The play that defined a Super Bowl.

[Batman]

The morning after the night before, sleep deprived and a bit hung over in bed at 3am to be up at 6.

While on my way to work checking the forum and thinking trying to work out what the game changer was. Was it Nink's offside, Welker's drop or manninghams's sideline grab. Overall I worked out none of these plays truly changed the game that much. Nink's offside we could have still got a stop after it Welker's drop had too much time in the clock to be game totally over and the sideline grab clould have been made on the next 2 plays.

The first patriots play however left ramifications all over the place. Say we had just an incomplete pass and then 2 more a quick 3 and out the giants get the ball in a similar place and score it's 7-0 we took the lead by the end of the 2n quarter how does it matter anymore? We got back ahead just have to keep that lead now right?

The safety only takes 1 point off the score board as the giants wouldn't have went for 2 that's still 20-17 however bill wouldn't have let them score he would have force them too and a FG wouldn't have been enough. Eli may still have got them a TD but maybe not.

I don't blame Tom Brady for the safety I don't blame the OL I don't blame the WR's the Giants just done a great job. We failed to execute on a few play and those few plays cost us. We ripped the ball out of the giants hands 3 times twice they got it back and once me made a silly mistake by having 12 men on the field the giants made that same mistake later nowhere near as dramatic as ours. Overall the safety defined the end of the game tactics and result.

Congratulations to the Giants, and thanks Eli people will now question if you are better than Peyton not if Tom is better.

 

[Heisenberg]

I absolutely do not put this entire loss on Brady, I actually thought he was masterful at times, but the safety was 100 percent his fault. An enormous mistake that was totally unnecessary. No receivers within 15 yards.

 

[ivanvamp]

I absolutely do not put this entire loss on Brady, I actually thought he was masterful at times, but the safety was 100 percent his fault. An enormous mistake that was totally unnecessary. No receivers within 15 yards.

Agreed. But I've never, ever, ever seen a grounding penalty on a throw like that. Steve Young - yeah, that HOF QB, now analyst - said the same thing. I wonder if Brady threw it there because it was the safest place to throw it away, knowing that it is NEVER called. Imagine his shock that they did, in fact, call it.

 

[BigHoss28]

The intentional grounding call on that play was a very bad call. Listen to Trent Dilfer talk about it, he explains why.

There was no way for the official to determine Brady's intent. He could have been throwing to Branch and the ball just slipped out of his hand. Very, VERY bad judgment call.

 

[StevePatsFan]

Terrible interception throwing it up for grabs the second playoff game in a row, Tom has got to be better...

 

[brdmaverick]

Agreed. But I've never, ever, ever seen a grounding penalty on a throw like that. Steve Young - yeah, that HOF QB, now analyst - said the same thing. I wonder if Brady threw it there because it was the safest place to throw it away, knowing that it is NEVER called. Imagine his shock that they did, in fact, call it.

Whether they enforce it or not is almost moot, that was the VERY definition of intentional grounding and it would have been larceny if they did not. While I hated it, the refs correctly threw the flag.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I absolutely do not put this entire loss on Brady, I actually thought he was masterful at times, but the safety was 100 percent his fault. An enormous mistake that was totally unnecessary. No receivers within 15 yards.

Not to mention we actually did recover from that mistake, it was the others and particularly in the 4th quarter that proved to be unrecoverable... Although somehow our own purported noodle arm came within inches of pulling that off, too.

Had a rusher not broken free at the last second, that throw isn't a penalty. Last night was one of those games where if we didn't have bad luck we wouldn't have had any. Probably balances out the closing seconds of the AFCC game.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Whether they enforce it or not is almost moot, that was the VERY definition of intentional grounding and it would have been larceny if they did not. While I hated it, the refs correctly threw the flag.

No it isn't.

 

[vyrago]

Not to mention we actually did recover from that mistake, it was the others and particularly in the 4th quarter that proved to be unrecoverable... Although somehow our own purported noodle arm came within inches of pulling that off, too.

Had a rusher not broken free at the last second, that throw isn't a penalty. Last night was one of those games where if we didn't have bad luck we wouldn't have had any. Probably balances out the closing seconds of the AFCC game.

"if we didn't have bad luck we wouldn't have had any".


I felt that same way about the first Giants-Pats SB, I mean that helmet catch and Eli escaping a clear (to me anyway) in the grasp said to me, Brady, this ain't your night.
For some reason, I'm not as bummed about this loss as I was then. The only mistakes that got to me were the 12 men on the field--aren't we the ones that are supposed to cause that with the hurry up?--and Welker's drop. That was a killer.
Hope Tom recovers. This must be an awful blow to him.

 

[Razor's Edge]

The 12 men on the field penalty was HUGE and a momentum changer. That was really a big mistake. And it cost us, instead of having the ball and denying the Giants, we managed to let them keep it, and 5 yards closer to the end zone

 

[DEVIOUS 1]

The intentional grounding call on that play was a very bad call. Listen to Trent Dilfer talk about it, he explains why.

There was no way for the official to determine Brady's intent. He could have been throwing to Branch and the ball just slipped out of his hand. Very, VERY bad judgment call.

I know this will come off as excuse making and sour grapes.......But I agree that call was BS.

Replay showed Branch on a crossing pattern and the pass does sail about 15 yards over his head. But he was in the area! The ball could have simply sailed on Brady, or Branch may have run the wrong route, and it was a mis-read.

In my opinion, in such a big game, you can't just make assumptions of intent with so much on the line. There was certainly some grey area in that interpretation.

And yes.....To me that safety ended up being the HUGE play in that game.

 

[BigHoss28]

I know this will come off as excuse making and sour grapes.......But I agree that call was BS.

Replay showed Branch on a crossing pattern and the pass does sail about 15 yards over his head. But he was in the area! The ball could have simply sailed on Brady, or Branch may have run the wrong route, and it was a mis-read.

In my opinion, in such a big game, you can't just make assumptions of intent with so much on the line. There was certainly some grey area in that interpretation.

And yes.....To me that safety ended up being the HUGE play in that game.

Indeed, beyond that, the fact that there was pressure - which made it a penalty in the first place - could have influenced the throw.

It was a terrible call, absolutely horrible. It definitely impacted the game, but there were bad calls against both teams. Moore got to the receiver early a couple times and wasn't called, although they were both borderline.

But the intentional grounding call wasn't a bang-bang decision. The officials conferred and got it terribly wrong. No excuse for that call.

There is just absolutely no way you can judge intent on Brady's part on that play, should have never been called.

 

[THELAWFIRM226]

I agree with much of what is being said. I do not believe that should have been intentional grounding. When Brady starts his throwing motion, he is not aware that there is a Giants player bearing down on him. I do have a hard time saying that this play is the reason we lost however. Let's be honest, this play is not the reason we lost. If anything, I think welkers drop had the most effect on the outcome. They panned to the sidelines and you could even see the patriots players knew how huge that was. I love wes, I own a welker jersey, he just dropped the ball and it sucks.