Super Bowl

[escobert]

Grantland's Bill Barnwell, my favorite football writer, made the best possible (albeit still ridiculous) case for Seattle's pass at the end. Lockette was actually totally in position to make the catch, but Butler - a rookie, third-string cornerback - somehow was able to jump the route super quickly.

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Doesn't matter. You have lynch and a good line on the 1with 20 seconds left and down by 4. You run the friggen ball. Also they said they wanted to "use every second" THEN WHY DID YOU THROW THE BALL!? if it was incomplete it would have cost a down and killed the clock. That was some Marc Trestman play calling right there.


As someone who played both offense and defense in football for over half of their life, this call just completely boggles my mind.
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[Goldenboko]

My god Sherman's face.


Great game to watch, I was convinced we had lost after that crazy bobble catch, I was cursing that it was the helmet catch all over again. Look forward to standing in the freezing cold and seeing duck boats

[Tavrobel]

I like how people who criticized the call probably aren't in a position to criticize the call at all. People are missing that while the Patriots were able to make a substitution, the Seahawks were not. In effect, the Seahawks were still in their unit that's primarily responsible for marching down the field. That means more WRs and less TEs. You don't match up an open field composition against a defense that can stuff the box.

In addition, Marshawn Lynch is atrocious at goal line situations. His numbers this year for First and Goals are less than stellar. Why would you give the ball to someone who has shown so far this whole season that he's not the one you want to give the ball to that close to the goal line?

The play the Seahawks called at the goal line worked this entire season (across all teams) except for one instance, and that was in the Super Bowl. No one talks about Butler's preparation on this exact play, nor does anyone call the pick up on the corner that kept the Seattle WRs from being in the right position in the first place. Butler jumped the route because the Patriots defense prepared exactly for this situation. You don't make a play like that without practice.

Bill Belichik could have easily called a timeout (or many timeouts) and didn't. By not calling a timeout, he limits the offense's play selection. Less time to choose a play, no time for substitutions. Remember what I said about being prepared for this play? He could have called a timeout, gave them the go-ahead touchdown, and relied on Brady to march out on the field and win anyway. Turns out, Brady has a history of clutchness, outdone only by the one-and-only Eli Manning; Belichik gambled and won.

Half of the reason why anyone is talking about this isn't because the play call was bad, it's because Cris Collinsworth wouldn't shut up about it until Bennett jumped the snap and gave the Patriots room to kneel without giving up a Safety, leading to a fight and the first ever super Bowl ejection.

Nah that play call was still pretty bad though. I didn't want either team to win, but hearing people bitch about this situation has given me more amusement than could be imagined.

[escobert]

they pretty much only ran that play out of that formation, it was a terrible and obvious play call.
John Clayton:
"By jumping the route, Butler had a clear path to the ball, just like Lockette. From the way he was coming in on the ball, Butler had the best chance of catching it. I don't see that as being interference. Here are a couple of things about the play. Jermaine Kearse is supposed to get in the way of the cornerback essentially impeding Butler's ability to jump the route. But Kearse shouldn't be at fault for anything. He's blocking Brandon Browner, perhaps the most physical corner at the line of scrimmage. Lockette could have run the route stronger but you're not talking about the most seasoned wide receiver. That's asking a lot of him. I also don't fault Wilson. It would have been a hard play to audible out of under the circumstances because there was no way he knew Butler would jump the route. The problem was the play call itself. The Seahawks have run that play enough in the past that Butler, an undrafted rookie, knew the formation dictated the play, allowing him to make the pick. It was a bad play call."

Also the Patriots were worst in the league at stuffing the run and Seattle was actually one of the best at converting short yardage runs.