Shanahan's 2nd & 10 nightmare revealed

[long distance]

So it was about play calling after all..

Kyle Shanahan reveals the one play he regrets most from the Falcons’ Super Bowl loss | FOX Sports

It was 2nd & 11 w under 4 min on 23 yd line in fact . but at least he makes it clear to himself and the rest where the game was given away..


Shouldn't take anything away from great Pats exec. - run D stopping unlikely pass play: Flowers penetrating sore Mack . Hightower's great bend on the outside rush (probably a holding that could have impact in refs calling one in next play) . Sheard's great lateral coverage . Butler and Ryan perfect in short yd coverage as well . Mr. Branch and Mr. Brown entertaining 4 ATL OL's...

 

[DarrylS]

An oft overlooked stat in this game was that the Falcons only ran 46 plays and the Pats ran 97, in the first half the Falcons only ran 19 plays.. even though they scored often, they never really possessed the ball all that much..

This combined with a very fresh conditioned, defense.. remember all those wind sprints from the soccer field to the practice field?? No matter what passing play Shanahan called the Pats had superior coaching and a better conditioned team..

 

[RobertWeathers]

ShannyJr is right. The holding penalty was the death blow.

 

[long distance]

An oft overlooked stat in this game was that the Falcons only ran 46 plays and the Pats ran 97, in the first half the Falcons only ran 19 plays.. even though they scored often, they never really possessed the ball all that much..

This combined with a very fresh conditioned, defense.. remember all those wind sprints from the soccer field to the practice field?? No matter what passing play Shanahan called the Pats had superior coaching and a better conditioned team..

That was actually discussed a lot and it was the first and final conclusion by Quinn (who knows better than to call out his OC..)

2 conservative run plays (no gain no loss) give you 41yd field goal with some 2:30 left on the clock..

 

[DarrylS]

That was actually discussed a lot and it was the first and final conclusion by Quinn (who knows better than to call out his OC..)

2 conservative run plays (no gain no loss) give you 41yd field goal with some 2:30 left on the clock..

I must have missed that, as since SB LI have been putting out that stat... first I heard that I "missed" that discussion.

Great coaching and superior conditioning made a difference in this game.. BB is great at anticipating what another team is going to do.

 

[bormio]

No Atlanta fan will ever agree, but my gut tells me the Pats were going to block that FG or Bryant was going to miss it. The Patriots were not losing that game. Of course, I can never prove it. But how did the season start - the Arizona kicker missed a GW FG.

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

I would say the Hightower turnover was the "key" play in turning the game, but this could be a close second. Most definitely not what Shanny wanted to happen lol, too bad so sad.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

If he ran it up the gut twice and then they miss the FG, he would have been crucified for being too conservative.

From the 23-yard line, that's a 40-yard field goal. Matt Bryant was 9 for 9 in that range last year, but less than 80% for his career. Combined with the pressure of the situation, that's not the gimme that everyone keeps assuming it is.

So I have no problem with passing and being aggressive. It's who they are, and they won lots of games by being aggressive but it didn't work out. But I'm sure if they lost after missing a kick, the "what if" would kill him more in the off-season.

 

[BTTA]

ShannyJr is right. The holding penalty was the death blow.

True, and we should start using language like, "The excellent pass rushing of Hightower and Long that cause Atlanta to hold on two straight plays, leading to a holding call."

 

[1960Pats]

That game was won because of the stupidity of the Falcons coaches. It wasn't just one play or the play calling. They didn't use the clock properly on multiple occasions with the lead.

 

[farn]

That game was won because of the stupidity of the Falcons coaches. It wasn't just one play or the play calling. They didn't use the clock properly on multiple occasions with the lead.

I think there is truth here, but it might also minimize NE's intensity, execution, and heart in the second half. After every "given" play ATL handed them, the Patriots made the big plays they so desperately needed.

 

[1960Pats]

I think there is truth here, but it might also minimize NE's intensity, execution, and heart in the second half. After every "given" play ATL handed them, the Patriots made the big plays they so desperately needed.

No doubt that the Pats made the comeback more than Atlanta lost it. The Pats made the plays that Atlanta didn't. It's just that those great plays and the Pats' heart, intensity and execution wouldn't have had enough time to pull it off.

The only really blatant mistake by the Falcons was a huge one though. The missed block on the Hightower strip sack was an absolute game-changer.

 

[stinkypete]

After watching this play a dozen times, I'm left wondering why Atlanta's coaches elected to run such a deep drop. Ryan ran back a full 5 yards before setting to pass, than panicked and ran backwards another 5 yards. In this situation, wouldn't you go for a quick screen or checkdown?

 

[Tony2046]

That game was won because of the stupidity of the Falcons coaches. It wasn't just one play or the play calling. They didn't use the clock properly on multiple occasions with the lead.

Disagree that their play calling was stupid. Absolutely agree that their game clock usage was poor.

The Falcon's tried to run the ball but couldn't because the Pats D was thoroughly shutting it down. I do think the worst play call was the 7 step drop pass play while in field goal range. Pass or run they needed to avoid the sack with a quick low risk play including throwing it out of bounds.

I went through the game the other day specifically to watch how they use the play clock after they went up 21-3 and they could have easily burned off another 90+ seconds or so just by snapping it later. IIRC, they snapped the ball with 10 + seconds eleven or twelve times and five or six of those were with 18 - 25 seconds left.

Funny side note: I wrote down the time left on the play clock after each snap in which the game clock was still running. I wasn't trying to be critically precise as I just wanted an estimate. Anyways I totalled all the time that I had written down that they could have theoretically used to burn additional time. 199

Btw: The Pats scored their last TD with 57 seconds left on the game clock. Not sure if the Falcons could have stopped the Pats even if they had burned that additional time. The Pats just seemed unstoppable in the fourth quarter both offensively and defensively.

 

[captain stone]

The quick screen or check-down to the RB might have indeed been the first option, but as Long Distance noted, Sheard was covering him out of the backfield instead of rushing upfield, so Ryan was left looking for his 2nd+ options, who were all covered.

And P.S.: I never noticed the hold against Hightower at the top of the screen until just now. I believe that non-call absolutely had an influence on the hold against Long that was called on the very next play.

 

[bormio]

I think Atlanta's downfall began when, after we made it 28-9 but missed on the onside kick, Atlanta got the ball at our 42. The first play netted 8 yards, but then they went backwards and got nothing. Even a first down without scoring would have burned clock. When that happened, that was the first time I went "Hmmm ...."

 

[luuked]

I must have missed that, as since SB LI have been putting out that stat... first I heard that I "missed" that discussion.

The conditioning was a big talking point after the SB to the point where even national media talked about it. You must have really somehow missed it.

So it was about play calling after all..

Kyle Shanahan reveals the one play he regrets most from the Falcons’ Super Bowl loss | FOX Sports

It was 2nd & 11 w under 4 min on 23 yd line in fact . but at least he makes it clear to himself and the rest where the game was given away..


Shouldn't take anything away from great Pats exec. - run D stopping unlikely pass play: Flowers penetrating sore Mack . Hightower's great bend on the outside rush (probably a holding that could have impact in refs calling one in next play) . Sheard's great lateral coverage . Butler and Ryan perfect in short yd coverage as well . Mr. Branch and Mr. Brown entertaining 4 ATL OL's...

If you ignore Flowers for a second, all I can see in this gif is how perfectly Sheard played that snap in coverage. We had issues with LBs in coverage all year but where it counted the most it worked out.

 

[Wheelman]

I think I remember Dan Quinn saying how that 2nd and 10 was supposed to go to his best player. Julio? Rowe covered him well although the route allowed him to put a little distance between McCourty but it's still a 50/50 box em out type catch in the endzone since Rowe has excellent coverage. McCourty is also looking in the back field so if Ryan tries to throw it to the left of Jones to box Rowe out, maybe with McCourty's range he can intercept it? I'm not sure. But it's a 50/50 ball at best. The Pats D had the play covered very well.

 

[Oswlek]

I must have missed that, as since SB LI have been putting out that stat... first I heard that I "missed" that discussion.

Great coaching and superior conditioning made a difference in this game.. BB is great at anticipating what another team is going to do.

FWIW, I can confirm that stat was discussed at length in the aftermath of the game, both immediate and in the weeks that followed.

 

[Snooky97]

Don't think Rowe got the credit he deserves, thought he had a pretty dam good game and season