The Superbowl Rewatch thread: the great defensive duel

Watching the SB right now, the Pats are screwed, McDaniels sucks, Brady’s done, no way they win this game

arguably the king of the underrated Pats . one of the top things im looking for in this offseason is his extension..

just ran across this film study that focuses solely on the pats defense/rams offense. nice breakdowns of lots of plays with diagrams:

I realize the following clips are somewhere at the border of rewatch material but the folks at Turning Point at least provide some play insight:



Chatham actually highlighted the first time Cooks was free on that quarters coverage in his big 1:30h SB podcast review. Only the pass rush prevented a completion there already. You can see in the clip that both coaching staffs knew immediately. Adjustments were made by the Pats and despite Gilmore blowing it the second time JMac played out the adjustments and got there just at the right second.



A short clip talking about the first play in 21 on the TD drive. Keep an eye on how perfect the play fake is. Huge kudos to Gronk for internalizing the clock while blocking to know when to break out into that route. He does it almost exactly as Brady fakes the handoff. I know that on some level those things are fundamentals but this is what wins you games. Also note worthy.. Dorsett asking White what this play was because apparently McDaniels drew that one up on the sideline.

And finally more on the 22 personnel and the Hoss-Y-Juke:

https://twitter.com/ftbeard_17/status/1094115474906898432

including a look back to how we used that even in 2015 against Wade in Denver:



Man, what I would give for just to listen to the coaches on the sideline through a game like that. NFL Films has quite the treasure sitting around in their vaults.

Mentioned in another thread: Geoff Schwartz geeks out over the fact that the Patriots executed 16 different types of running plays.

Interesting look at the Patriots game plan.

Who Is Brian Flores And Why He Has What It Takes To Bring Playoff Football Back To Miami - Optimum Scouting

It's worth spending more time on the game's only touchdown run. I don't have screen shots, but if you have it recorded and go through the play frame by frame you can see what looks like perfect execution all the way down the line. Thuney takes Suh out of the play, Mason blocks Donald perfectly (pancakes him), and Andrews is available to help with Donald but, because Donald doesn't slant inside, Andrews can move to the second level and take on one of the linebackers, though it was only marginally needed.

The play worked so well that Michel wasn't even touched until the ball had crossed the goal line -- amazing! Everyone's blocking was perfect. One things surprised me, though: There were six Rams on the line of scrimmage and five about two yards back. Even when the play started, the five who were two yards back didn't move forward. You could see it couldn't be a pass since everyone who could receive a pass was engaged in a block. I would say that Michel had the ball and had taken two strides towards the line before the LA guys behind the line moved forward.

That didn't happen at the end of the Pats' game-sealing drive, when they couldn't pick up the third down. The Rams behind the line of scrimmage engaged immediately and were able to stop the pickup. I'm not quite sure why the Pats didn't run the same play they ran on the goal line. Sure looked good the first time around!

Anyone watch the special teams play on the all-22? Why wasn't Edelman able to at least fair catch some of the punts? What was Hekker doing? I know the guys were protecting for the fake punt, but those punts really hurt us, constantly losing field position. If the rams had won, Hekker definitely should have been MVP.

Wheelman said:

Anyone watch the special teams play on the all-22? Why wasn't Edelman able to at least fair catch some of the punts? What was Hekker doing? I know the guys were protecting for the fake punt, but those punts really hurt us, constantly losing field position. If the rams had won, Hekker definitely should have been MVP.

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I became very interested in watching him play after all the praise BB threw his way, the week before. He didn’t disappoint, every bit as good as BB mentioned. However Allen also came away with one of his best kicking performances as well this game. Best combined punting game between two kickers I’ve ever watched.

I have watched NFL's turning point on this game. It really came down to a chess match between BB and Wade Phillips. 2 old dogs fighting it out. As BB said after the game they were moving the ball it just wasn't showing up on the scoreboard. TB hit 60% of his passes. I feel better about his game after watching the break down as it shows really a great game plan by the Rams D. Give them alot of credit there.

This is interesting both for confirmation of what many thought, and for being something a re-watch can look at.

C.J. Anderson says Todd Gurley was 'more hurt than what we thought' when he signed with the Rams

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C.J. Anderson says Todd Gurley was 'more hurt than what we thought' when he signed with the Rams

Wheelman said:

Anyone watch the special teams play on the all-22? Why wasn't Edelman able to at least fair catch some of the punts? What was Hekker doing? I know the guys were protecting for the fake punt, but those punts really hurt us, constantly losing field position. If the rams had won, Hekker definitely should have been MVP.

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I didn't watch all 22 but on the day of game I felt he was being a little timid. I think he neutered himself after the crazy non-muff the week before. He's usually more aggressive and obviously the fear of fakes and good punter like Hekker play too.

With the wife out of town, I re-watched the Super Bowl for the final time before deleting it off the DVR and while I still think it was a bit of snoozefest, the ending was all that mattered. I was wondering if anyone has the ability to post screen caps to help me understand a couple of calls/non-calls?

Call 1: Patriots with the ball on a 2nd & 8 with ~8:00 to go in the third quarter. Brady throws to White for a 1st down. Flag on the play - illegal shift "two men moving". I replayed this over & over in slo mo and I can only see Hogan moving. The Patriots failed to make the first down and punted, resulting in the Rams only possession netting points on the board.

Call 2: Rams with the ball on a 1st & 10 with ~11:42 to go in the 4th quarter. I swear to god that 3 Rams are in motion on this play. Am I wrong?

bresna said:

Call 1: Patriots with the ball on a 2nd & 8 with ~8:00 to go in the third quarter. Brady throws to White for a 1st down. Flag on the play - illegal shift "two men moving". I replayed this over & over in slo mo and I can only see Hogan moving. The Patriots failed to make the first down and punted, resulting in the Rams only possession netting points on the board.

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Hogan doesn't come to a full stop prior to the snap so it's an illegal shift. No idea where the "two men" ruling comes from because nobody else is in motion.

bresna said:

Call 2: Rams with the ball on a 1st & 10 with ~11:42 to go in the 4th quarter. I swear to god that 3 Rams are in motion on this play. Am I wrong?

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Yes they were, but they come to a stop for a full second before Cooks releases on his fake jet sweep. This is a legal move.

bresna said:

With the wife out of town, I re-watched the Super Bowl for the final time before deleting it off the DVR and while I still think it was a bit of snoozefest, the ending was all that mattered. I was wondering if anyone has the ability to post screen caps to help me understand a couple of calls/non-calls?

Call 1: Patriots with the ball on a 2nd & 8 with ~8:00 to go in the third quarter. Brady throws to White for a 1st down. Flag on the play - illegal shift "two men moving". I replayed this over & over in slo mo and I can only see Hogan moving. The Patriots failed to make the first down and punted, resulting in the Rams only possession netting points on the board.

Call 2: Rams with the ball on a 1st & 10 with ~11:42 to go in the 4th quarter. I swear to god that 3 Rams are in motion on this play. Am I wrong?

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Call 1: Gronk was not set before Hogan starts motioning is my assumption. You can see at the very start of the sideline view or try to put it together with camera view from the stands that came before it.

@PP2 Hogan doesn't need to set if he's the only one moving, but he moved while Gronk was not set yet.

Call 2: it's close but they let guys set for 1 second before Cooks went in motion. It's a fine non-call.

Wheelman said:

Call 1: Gronk was not set before Hogan starts motioning is my assumption. You can see at the very start of the sideline view or try to put it together with camera view from the stands that came before it.

@PP2 Hogan doesn't need to set if he's the only one moving, but he moved while Gronk was not set yet.

Call 2: it's close but they let guys set for 1 second before Cooks went in motion. It's a fine non-call.

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Oops.. I missed Gronk. Good catch.

However, even if Gronk were stationary, it would still be an illegal motion penalty. Since Hogan is an eligible receiver moving to another position on the line, he must reset prior to the snap.

PP2 said:

Oops.. I missed Gronk. Good catch.

However, even if Gronk were stationary, it would still be an illegal motion penalty. Since Hogan is an eligible receiver moving to another position on the line, he must reset prior to the snap.

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So as long Hogan stopped, and then the ball was snapped immediately it would be ok provided he was the only one moving? Is it because he's facing forwards he needs to do so? If he's moving laterally or going the opposite direction, it's ok to not set?