wes is better today,better as in not taking so much on himself. I'm sure the team rallied around him. Honestly during his interview he looked pale and shaken, shoulders slumped forward like a wounded animal. So vulnerable-ugh it was awful to see. I really felt badly for him, it was heartbreaking and I'm sorry but he, Brady, and this whole franchise has done WAY too much for us as fans, for the community, and even for the game, to be in the condition he was in last night.

Light and Gronk probably crashed his room about 4 AM LOL.

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Sure, IF Welker caught the ball, it may be different. BUT, there were OTHER plays that would have turned the tide:

- Cruz fumbled the ball, Patriots recoverd the ball. BUT, Patriots had
12 (bonehead mistake) on the field. Negates the turnover.

- 3rd-11, Eli threw an incomplete pass deep on Patriots-side. Negated
because Ninkovich was offside.

IMO - Giants WRs can go veritical as well as middle. Our WRs (less than 6')
cannot go vertical.

Bend not break. Well, the yards given up hurt us..

Am I the only one that thinks that Welker should not have turned around? Holy crap! I mean come on, if he keeps running then he catches it over his left shoulder and he keeps running till being forced out of bounds or scores. In my opinion it was a PERFECT throw but Welker turned his body around and then had to elevate. Please someone tell me they thought the same thing?

I'm surprised that some of the people posting in this thread, whose opinions I normally respect, are so utterly clueless on this one.

1. What part of he could have/should have made the catch, but Brady threw it on the wrong shoulder and made it a tough as hell catch do you guys not understand. Sure Welker is going to say he should have made it, but for a 5-9 guy that it a circus catch.

2. Welker is maning up and showing EXACTLY WHY he should be a Patriot next year and beyond, and all you guys can do is use that against him--to prove that somehow that was really the single play (if there is one) that lost us the game. Absolutely pathetic. I would expect this kind of idiocy out of Jets fans but not here.

Knowing how some people were so quick to throw Asante under the bus for dropping that "easy" interception, I'm praying we don't drive our best receiver out of town.

Please, can we just let this one go?

The Brady Ballwashers are out in full force. Love the guy, but he was streaky all game (17 completions in a row followed by a god-awful interception on a play eerily similar to the crap throw he made against the Ravens). His poor decision on the first drive led to 2 points for the defense.

The ball to Welker was not a well thrown ball, and forget all the "he tossed it to where no one could get it but Welker" nonsense. One play later, he misses Branch badly across the middle.

Tommy is a warrior but he was the 2nd best QB on the field. Welker is being gracious taking blame.

JMarr said:

I'm surprised that some of the people posting in this thread, whose opinions I normally respect, are so utterly clueless on this one.

1. What part of he could have/should have made the catch, but Brady threw it on the wrong shoulder and made it a tough as hell catch do you guys not understand. Sure Welker is going to say he should have made it, but for a 5-9 guy that it a circus catch.

2. Welker is maning up and showing EXACTLY WHY he should be a Patriot next year and beyond, and all you guys can do is use that against him--to prove that somehow that was really the single play (if there is one) that lost us the game. Absolutely pathetic. I would expect this kind of idiocy out of Jets fans but not here.

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Yes you are the only one.

757PatsFan said:

Am I the only one that thinks that Welker should not have turned around? Holy crap! I mean come on, if he keeps running then he catches it over his left shoulder and he keeps running till being forced out of bounds or scores. In my opinion it was a PERFECT throw but Welker turned his body around and then had to elevate. Please someone tell me they thought the same thing?

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