billikens
Practice Squad Player
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
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The battle of third string cornerbacks
In the past couple of weeks reflecting on things, it struck me how the game was decided, in part, by the play of each team's respective third string cornerbacks.
As we know, Simon came in to replace Lane, and was then picked on by Brady all night. On Edelman's touchdown, Simon (who had been burned on the exact same move the drive before but Brady misfired) was told Edelman would try again, and still Simon got burned. Those were the deciding points of the game.
Butler, similarly, was brought in because Arrington was struggling and actually made some head's up plays before the interception, saving a big first down when he tripped Lockett and in covering Kearse. Even that bobbling play was good defense, just a freak event for it to fall on top of Kearse, and even so Butler had the presence of mind to play to the whistle and realize Kearse caught the ball and push him out of bounds. He saved a touchdown right there. Then, of course, the defining part of the comparison comes where Butler went on the field knowing what to do if that play was called, executed, intercepted and prevented the go-ahead points, thus preserving the Patriots lead.
I think this says as much about the coaching as it does about the cornerbacks, Nothing against Carroll, but Belichick is an exceptional coach and, despite Deflategate, the Patriots were exceptionally prepared for this game. Butler had practiced that very play, which is why he acted on instinct. But that's not the only play, analysis of Brady's last two drives basically showed Brady knew which defenses the Seahawks were running and knew how to exploit them. Having Simon in there didn't hurt, but I'm not sure the Patriots wouldn't have had similar success who was in there - they were playing against Seattle's system and tendencies.
But basically, if Simon played a bit better and or Butler a bit worse, this could have been a different Superbowl.
In the past couple of weeks reflecting on things, it struck me how the game was decided, in part, by the play of each team's respective third string cornerbacks.
As we know, Simon came in to replace Lane, and was then picked on by Brady all night. On Edelman's touchdown, Simon (who had been burned on the exact same move the drive before but Brady misfired) was told Edelman would try again, and still Simon got burned. Those were the deciding points of the game.
Butler, similarly, was brought in because Arrington was struggling and actually made some head's up plays before the interception, saving a big first down when he tripped Lockett and in covering Kearse. Even that bobbling play was good defense, just a freak event for it to fall on top of Kearse, and even so Butler had the presence of mind to play to the whistle and realize Kearse caught the ball and push him out of bounds. He saved a touchdown right there. Then, of course, the defining part of the comparison comes where Butler went on the field knowing what to do if that play was called, executed, intercepted and prevented the go-ahead points, thus preserving the Patriots lead.
I think this says as much about the coaching as it does about the cornerbacks, Nothing against Carroll, but Belichick is an exceptional coach and, despite Deflategate, the Patriots were exceptionally prepared for this game. Butler had practiced that very play, which is why he acted on instinct. But that's not the only play, analysis of Brady's last two drives basically showed Brady knew which defenses the Seahawks were running and knew how to exploit them. Having Simon in there didn't hurt, but I'm not sure the Patriots wouldn't have had similar success who was in there - they were playing against Seattle's system and tendencies.
But basically, if Simon played a bit better and or Butler a bit worse, this could have been a different Superbowl.
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