True... that's a big if. But again. Lynch was somehow 1 for 5 for -1 yards in 5 attempts at the 1 yard line this season. I almost can't believe that statistic but somehow it's right.
and on the flip side: ESPN Stats & Info@ESPNStatsInfo · 1h1 hour ago The Patriots' defense faced 6 rush attempts from their own 1-yard line this season (including playoffs). They allowed a TD on 5 of them.
Seatlle snapped it with about 28-30 secs left, which undrescores my point You wrote And I don't think, when you wrote that, that you understood the points I raised about Belichek's rationale regarding the time out. So, let's not nit pick the language. It's clear that Belichek was willing to use up the 40 seconds to save his time outs. The play was either going to be a score ( a give-up running TD or a TD pass) or an incomplete pass, stopping the clock. I think Belichek thought that he'd rather have the ball with about 25 seconds and two time outs, than possibly not having the ball at all. You are extending your narrrative today that Belichek is not a great coach and was totally made by Brady. That's fine, although I think you are completely wrong about that. And I'm sure if you really think about it, you'll see that not calling the TO there was the right call.
saving his TOs for 15 seconds of play wouldn't really help. never said BB is not a great coach, said he was a failure w/o Brady which is indisputable. he has developed into a top HC but he got lucky not using his TO didn't cost him a chance.
See this is where everyone here always just assumes the worst for the Patriots. Belichick's team was in the lead. His team was facing pressure, but the Seahawks had more pressure on them. Belichick bet on his defense there. Right or wrong that is what he did. He said this game is going to be won or lost there and even though no one talked about the Patriots defense much, they had a damn good defense this year (I think I read a stat that said they only allowed 3, 2nd half touchdowns after their week 9 bye). So whether you agree with the call, I was one who was laughing at the Pats for being too damn stupid to call a timeout there, but Belichick knew he had a good defense and it ended up working out. To say he quit on the game is just hating. Period. In fact, if the Bulter kid was telling the truth and said he knew the play as soon as he saw the formation and Belichick knew to put the kid back in there after he was just beaten for a miraculous catch then I'd say the opposite. Belichick knew that his teams preparation put them in a good situation and allowed the players to decide the game on the field.
films were too good to be true.... must have filmed the walkthrough as NE skipped theirs this weekend
I don't think he quit but he made a mistake and got lucky Seattle made a bigger one. if Sea scores on that plat and NE has 15 secs left BB would be getting bashed all over the place today.
And if Rex Ryan developed QBs better we'd like have won at least 1 SB maybe more. Lots of ifs in the game. Belichick might have got lucky, but there is a damn ton of luck that is involved in any teams SB victory. Hell you could say Seattle was lucky to even be that far forward at that point. It took a lucky bounce and a miraculous catch to get there. Luck is a part of the game.
Considering the last 4 seasons we had, I don't try to sit around and criticize a team that has been to 6 Super Bowls under this coach. I don't have any love for the Patriots, but I won't spend time ripping them apart because they have been a solid franchise. They can eat shit as far as I am concerned, but they are good. The game is over. Why sit around and pick apart BB and Pete? lol We have a lot to look forward to in Jet Land.
and the Giants didn't have luck? and besides, didn't they have to win a lot of games to get as far as they did. Why does everyone forget that?
Yeah definitely... I get it. But it did force Carroll into a weird decision with time on the clock. If they ran it and got stopped they had two more chances but they would have been forced to throw it for those 2 downs.
Almost every SB win is 50% luck, 50% talent. Pats certainly got a lucky break at the end there, it sucks, but they still had to make a great play to win it.
Well, as the actual play demonstrated , he would either gotten the ball back ( via a scored TD - the highest percentage scenario) or been in a position to call a TO with 26 seconds left, which is when the interception occurred. He took a calculated risk that Seattle was going to punch it in with Lynch. For all we know, NE was probably going to let him score. If Seattle comes out in a traditional running formation, the TD probably get scored at the point the interception was made, leaving the Pats about 26 secs and two TOs to get about 45 yards, with the ability tio use the whole field. When Seattle came out in the shotgun, I think BB thought that it didn't make a difference from a TO standpoint. I think you could argue that if NE called a TO, seattle may have used the time to map out a three play plan for that point, which included bleeding the clock. Maybe Belichek didn't want them to stratgize at that point. I think everything was predicated on NE being in a position to tie the game with about a 50-yarder. Very plausible in 26 seconds with 2 TOS. I mean, come on, Seattle went eighty yards and scored a TD in that time at the end of the first half. You don't think Brady could've gotten them into field position with 26 secs, two TOs and the whole field to work with? I'm sure that's what Belichek wanted. So no, I don't think he quit on the game (the OP). I think he like evereyone else, expected Seatlle to score on the next play, and valued the TOs more than seconds. He gambled.