Bill O'Brien - Welker play wasn't a drop

[The Boston Patriot]

Bill O’Brien says Welker play wasn’t a drop | ProFootballTalk

Very true Bill and everyone knows it. Just too bad the QB took zero ownership for that throw.

Of course it wasn't a drop. He would have had to catch it to become a drop. I would classify it as a missed opportunity for a difficult catch but in today's football fandom there has to be a villain, right?

 

[mr3putt]

Comment comes for the coach that called the bomb from the goaline on the first play.

He's a moron
Enjoy Happy Valley Billy Boy
Good riddance

 

[the Patriot]

I can't believe all these fans who look for every opportunity to bash Brady. No, that pass wasn't perfect, but that pass is caught 99% of the time by #1 receivers in the NFL. It probably has a lot to do with how short Welker is. When it comes to getting open and getting YAC, Welker is the best in the league, but he makes for a small target down field (especially with a Giants D-line that can knock down any pass 10 feet off the ground).

 

[RobertWeathers]

I can't believe all these fans who look for every opportunity to bash Brady. No, that pass wasn't perfect, but that pass is caught 99% of the time by #1 receivers in the NFL. It probably has a lot to do with how short Welker is. When it comes to getting open and getting YAC, Welker is the best in the league, but he makes for a small target down field (especially with a Giants D-line that can knock down any pass 10 feet off the ground).

WW's height would have been an issue if the ball was thrown way above his head.

It was a difficult throw to catch but the fact that he got both his hands on it dismisses height as the issue.

 

[the Patriot]

WW's height would have been an issue if the ball was thrown way above his head.

It was a difficult throw to catch but the fact that he got both his hands on it dismisses height as the issue.

But it was slightly over his head. He had to jump. My point is that a Victor Cruz just snags this ball out of the air, jukes the safety for a touchdown, and everyone is crediting Manning for a spectacular throw.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

He never says it was a bad throw. The ball was where it had to be, away from the coverage and in a place that Welker catches it 99.9% of the time. If the pass goes inside Welker gets lit up by the safety.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Can we please not get into BoB drama? He's leaving the team now and being replaced by Mcdaniels.

The ball hit Welker in the mitts. I'm not going to dump blame on him. There were a lot of other plays that contributed to the loss and it wasn't an easy catch. But that was definitely a drop.

NFL Videos: Welker drops ball in space

 

[letekro]

He never says it was a bad throw. The ball was where it had to be, away from the coverage and in a place that Welker catches it 99.9% of the time. If the pass goes inside Welker gets lit up by the safety.

Not quite. Brady had two options on the play--the higher risk, higher reward option 1 and lower risk lower reward option 2. Option 1 was to fire the ball down the seam and hit WW in stride for a potential touchdown. Phillips was in the area and it would have been close, but a laser would not have given Phillips enough time, IMO. Option 2 is what he chose to do--lay it up softly where only Wes could get it and put the ball around the 20 yard line. You can criticize Brady's judgment for taking Option 2, and the throw was really not perfect, but the ball was softly thrown into WW's hands without a defender around him. An inexcusable drop. Still, there's plenty of blame to go around for the loss, and WW doesn't deserve a disproportionate share.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Not quite. Brady had two options on the play--the higher risk, higher reward option 1 and lower risk lower reward option 2. Option 1 was to fire the ball down the seam and hit WW in stride for a potential touchdown. Phillips was in the area and it would have been close, but a laser would not have given Phillips enough time, IMO. Option 2 is what he chose to do--lay it up softly where only Wes could get it and put the ball around the 20 yard line. You can criticize Brady's judgment for taking Option 2, and the throw was really not perfect, but the ball was softly thrown into WW's hands without a defender around him. An inexcusable drop. Still, there's plenty of blame to go around for the loss, and WW doesn't deserve a disproportionate share.

Option 1 would've been a very difficult throw from what I saw on the replay and certainly not worth the risk IN THAT SCENARIO. Just my opinion, a first down is easily what you go for and Brady made the correct read/throw. You're in easy FG range, the clock is running, and you have a fresh set of downs against an exhausted defense. Agreed, not a perfect throw, but not a bad one either. Just my opinion.

 

[Run DMC]

In the immortal words of Johnny Most, "he dropped the f*#$ckin ball"!
BoB is a Brady hater. Good riddance.

 

[IllegalContact]

the throw was off target

 

[JoeSixPat]

This photo really doesn't tell the whole story IMO although I'm really not interested in watching the video again.

To get to the point at which that photo was taken, Welker needed to twist to turn to catch the ball over the opposite shoulder from where I think it was intended to be. Brady himself seemed to be rushed to throw to avoid pressure that the OL could have alleviated and likely didn't throw it where or when he would have wanted.

The fact that Welker was able to get his hands on it says more about his skills than his inability to pull it in. I file that in the "no good deed goes unpunished" category of athleticism. Any other player wouldn't have gotten close to it.

Of course, I think Welker himself would probably agree that any ball he could put his fingers on should be caught... And I generally agree with Giselle that there were plenty of missed opportunities and it would be wrong to dump the loss on Brady either.

It's a team sport. On that play and many others, the QB, OL, WRs, TEs, and RBs could have done a better job. Pick any one play on defense or offense that goes slightly differently and the game is won.

It is what it is. Move on.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Can we please not get into BoB drama? He's leaving the team now and being replaced by Mcdaniels.

The ball hit Welker in the mitts. I'm not going to dump blame on him. There were a lot of other plays that contributed to the loss and it wasn't an easy catch. But that was definitely a drop.

NFL Videos: Welker drops ball in space

Are you talking about the video where even the commentators state that it was thrown "s little bit behind Welker" and that he was " trying to reach up behind him to haul it in."

I haven't heard anyone suggest it was a perfect throw. It's just that we've grown spoiled by Welker making difficult passes look routine.

 

[Hardboiled]

I'll assume I'm in the minority, but I don't think he makes that catch 99/100 or 999/1000 or whatever ratio you want to throw out. A sensational Welker catch (the ones we so so many times this year) are more horizontal. He's not a vertical receiver. He's not a jump up and stretch up receiver. That type of catch is not his A-game. Certainly catchable, but not the type of catch you see Welker have to make.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The catches that Receivers make get more improbable as they progress from Pop Warner to High School to College to Pro. So, there are balls that are classified as "drops" for a major College player that would be classified as an "he almost made a great catch" by a kid playing in High School.

Here's my point: No one (rational) has ever said that the ball Welker dropped was an easy or sure or routine catch. But, NFL Receivers make catches every week that only NFL Receivers can make. That's why they're shagging pig skin in the Big League. The very best NFL Receivers make catches that even other NFL Receivers don't make.

So, "the Welker play." Was that a drop? Almost certainly not. Was it a ball that he could have caught and earned a place in the all time "Legendary Plays of the Super Bowl" reel? Yep. To me that's about all there is to say.