Just a minor detail about that controversial Patriots 4th and 13 attempt

[Steve1]

Yup....the game is long over. But I finally watched the whole game again tonight, and quite thoroughly. And I deleted it from my dvr....I saw all I needed to see and then some, such as....

I watched the 4th and 13 heave by Brady toward a double covered Gaffney at the left corner of the endzone a couple of times, and then I noticed something. Out of the corner of my eye, just at the edge of the view on the tv, toward the right, there it was.......

A lone Patriot waving his hands in disgust, on the other side of the field, at the first-down yardage area. All alone. So I played it back to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. And yes, someone was as wide open as Reche Caldwell was last year. I played that one back about 5 times. Now Brady did have alot of pressure on him at that play.

But there you have it....a Patriot all alone for a first down, and more yards to boot. I definitely couldn't make out who it was, though.

One last comment. Remember in 2006, there was a play where Brady lofted it over the middle, like a Bill Lee blooper pitch, to David Thomas (forgotten tight end), and Thomas caught it for a nice play? It looked like Brady may have been trying that play on the last fateful 32 second attempt at a drive. A guy was open for it, but Brady had a ton of pressure on him, and threw it towards 2 Giants instead.

 

[spedmunki]

Ya I noticed the open receiver options too. I really think Brady blew this one, not BB. I guess he may not be invincible......my dreams are crushed.

 

[JD10367]

I'm sure Joe Montana and Dan Marino had a few bad passes in their career as well.

Brady may make enough mistakes that it's hard to consider him the best QB ever, ahead of a guy like Montana, but compared to someone like Manning or Favre I still think Brady's been less mistake-prone...

 

[Patriots4ever]

It was Welker that was wide open on the play.

 

[Steve1]

It was Welker that was wide open on the play.

Oh, it was Welker? How do you know, did you watch it on a big-screen, high-def tv? I only watched the replays on my generic 20-year old tv, and I couldn't make it out.

Okay, Welker may not have been waving his arms up and down (at least once) in disgust. There's a good chance he was just doing it to let Brady know he was available for an open-field catch. But I saw the ball leave Brady's hand, then the view on tv started to go downfield with the ball, and then I saw Welker waving his arms up and down like a crazy gorilla.

Maybe Welker was giving it back at Brady. Maybe he was remembering Brady ragging on him on that earlier throw-away by Brady, where Brady seemed to be probably blaming Welker.

Brady reminded my of Dan Marino, when in his whole second half of his career, he was constantly yelling at his teammates, as if to say 'come-on, let's get it together, damn it!" And I thought Marino was exhibiting two things, one I respect, and one I don't respect. He wanted to win; but he was being a dick about it. And I basically thought Marino was an angry old player for the second half of his career.

I can only hope Brady doesn't fall into that trap. Anyway, the Patriots are still contenders for next year's championship. But maybe (who knows, probably?) they'll have to go through several team changes before they truly compete again. And maybe they'll unfathomably go through 4 ot 5 different new qb's before they make it back to the big dance. I'll just have to prepare myself for that, as a Patriots fan.

Folks, if you want more pain in your heart (as if you do), I mean if you want to see a train wreck, bring your recording to that point in the game (4th and 13, Pats try for the 1st down). There were quite a few minutes left in the game.

But you will not friggin believe, how Absolutely Wide Open Wes Welker was on that play. You will not be happy. But you will go on to live your life........

 

[Patriots4ever]

Oh, it was Welker? How do you know, did you watch it on a big-screen, high-def tv? I only watched the replays on my generic 20-year old tv, and I couldn't make it out.

Read Tuesday's Patriot Ledger.

Tuesday's Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA)

Later, on the fourth-and-13 failure, he airmailed a throw to Gaffney well out of bounds in the back of the end zone. Had Brady looked to his right (he never did) he would have seen Wes Welker seemingly wide open at the first-down marker.

Little less than half way down the page under "Quarterback."


Knock of the sarcasm, it's not appreciated.

 

[Steve1]

Read Tuesday's Patriot Ledger.

Tuesday's Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA)



Little less than half way down the page under "Quarterback."


Knock of the sarcasm, it's not appreciated.

Thanks....I found the article, just before you gave me the above link. Yup....very interesting.

But just so everybody knows (and this will not surprise anybody), I couldn't throw a football 10 yards accurately on a good day! So for me to rag on are boy Brady is a little misguided.....but I reserve the right anyway....

 

[DrewWho]

Not a great play, or call!

This game was NOT on Brady, nor was the AFCC in 2006! Both games came down to our defense blowing it late in the 4th Qtr on the final drives.

Brady can be blamed for Denver, but not in this SB where he got killed every time he dropped back. If the defense held on the Giants final drive, Brady most likely would have been MVP for that final drive. Getting his body knocked down play after play and to go 8-11 on that drive for the probable game winning TD was simply legendary! He did the best he could with little help from the OL. He got murdered.

Maybe Brady didn't look right because he felt the pass rush and was just thinking about getting rid of the ball or rather maybe the Pats should have kicked the damned Field Goal at that point - in a dome, perfect conditions! Going for it on 4th and 13 was not a good call and that is on the coaching staff!

 

[Steve1]

Not a great play, or call!

This game was NOT on Brady, nor was the AFCC in 2006! Both games came down to our defense blowing it late in the 4th Qtr on the final drives.

Brady can be blamed for Denver, but not in this SB where he got killed every time he dropped back. If the defense held on the Giants final drive, Brady most likely would have been MVP for that final drive. Getting his body knocked down play after play and to go 8-11 on that drive for the probable game winning TD was simply legendary! He did the best he could with little help from the OL. He got murdered.

Maybe Brady didn't look right because he felt the pass rush and was just thinking about getting rid of the ball or rather maybe the Pats should have kicked the damned Field Goal at that point - in a dome, perfect conditions! Going for it on 4th and 13 was not a good call and that is on the coaching staff!

The pressure on him was something else. It may have led him to get quite rattled. And we saw how it all worked out.

But check out the wide open Welker....that drive would have could have should have ended up 14-3 Patriots. Listen, I don't care who the hell is the qb of the Pats. I would like to see them win. And Brady has been an ultimate winner......

You know what, crazy as it sounds, I almost like Brady more as a player, now that he has lost an AFC championship game, and a SB, in consecutive years. It proves what I've know all along....he isn't god, he isn't perfect. And it's a Team game. No he didn't lose the game. The team lost the game.

Brady: 3-1 in the SB. I almost like that more than Bradshaw's and Montana's 4-0. I can't explain why....

 

[DrewWho]

You know what, crazy as it sounds, I almost like Brady more as a player, now that he has lost an AFC championship game, and a SB, in consecutive years. It proves what I've know all along....he isn't god, he isn't perfect. And it's a Team game. No he didn't lose the game. The team lost the game.

Brady: 3-1 in the SB. I almost like that more than Bradshaw's and Montana's 4-0. I can't explain why....

This years loss has no bearing for me on my feelings for Brady as a player. I saw what everyone saw, our OL breakdown and not giving him any time to survey the field. Brady never did! He didn't look right because he sucks all of a sudden, he didn't look right because that was the play call and he was taking what the defense gave him, NO TIME and got rid of the ball. If Brady looked right and got sacked, that would have been great - giving the Giants a 15-20 more yard field advantage on 4th down. Looking at one play in a tough game and using that play to knock Brady down a few rungs is not fair.

Fact is when we needed Brady the most, he did get the job done. He got the job done in bad circumstances, but he got us the TD when we needed it (not a field goal as he was criticized for in 2 of the previous SB )! The defense; Samuel, Seymour, Green and Harrison - all 4 of those players had the game won and it slipped away from each of them in the final most important minutes of the game. They DID NOT DO THEIR JOBS!

 

[Albany Ed]

It's all about time to pass. If a QB has it, just about any NFL QB can be great. Without time, just about any NFL QB will be rattled and make mistakes or miss wide open recievers. Brady had time for the entire year and had the greatest regular season any QB has ever had. He didn't have time in the Super Bowl and consequently, a great QB looked rather ordinary.

 

[DarrylStingley]

I love Brady and BB. But from this thread, I now know that my coach made a moronic decision and my QB did not properly assess the field. I was at the game and never saw anyone open. And I thought TB was under some pressure on that play (which might explain why he didn't see Wes).

Is that true? Was Brady under pressure?

 

[Steve1]

Is that true? Was Brady under pressure?

I don't remember now....I deleted the game, so I can't help you there.

 

[SkiptoMyLou]

He had some pressure, but he pump faked about three times. So he bought time. But it looked as if he was only staring one way the whole time, so he would have had time to look over to his right and see Welker. I can't blame him, though, I think all falls squarely on the O-line for having him get knocked/sacked down almost every play.

 

[dchester]

You know what, crazy as it sounds, I almost like Brady more as a player, now that he has lost an AFC championship game, and a SB, in consecutive years. It proves what I've know all along....he isn't god, he isn't perfect. And it's a Team game. No he didn't lose the game. The team lost the game.

Brady: 3-1 in the SB. I almost like that more than Bradshaw's and Montana's 4-0. I can't explain why....

I think I would have liked him more if he won the game.

:shrug:


In any case, I put the loss squarely on the o-line (along with the coaching). I suppose anyone can have a bad day though, so I'll get over it. I just wish it wasn't in the superbowl, though.

 

[BionicPatriot]

People are always going to point out what Brady does wrong. The guy isn't perfect, they just got outplayed. To focus on one play and try to use it against him calling him a choker or something is crazy to me.

 

[DarrylStingley]

People are always going to point out what Brady does wrong. The guy isn't perfect, they just got outplayed. To focus on one play and try to use it against him calling him a choker or something is crazy to me.

Agree. Tom is the best player in the NFL. Period.

 

[PSC_Pats_Fan]

All I know is that whenever I think of this game, I feel sick to my stomach. :Eason:


What a goddam wasted opportunity at perfection and NFL immortality.


And anyone who tells me I need to get over it can FOAD!!!

 

[PlayMaker]

I just watched this play again (and only this play) and it's exactly as the article stated. Brady never looked to his right and Welker was wide open (and that's an understatement. Moss also had one on one coverage. But Brady was zeroed in on the right side of the field where both Gaffney and Watson were in double coverage.

Looking back at that play I think that Maroney should have stayed in to block. It looked as if he was faking to stay in and block and ran out into the flat. Not sure what this accomplished 'cause he was only about three yards past the line of scrimmage on a 4th and 13.

Oh well, 20/20... hindsight... etc.

 

[SaCaCh]

I am just an idiot but on a play like that you only go for it if you think you have a specific play that you saw on film that you think will work. This type of thinking goes along with what Brady did on this play. He pump faked and locked in, meaning he thought for sure the saftey was going to bite and that Gaffney would come open. When that didn't happen he did not think he had the time to look for others so he just threw it away high over Gaffney.