All-22 Film Review Thread - SB51

[convertedpatsfan]

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

Probably because he didn't...

Just took a look for the quote but turns out a bit differently than I remembered. My bad, I was a bit drunk after the game.

Original:

"Honestly, not a complicated blitz, blitzing outside. I think they had actually run that play maybe once or twice the previous series. (Devonta) Freeman, I guess, Freeman didn't see me outside and I guess he went to chip or check and just lost sight of me. I'd seen Matt Ryan with the ball in his hands and I wanted it, so I hit him and took it from him."

I originally read that as we had run that play once or twice, but turns out it was the Falcons who ran the play before.

New England Patriots Super Bowl Postgame Transcripts 2/5

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

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?

I don't think anybody thinks it's the right call, but there is a lot of results-based judgment going on. Ryan really should have thrown that ball away in the direction of Freeman. If he did that, this play is an afterthought. That result, plus the result of the hold (while getting back to the 25 on the next pass) turned Shanahan's call from "huh?" to "omg, you cost us the game you $*?%#@!!!".

Notice no Pats fans tearing Belichick a new one for passing on the penultimate play of the game? That's because Beasley didn't make the interception. Fortunately, we're able to say "huh?" rather than look for ways to blame him for blowing the game, all because of how the play occurred.

Regards,
Chris

 

[QuantumMechanic]

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.

If ATL gets away with a punt there instead of a turnover that means NE has 40-50 more yards to drive, which means more chances for the drive to die and also another two or more minutes come off the clock. Would have made the comeback a LOT harder.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

If ATL gets away with a punt there instead of a turnover that means NE has 40-50 more yards to drive, which means more chances for the drive to die and also another two or more minutes come off the clock. Would have made the comeback a LOT harder.

For sure. I was addressing the "Falcons had a TD if not for Hightower" claim in the article.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Tony2046]

For sure. I was addressing the "Falcons had a TD if not for Hightower" claim in the article.

Regards,
Chris

That would have been close. I'm glad we didn't have to find out.

 

[Jercules]

#32 for the Falcons (Jalen Collins) got beat on comeback routes routinely.

He's one-on-one with the receiver, the receiver runs him up the field and simply stops, and is open every single time. Mitchell even fell down one time, and Brady still hit him for a big first down.

That just struck me as something they must have seen in the film leading up to the game.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

#32 for the Falcons (Jalen Collins) got beat on comeback routes routinely.

He's one-on-one with the receiver, the receiver runs him up the field and simply stops, and is open every single time. Mitchell even fell down one time, and Brady still hit him for a big first down.

That just struck me as something they must have seen in the film leading up to the game.

Indeed. The Pats did a few things to exacerbate the situation, too:

- They often had all other receivers on the opposite side of the field, pulling any help coverage away, so Brady and Mitchell knew they had one on one man coverage.

- While we lament the missed opportunities when Brady went over the top on those coverages, those shots helped soften the coverage for the comeback routes.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Patjew]

Chris, I think you're a great poster. I've always noticed the "Regards, Chris." Is there a story there or are you just polite/formal?

 

[Fanfrom1960]

I don't know, other than a game ending like with Herman Edwards scooping up the ball and running 26 yards for the winning touchdown because the Giants didn't call for a kneeldown, it's hard to say when a team chokes vs. the other team taking it away. Some of each in LI, I'd say. For example, Freeman barely creasing Hightower on the huge Ryan strip was a pretty big gaffe, if not a choke play. By contrast, James White blocked or at least chipped a Falcon defender when he had to to protect Tom. After the great Julio Jones sideline catch, then a one yard loss, Shanny Jr. calls a seven step dropback pass? A quick hitter 3 step drop pass like Josh calls all the time would have been a ton smarter. All they needed to do was keep their field position +/- a couple yards and they had a high probability field goal attempt and game for all intents and purposes over. Pats superior conditioning and coaching and not ideal play calling and execution (kiiiiiind of a choke) killed Atlanta. And TFB of course.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Chris, I think you're a great poster. I've always noticed the "Regards, Chris." Is there a story there or are you just polite/formal?

Thanks. You're a great poster, too. The sign off is just a carryover from my Pats usenet group days when I had the same username. It's also how I've been signing off work emails for over 20yrs.

Regards,
Chris

 

[willdeespats]

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.

A couple of things I saw in rewatching. Their D line was really outplaying our O line until after the double sack possession where we only got 3 points. After that Brady was upright for the rest of the game except for Solder letting Freeny get by him. So it looks like they are starting to get a little tired after the 3 points. Then on White's TD and the 2 point both up the middle, both Mason and Cannon got tremendous push on their counterparts across the line. This was run blocking we had not seen up to that point and further points to how tired their D line was. I did not see any exhaustion issues with the DBs so applying the exhaustion label to the whole defense seems unfair.

 

[aluminum seats]

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.

Well, it was definitely a factor.

 

[aluminum seats]

I don't think anybody thinks it's the right call, but there is a lot of results-based judgment going on. Ryan really should have thrown that ball away in the direction of Freeman. If he did that, this play is an afterthought. That result, plus the result of the hold (while getting back to the 25 on the next pass) turned Shanahan's call from "huh?" to "omg, you cost us the game you $*?%#@!!!".

Notice no Pats fans tearing Belichick a new one for passing on the penultimate play of the game? That's because Beasley didn't make the interception. Fortunately, we're able to say "huh?" rather than look for ways to blame him for blowing the game, all because of how the play occurred.

Regards,
Chris

This is so true. Human nature, I guess..how much can you agonize over stuff that might have happened? But you're right..if Ryan throws it away, or they complete the pass, nobody says anything. If Beasley makes a great athletic play...a 100 yard pick-6 to end the Super Bowl, for the rest of our lives we would have wondered, "why not just run it with Blount behind Develin?"

I'm glad things worked out the way they did.

 

[rochrist]

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.

Why? The Pats /earned/ that exhausted defense.

 

[rochrist]

I don't think anybody thinks it's the right call, but there is a lot of results-based judgment going on. Ryan really should have thrown that ball away in the direction of Freeman. If he did that, this play is an afterthought. That result, plus the result of the hold (while getting back to the 25 on the next pass) turned Shanahan's call from "huh?" to "omg, you cost us the game you $*?%#@!!!".

Notice no Pats fans tearing Belichick a new one for passing on the penultimate play of the game? That's because Beasley didn't make the interception. Fortunately, we're able to say "huh?" rather than look for ways to blame him for blowing the game, all because of how the play occurred.

Regards,
Chris

They didn't get back to the 25. The third down pass was incomplete.

 

[Tony2046]

Indeed. The Pats did a few things to exacerbate the situation, too:

- They often had all other receivers on the opposite side of the field, pulling any help coverage away, so Brady and Mitchell knew they had one on one man coverage.

- While we lament the missed opportunities when Brady went over the top on those coverages, those shots helped soften the coverage for the comeback routes.

Regards,
Chris

The missed throw to a wide open Edelman ?

 

[Tony2046]

They didn't get back to the 25. The third down pass was incomplete.

They did get back to the 25 but it was called back because of holding.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Well, it was definitely a factor.

Even the NE OLmen were talking (after the game) about how the ATL defenders' "eyes were glazed over".

 

[patfanken]

If ATL gets away with a punt there instead of a turnover that means NE has 40-50 more yards to drive, which means more chances for the drive to die and also another two or more minutes come off the clock. Would have made the comeback a LOT harder.

OR the Pats would have ended the game without any TO's instead of the 2 or 3 they had left. Of course it would have been harder without the TO, but it still would have been a 2 score game.

BTW- one thing that I don't think gets mentioned much was the fact that Chris Long had a VERY effective pass rush off the edge that play. So effective that I wonder if HE would have had the sack if Hightower hadn't got their first?

 

[rochrist]

They did get back to the 25 but it was called back because of holding.

Right. But on the next play, the threw again, incomplete. The post I was responding to implied that it was complete and would have gotten them back to the 25 if Ryan had thrown the ball away instead of taking the sack.