2 post SB questions

[Russ Smith]

On the 2nd 2 point conversion it was clearly a pick play, in fact there were 2 NE Wr's blocking. I know the rule allows you to do that within a certain distance of the LOS, I think it's 1 yard. It looked like the guy closest to Amendola was probably legal, close enough to 1 yard they never call it, Edelman was CLEARLY past 1 yard he was essentially at the goalline. When the play happened you can see Edelman turn and start screaming at the ref because he thinks they're calling OPI on him he doesn't know Freeney is offsides. Am I correct the rule is 1 yard? I'll be honest as they lined up on that play I immediately thought if I'm Atlanta's defense I'm telling the refs watch for the picks, you knew it was coming.

On the holding call that pushed Atlanta out of FG range there was a clear facemask on the Patriots DB, but I think Sanu got him too, his helmet came off. If there's a hold and 2 facemasks on the same play I assume it's supposed to be offsetting and down over because I don't think the NFL cares if 2 are on 1 team and 1 on the other is that correct?

Shanahan must just be kicking himself, what was he thinking not running the ball on that play? Whoops that's 3 questions.

 

[TheCardFan]

Shanahan must just be kicking himself, what was he thinking not running the ball on that play? Whoops that's 3 questions.

No risk it no biscuit...BA would have done the same thing (unfortunately). If you watch that play, Julio Jones was open across the middle and the play was good...it was a blown blocking assignment (execution) by Freeman. However, I still think most people would have ran the ball and kicked the FG. Up 11 with 2-3 minutes is about as good as you could ask for in the Super Bowl.

You have to hand it to the Patriots though...they take advantage of your mistakes/opportunities and they execute to perfection when it matters most.

 

[Russ Smith]

No risk it no biscuit...BA would have done the same thing (unfortunately). If you watch that play, Julio Jones was open across the middle and the play was good...it was a blown blocking assignment (execution) by Freeman. However, I still think most people would have ran the ball and kicked the FG. Up 11 with 2-3 minutes is about as good as you could ask for in the Super Bowl.

You have to hand it to the Patriots though...they take advantage of your mistakes/opportunities and they execute to perfection when it matters most.

The play by Freeman was earlier that was the fumble and was completely on Freeman, he was looking left and the rush came from the right.

the play where Ryan took the sack the rush came right up the middle by the injured C Mack, he was directly in front of Matt Ryan but Matt was trying to scramble when he should have known to just throw the ball away and not tack the sack.

One point that gets lost, part of why NE's offense works is Brady is amazing with his release and reading of defenses. But part of it all the short drops, its' tough to cover guys tightly there without holding which is why we saw Atlanta get so many of them, and there were several they got away with too. But the other thing is if the play's not there, and Brady does take a sack, it's a 4-5 yard loss not 10-12. That's a HUGE difference.

 

[dylanbw]

On the 2nd 2 point conversion it was clearly a pick play, in fact there were 2 NE Wr's blocking. I know the rule allows you to do that within a certain distance of the LOS, I think it's 1 yard. It looked like the guy closest to Amendola was probably legal, close enough to 1 yard they never call it, Edelman was CLEARLY past 1 yard he was essentially at the goalline. When the play happened you can see Edelman turn and start screaming at the ref because he thinks they're calling OPI on him he doesn't know Freeney is offsides. Am I correct the rule is 1 yard? I'll be honest as they lined up on that play I immediately thought if I'm Atlanta's defense I'm telling the refs watch for the picks, you knew it was coming.

On the holding call that pushed Atlanta out of FG range there was a clear facemask on the Patriots DB, but I think Sanu got him too, his helmet came off. If there's a hold and 2 facemasks on the same play I assume it's supposed to be offsetting and down over because I don't think the NFL cares if 2 are on 1 team and 1 on the other is that correct?

Shanahan must just be kicking himself, what was he thinking not running the ball on that play? Whoops that's 3 questions.

I thought the receiver had to be at or behind the line of scrimmage in order for those other receivers to block downfield. Perhaps Mitch knows.

Also, yes Sanu was definitely face-masked on that playing with the the holding on Mathews (and also face-masked the DB). Could have called both, which then wipes out the holding.

Atlanta is loaded with talent, but will they even make the playoffs next season? Tough to recover from that choke job, it will always be in the back of their minds....

 

[SO91]

No risk it no biscuit...BA would have done the same thing (unfortunately). If you watch that play, Julio Jones was open across the middle and the play was good...it was a blown blocking assignment (execution) by Freeman. However, I still think most people would have ran the ball and kicked the FG. Up 11 with 2-3 minutes is about as good as you could ask for in the Super Bowl.

You have to hand it to the Patriots though...they take advantage of your mistakes/opportunities and they execute to perfection when it matters most.

And this board would have crucified him for it. There's aggressive and then there's reckless. Run the ball, burn clock, make them use their time outs and make it a 2 possession game.

 

[Russ Smith]

I thought the receiver had to be at or behind the line of scrimmage in order for those other receivers to block downfield. Perhaps Mitch knows.

Also, yes Sanu was definitely face-masked on that playing with the the holding on Mathews (and also face-masked the DB). Could have called both, which then wipes out the holding.

Atlanta is loaded with talent, but will they even make the playoffs next season? Tough to recover from that choke job, it will always be in the back of their minds....

Yeah I suspect the ref didn't call it because both teams did it, not knowing there was another flag for a hold.

It's like in basketball where using the replay in the last 2 minutes is screwing up refs. Refs routinely don't call a foul on one team and instead just give the other team the ball out of bounds. But now inside 2 minutes, the refs can use the replay and I've seen several cases where the call gets reversed because they can't call the obvious foul, just the out of bounds part of it so the refs doing it the it all evens out way end up screwing the other team.

I suspect here the ref figured both teams facemasked so I won't call it, and Atlanta lost out because of the holding call, which was clearly a good call obvious hold.

Terrible clock management by Atlanta and great job by the Pats of not giving up.

 

[Dback Jon]

Interesting that Dan Quinn was on the sideline for both recent NE wins, both featured bone-headed play-calling at the end of the game.

 

[BillsCarnage]

Atlanta is loaded with talent, but will they even make the playoffs next season? Tough to recover from that choke job, it will always be in the back of their minds....

I generally agree with this school of thought, but there's something different about this Falcons team. They aren't like the Panthers of last season where they played nearly perfect ball until the SB. Carolina also let a lot of defensive players go. Cam really hasn't had much adversity his college/NFL career.
Atlanta lost 5 games this season so there's still room for improvement. They still have a young core with Ryan in his prime. They remind me more of Seattle than Carolina.

You have to hand it to the Patriots though...they take advantage of your mistakes/opportunities and they execute to perfection when it matters most.

Someone described it best last night after the game, their offense is like a swiss army knife. They just find someone to make plays.

Interesting that Dan Quinn was on the sideline for both recent NE wins, both featured bone-headed play-calling at the end of the game.

True, but he had no control in the Seattle game. He's a defensive minded guy and left if up to Shanahan here. I just hope Shanahan doesn't learn anything from this and takes it with him to SF.

 

[JeffGollin]

I'm still trying to get my arms around the pass to Edelman that appeared to bounce off the turf.

 

[Russ Smith]

I'm still trying to get my arms around the pass to Edelman that appeared to bounce off the turf.

The DB's arm or leg was in the way the ball bounced off that not the ground.

That was a remarkable play both by luck and by concentration by Edelman. The DB could have picked it, it could have hit the ground, but it didn't. I gotta believe without that play Atlanta wins.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm still trying to get my arms around the pass to Edelman that appeared to bounce off the turf.

It's always amazing to me how some people just see what they want to see with stuff like this. That ball never bounced off the turf. Every angle showed him grab it before that happened, ever announcer said it was clean. This isn't a criticism Jeff... just an observation about how weird everyone's brains are.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm still trying to get my arms around the pass to Edelman that appeared to bounce off the turf.

I thought it bounced off the bottom of a foot. Weird.

It did not touch the ground.

 

[SO91]

It's always amazing to me how some people just see what they want to see with stuff like this. That ball never bounced off the turf. Every angle showed him grab it before that happened, ever announcer said it was clean. This isn't a criticism Jeff... just an observation about how weird everyone's brains are.

If someone is watching a potato quality stream or TV, as opposed to 1080p or 4K, it might make a difference.