Willie55 said:
I didn't see the video but posters here were saying Ashworth did nothing on the play, he just stood there and the guy went right past him, where Brady was pressured and threw the interception to Champ Bailey.
He took one for the team but that play really changed the game.
When a team blitzes as much as the Bronco's do, there will be a time when a LB or CB gets through untouched and this was the one. I saw the video and Ash stays to the outside where the DE went, Watson chips the DE, and the DE backs off pressure. The interior DL all goes to the right side of our OL and takes Mankins to the right which created the lane for the LB or CB to blitz. Brady rolls right and rushes his throw, but wasn't hit until after the ball was gone. If Givens catches the ball on the play before, he might score and make this whole discussion mute. But it is a team game and takes all 11 players working together, you win as a team and lose as a team.
You may want to judge a player on a single play, but unfortunately we had many Pats that had bad plays. They do pay the other team also. Looking at free agents, there are 4 tackles that started more games than Ashworth this year: J Backus - DET, J Runyon - PHI, K Shaffer - ATL, LJ Shelton - CLE.
Backus will be too expensive, Runyon is old in the tooth, Shelton will probably want more money, I have no idea about Shaffer.
I like knowing who and what we have with Ashworth but unfortunately, he will probably get a better offer elsewhere. If Kazcur and Light stay healthy all next year it might not matter, but we have used 3/4 tackles every year for the 5 that I know of.
