Every Time I see Asante Samuel I think of his missed interception

[pao]

Did you see how high up that ball was? He barely had his fingertips on it. It's a play that could have been made, but it wouldn't have been as easy as you think. Don't make him out to be Superman.

I guess you think Samuel only has a 30" verticle leap? That's about where he is in that picture. Dude has at least a 40" vericle leap. He misjudged it, simple as that.

pao

 

[pao]

Finally, someone gets it. It wasnt an easy play as everyone is saying it. He had to make a play on the ball. The ball wasnt right in his bread basket as some of you guys think.

Man, he was standing there waiting, he barely jumped and it clanged off his fingers tips. He had plenty of time AND hops to make that play.

pao

 

[pao]

Hence why you joined max 8 days ago.

As though that changes the truth. It is what it is, a blown play. 19-0 if Samuel comes down with that easily catchable ball.

pao

 

[pao]

Moss would have caught that... he's 6 inches taller. Plus, his vertical is likely greater. Finally, his arms are longer. That's probably at least a foot or two of an advantage right there. On top of all of that, Moss's hands are bigger and he's probably has more speed, is more agile, and can jump faster into the air than Samuel. All of that does not mean that Samuel made a mistake. That's obviously not a pass a short cb can catch.

The other things I forgot are that Moss expects a pass to come to him. Samuel expects the passes to go to the guy he's covering. In fact, the other QB is trying to NOT throw it to Samuel! Also, Moss and Brady practice many routes. Samuel and Eli did not practice together except for the Giants game earlier this season!

Brady can tell Moss exactly what the play will be, and aims for Moss, not the defenders. Eli doesn't tell Samuel exactly what he's about to do and when, and does not aim at Samuel.

Did you WATCH the video? Samuel saw the ball coming, stopped, positioned himself, barely jumped (relative to his ability) and had the ball on his fingertips and STILL DROPPED THE BALL. He should have caught it.

pao

 

[newton_tom_cat]

Did you see how high up that ball was? He barely had his fingertips on it. It's a play that could have been made, but it wouldn't have been as easy as you think. Don't make him out to be Superman.

i agree it's crazy to lambast the guy for that. and i'm not some asante fan in the 1st place. but come on other than ed reed, i don't think any other DB in the league comes down with a ball that much above their head.

 

[Bertil]

How productive are these threads, really?

I'm as disappointed as everyone else, but you can't live your life as if you can change the past. It's done. He didn't catch it. He'll NEVER catch that ball. Time to move on.

 

[PatSunday]

Did you WATCH the video? Samuel saw the ball coming, stopped, positioned himself, barely jumped (relative to his ability) and had the ball on his fingertips and STILL DROPPED THE BALL. He should have caught it.

pao

Who told you he barely jumped? He looks to be at least two feet in the air. How can he drop a ball he never had posession of? You do realize that it's possible to reach a ball and yet have zero chance of "catching" it, right? When he said he could have done better after the game, it doesn't mean he could have. Regardless, my other reasons explain it's not the easiest thing to do.

 

[State]

I've seen Asante display an unreal leaping ability. One game he jumped up at the line of scrimmage to block a pass and Dan Dierdorf was amazed. I was too.

I have to agree with the posters who claim this was a makeable INT if he had gone for it more aggressively. A shame. But the Patriots had two other INT opportunities in that drive: Rodney and the rookie.

 

[Satchboogie3]

The thing that sucks about this is that there have been TONS of huge DB and corners that have made insane picks throughout the season. Our best corner couldn't make the most important INT of his career.