All-22 Film Review Thread - SB51

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I did a forum search for this excellent All-22 film review article of SB51, but came up empty. If this is a repost, my apologies.

Film review: The Falcons didn’t blow the Super Bowl. Bill Belichick took it from them.

Maybe we use this thread for all All-22 film review articles, videos, tweets, and member analyses?

Regards,
Chris

 

[patfanken]

Thanks Chris for finding this, it was good stuff. However, while I love the premis that the Pats WON the game, and Atlanta didn't necessarily lose it; I hated the premis that the Pats took advantage of the Falcon defense's "exhaustion" to win the game. But the rest of it was on point.

 

[Tony2046]

Great stuff.

Btw: Did anyone notice Cannon's penguin slide on the last play?

 

[Tony2046]

Thanks Chris for finding this, it was good stuff. However, while I love the premis that the Pats WON the game, and Atlanta didn't necessarily lose it; I hated the premis that the Pats took advantage of the Falcon defense's "exhaustion" to win the game. But the rest of it was on point.

There maybe something to the getting tired bit if they switched out of man to man because it was too taxing on the DB's but I posted some images of Brady's throws during the last few drives and his accuracy was just off the carts great. He was literally threading needles in the fourth Qtr. The Atlanta DB's whether in man or zone were still maintaining tight coverage. So yes I think you're right about that.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Thanks Chris for finding this, it was good stuff. However, while I love the premis that the Pats WON the game, and Atlanta didn't necessarily lose it; I hated the premis that the Pats took advantage of the Falcon defense's "exhaustion" to win the game. But the rest of it was on point.

The Falcons tiring played a role, as did plenty of other factors. It's important to note that the Pats also forced the issue in tiring out Atlanta. Brady executed lots of quick passes, mostly to the outside and checkdowns to White on the first TD drive, keeping Atlanta's D on the field. The Pats were the ones who held Atlanta to a short drive post-onside kick, putting Atlanta's D back on the field. Brady again executed lots of quick passes on the time consuming FG drive that had an effect on the D. Three plays and the Hightower strip sack later, the D was back out there again. That being said, Atlanta still sacked Brady 3 times during all this and almost pulled off a safety and came close to an interception on the Edelman catch, so they still had something in the tank.

The DL did look beaten in OT, though. The secondary not so much as Brady's throws to Amendola, Hogan and Edelman were into tight man coverage.

Regards,
Chris

 

[nabwong]

Great writing. I actually learned something. Why can't guys or girls like this get top jobs? I suppose cos they've got actual integrity.

 

[102 Pat]

Watching the all-22 makes Freeman look even worse for not picking up on Hightower's strip...

 

[farn]

World champs. Again.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I have GamePass, but have yet to watch the All-22. In the first clip in the article showing the first snap of the game, Shaq Mason gets bull rushed right into Brady. Seemed like a sign of things to come as he had a rough night.

From watching the broadcast a few times, it appears Cannon did great on Beasley straight up, but struggled on the DT stunts. Solder also appeared to struggle, particularly with Freeney. Strangely enough, Thuney and Andrews appeared fine in pass protection. Everyone struggled in run blocking against a front everyone thought could get pushed around. Bizzaro OL game.

When I finally get around to watching the All-22, my first effort will be on the OL play. I'm curious if perception is reality.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Tony2046]

Watching the all-22 makes Freeman look even worse for not picking up on Hightower's strip...

It was brought up in another thread. I can't remember who but they made an interesting point about the play before that one. Coleman was hurt on the play before so Freeman may not have been familiar with his blocking assignments on that play. If you watch the play Freeman is looking to his left for some reason. It isn't until Hightower is already up to full speed that Freeman finally turns his head back to him. I am curious as to what Freeman was looking to his left for and especially for so long.

 

[glm]

Great write up. Only think I disagree with is him saying White is a better runner than Lewis.

 

[nabwong]

Great write up. Only think I disagree with is him saying White is a better runner than Lewis.

I think you could make a case for it this year. White has really matured the 2nd half of the season.

 

[glm]

I think you could make a case for it this year. White has really matured the 2nd half of the season.

I don't see it. Lewis had more attempts, rushing yards, and a higher yards/attempt in 7 games than white had in 16. I think bill put it in white because they were down big and white is a better receiver and pass protector than Lewis. I doubt Belichick was even thinking about the running game that much at that point.

 

[ralmat55]

The Falcon defense sure didn't look tired on the game-winner as they flew to the ball. It was a good block by Mitchell but mostly a great run by White to win the game.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

It was brought up in another thread. I can't remember who but they made an interesting point about the play before that one. Coleman was hurt on the play before so Freeman may not have been familiar with his blocking assignments on that play. If you watch the play Freeman is looking to his left for some reason. It isn't until Hightower is already up to full speed that Freeman finally turns his head back to him. I am curious as to what Freeman was looking to his left for and especially for so long.

Edited because I was drunk...

 

[slam]

I had started a thread with collected Super Bowl breakdowns here, so I cross posted this link over there.

Willie McGinest's brief breakdown video goes over the Hightower strip sack well. DeVonte Freeman had a lot to look at in that play. Ninkovich loops inside and Chung was inside of Hightower, who was aligned way out in space. Freeman may just have been unsure of who to block because of the scheme.

 

[Tony2046]

I noticed that too. Hightower mentioned that Freeman had picked that up before, so must have been being called in at the last minute that threw him off.

I don't recall there being an injury timeout so Freeman may not have been settled or had his head in the game. Maybe it was his series off to rest so he was rushing on and not totally prepared. But he had picked up Hightower before, so it was strange.

Interesting. I didn't know that Hightower had said that.

 

[Tony2046]

I had started a thread with collected Super Bowl breakdowns here, so I cross posted this link over there.

Willie McGinest's brief breakdown video goes over the Hightower strip sack well. DeVonte Freeman had a lot to look at in that play. Ninkovich loops inside and Chung was inside of Hightower, who was aligned way out in space. Freeman may just have been unsure of who to block because of the scheme.

That's fantastic. I must have missed your thread.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

One thing that gets lost in the whole "Freeman's missed blitz pickup cost Atlanta a TD" claim is that Chris Long was a beat behind Hightower in getting to Ryan. I don't think Long would have caused a turnover, but I suspect he disrupts the windup and follow through on the long pass enough to force a 4th down punt.

Regards,
Chris

 

[K. Dog]

I don't understand why you people are complimenting that article. It uses the standard trick of glossing over the opponent's good arguments.

The thesis of the article is that "Quinn had an excellent game plan" and that Quinn's avoiding the run was justified by field position and the Patriots defense.

And Ruiz devotes a few paragraphs to why the criticism that Quinn only ran the ball 5 times after the 28-3 score was unmerited.

Fine, but that's NOT the main criticism of Quinn. The main criticism of Quinn was why he called for a 7-step drop at 2d and 11 at Patriots 23 yard line with 3:56 remaining in the game the Falcons up by 8. Just running the ball there and kicking a field goal virtually wins the game. In fact, there is no particular statistical benefit to getting a TD over a field goal anyway - once the field goal is kicked, the game is over (statistically).

So after this long discussion by Ruiz of why the "only 5 running plays" criticism is unfair, how does Ruiz address the criticism of not running the ball (or spiking it for that matter) at the NE 23 Q4 3:56 2d and 11?

He COMPLETELY IGNORES IT. Rather, he just doesn't say anything meaningful about it, just that Flowers made a good play and maybe Ryan should have thrown the ball away (you think?). But he never address the question of this: why was the play called at all? And should it have been?