How Awful Was That Playcall By McDaniels/Brady on The Interception ?

[shmessy]

On a scale of 1-10, I'd put it at a 9.

13:38 to go in the game with a 20-10 lead. Pats have already lost Dobson and Amendola for the game.

1st and 10 from the Buffalo 45 yard line.

Would make sense to run some clock, no? The Pats had only 2 WR's left.

I get the whole "Element of Surprise" angle and all, but really - - the Bills had just ONE timeout left at that point.

Bad situational football right there.

 

[glm]

That's what I like to call a "**** it" throw. Brett Favre was the master of these.

 

[Clonamery]

Case of Flacco-itis....hoping for the PI.

 

[shmessy]

Case of Flacco-itis....hoping for the PI.

When Flacco does it he's throwing to 6'4" receivers.
Harper is 5'10" 175.

 

[Ross12]

Hey, at least Harper got a hand on it. Unfortunately, him tipping it with that hand was the reason it got picked...

Imagine being Harper in that situation. Your first NFL game ever, and Brady is throwing to you deep in triple coverage.

 

[WinstonSmith]

NES: New England Shmessy ?

That being said...I agree that it was an odd choice based on the circumstances. Sometimes channeling your inner Schottenheimer isn't a bad thing.

 

[oldrover]

Hey, at least Harper got a hand on it. Unfortunately, him tipping it with that hand was the reason it got picked...

I was thinking the same thing. That pick was nowhere near as bad as the red zone pick against the Giants.

 

[PatsDeb]

I'm not sure the call was bad, per se, but the receiver was double covered, so the throw should not have been made. It happened right in front of me, and ironically, the new kid knocked the ball away from one defender, but it bounced off him into the other defender's hands. A nice heads up play by the Buffalo guy (who then blew it by running out of the EZ and getting tackled by Gronk at the 3).

 

[fnordcircle]

Sorry - why is McDaniels being mentioned here?

Unless the play involved only Harper's route and McDaniels was telling Brady 'i'm the ****ing OC you ****ing heave that **** to Harper in double coverage you little *****' then this isn't on McDaniels.

Brady wanted to put the dagger in their hearts and took a risk. I wasn't a fan of the choice but I think I get what he was trying to do.

 

[Froob]

Yeah how is McD getting bashed here? Do you think he drew it up for Brady to Favre it into like triple coverage?

 

[Kdo5]

Hated Brady's decision to make that throw. Not sure how much McDaniels should be blamed on that, if at all.

He chucked it deep to Harper who had at least two or three guys surrounding him. And he threw it off balance (doubt it would have made a difference but still...).

 

[mosey threetupu]

It's coming up on NFL Network now.

 

[primetime]

Sorry - why is McDaniels being mentioned here?

Brady deserves the lion's share of the blame for a terrible decision, but they had been successful running the ball and mostly unsuccessful passing the ball, and then lined up 5 wide with two healthy receivers on 1st and 10 from midfield.

 

[Ross12]

Unless the play involved only Harper's route and McDaniels was telling Brady 'i'm the ****ing OC you ****ing heave that **** to Harper in double coverage you little *****' then this isn't on McDaniels.

I think it's clear that that's exactly what McDaniels said. That's probably what the play is called on the play sheet, actually.

 

[aluminum seats]

Yeah, we were debating this play in another thread. Awful call.

If it was a one-off, it would hardly be worth mentioning. But I do think it's something Brady has to be careful about, while the offense isn't maybe quite what it was. The guy is of course awesome, but every now and again loses his patience and makes a throw like that, usually ending badly.

It's important to take shots down the field, but in those cases more than anywhere else, he's got to be smart in his decisions (or else pray that miraculous execution will save the day.)

 

[rochrist]

On a scale of 1-10, I'd put it at a 9.

13:38 to go in the game with a 20-10 lead. Pats have already lost Dobson and Amendola for the game.

1st and 10 from the Buffalo 45 yard line.

Would make sense to run some clock, no? The Pats had only 2 WR's left.

I get the whole "Element of Surprise" angle and all, but really - - the Bills had just ONE timeout left at that point.

Bad situational football right there.

The throw was worse than the playcall.

 

[TBR]

Dumb throw, lucky INT

 

[rochrist]

It was giving Harper a chance to make his mark on the NFL. Looks like we're 0-7 this year for wide receivers who fight for contested footballs.

He would have required a gun to fight for that ball successfully.

 

[fnordcircle]

Brady deserves the lion's share of the blame for a terrible decision, but they had been successful running the ball and mostly unsuccessful passing the ball, and then lined up 5 wide with two healthy receivers on 1st and 10 from midfield.

"Brady deserves the lion's share of the blame for a terrible decision, but they had been successfully mixing up their playcall and then decided to call several running plays to the point of being predictable."

 

[primetime]

"Brady deserves the lion's share of the blame for a terrible decision, but they had been successfully mixing up their playcall and then decided to call several running plays to the point of being predictable."

What's more predictable than passing out of a 5-wide set, though? It seemed an odd choice.