Stupidity Rules the Day!!!!

[clydepepper]

and I was all set to get my money back on my Russell Wilson RCs...


oh well, I'll adopt the old-time Brooklyn manta:

'Wait 'til next year!'

[clydepepper]

Now, I'm hearing that Lynch REALLY wanted the ball....


Gosh, I wish he had spoken up.

[gregr2]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

Now, I'm hearing that Lynch REALLY wanted the ball....


Gosh, I wish he had spoken up.

Nicely done!!

[vintagetoppsguy]

Seahawks fans are such hypocrites. If they would have caught that ball instead, all you would be hearing about this morning is “The Catch.” Instead, they’re calling it the worst play call ever.

You only need to look at the end of the first half to see another play call equally as bad. With six seconds to go in the half, they opted to go for the TD instead of kicking the field goal (and they would have got the ball to start the second half). Sure, it worked out, but if it hadn’t you would have been hearing about the OTHER bad play call. Why aren’t the Seahawks fans talking about that decision to go for the TD instead of the FG? Because the TD decision worked out. And if Wilson had thrown a TD instead of an interception, there would be no second guessing the play call afterwards because it would have worked out.

[jefferyepayne]

I would have run the ball. HOWEVER. I'm not an NFL coach. Would I have called for a fake field goal down 16 to the Packers? Gone for it on 4th down various times in the playoffs in critical situations?

The reality is that to succeed in the NFL you sometimes have to do what's unexpected and take a chance. I'm not sure this was exactly the play I would have called in that situation to take that chance but I applaud the Seattle coaches for going with their gut and going against the grain. If their fake field goal against the Packers hadn't worked out, they would have been skewered a game earlier.

This time it just didn't work out for them. That's football.

jeff

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by jefferyepayne

I would have run the ball. HOWEVER. I'm not an NFL coach. Would I have called for a fake field goal down 16 to the Packers? Gone for it on 4th down various times in the playoffs in critical situations?

The reality is that to succeed in the NFL you sometimes have to do what's unexpected and take a chance. I'm not sure this was exactly the play I would have called in that situation to take that chance but I applaud the Seattle coaches for going with their gut and going against the grain. If their fake field goal against the Packers hadn't worked out, they would have been skewered a game earlier.

This time it just didn't work out for them. That's football.

jeff

More good points.

More from the "I'm not an NFL coach" angle: I was actually saying that New England should've let Lynch into the endzone on his first attempt so Brady would have almost a minute to get into field goal range. HA!



I also thought the Pats drawing the offside on the next play was equally as exciting

[Econteachert205]

I certainly think pete Carroll made a mistake, but at the same time he is a great coach and Seahawks fans should be grateful for his work there.

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

If they would have caught that ball instead, all you would be hearing about this morning is “The Catch.” Instead, they’re calling it the worst play call ever.

You only need to look at the end of the first half to see another play call equally as bad. With six seconds to go in the half, they opted to go for the TD instead of kicking the field goal (and they would have got the ball to start the second half). Sure, it worked out, but if it hadn’t you would have been hearing about the OTHER bad play call. Why aren’t the Seahawks fans talking about that decision to go for the TD instead of the FG? Because the TD decision worked out. And if Wilson had thrown a TD instead of an interception, there would be no second guessing the play call afterwards because it would have worked out.

Great point - what a gutsy call that was at the end of the first half and Carroll will get few props for it.

I thought Pete Carroll's explanation right after the game was a good one. (paraphrasing "we didn't have a good personnel matchup, we thought it was a safe play, we were ready to run on 3rd and 4th down"

The kid from New England just made a great play. Browner certainly played it correctly, and apparently New England's prep for that exact play call paid off.


Congrats to the Patriots and I thought it was a terrific game.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by tonyo

Great point - what a gutsy call that was at the end of the first half and Carroll will get few props for it.

I thought Pete Carroll's explanation right after the game was a good one. (paraphrasing "we didn't have a good personnel matchup, we thought it was a safe play, we were ready to run on 3rd and 4th down"

Carroll's explanation was terrible. He said they threw the ball there because the matchup was bad. Well, the only reason the matchup was bad was because Seattle didn't put out their short yardage team. They decided before even looking at the matchup that they were going to throw!

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Carroll's explanation was terrible. He said they threw the ball there because the matchup was bad. Well, the only reason the matchup was bad was because Seattle didn't put out their short yardage team. They decided before even looking at the matchup that they were going to throw!

Yeah, I didn't get that explanation - he had receivers stacked to the right side, which was what clued the guy in. Obviously, the Pats were going to have a goal-line defense set up…duh.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Seahawks fans are such hypocrites. If they would have caught that ball instead, all you would be hearing about this morning is “The Catch.” Instead, they’re calling it the worst play call ever.

You only need to look at the end of the first half to see another play call equally as bad. With six seconds to go in the half, they opted to go for the TD instead of kicking the field goal (and they would have got the ball to start the second half). Sure, it worked out, but if it hadn’t you would have been hearing about the OTHER bad play call. Why aren’t the Seahawks fans talking about that decision to go for the TD instead of the FG? Because the TD decision worked out. And if Wilson had thrown a TD instead of an interception, there would be no second guessing the play call afterwards because it would have worked out.

There's a big difference between the end of game call and the end of 1st half call. If you miss the end of first half call, you still have the entire 2nd half to try to make it up. (See Kurt Warner's pick 6 at the end of the half against the Steelers in the SB a few years ago.) With the end of game call, you screw up, the game is over! It was just a horribly bad call. If they wanted to pass, they should have done the usual tackle eligible play action pass that you saw a lot. Then you could always throw the ball away if your receiver isn't open. You don't throw it into a huge crowd in the middle of the field. Too many bad things could have happened like a tipped ball or exactly what you saw happen on that play. Lynch gained 4 yards on the previous play, so I think the Pats were on their heels and probably in shock still over Kearse's catch. They should have just tried to pound it in with Lynch one more time. If he loses yards, you can do a run / pass option on third down. If Lynch gets stuff, you can try to run it in again.

I guess the GB game haunted the coaches in a way when they left time on the clock for Rodgers to come back and kick a field goal for a tie. However, as I have seen other articles say, you are losing, you can't afford to get cute. If it's a tie game, perhaps you can look at winding the clock down, but not when you are losing the game. Just a crazy call.

[itjclarke]

As mentioned in a couple other threads, the most surprising thing to me is that in deciding throw, they didn't use a hard play action fake to sell the run. Everyone expects run in the situation, and you get any one DB to bite, and someone's wide wide wide open. They could have done so and allowed a TE to sell block and sneak out into the flat (or even a tackle eligible like Gary suggests), or could utilize Wilson's mobilitiy and decisiveness on either a roll or a bootleg with several options to throw, or to keep.

I probably would run there, pass on 3rd down, and do whatever is needed on 4th. As was, they passed, then I'm sure would have run on 3rd and done either on 4th. I don't fault the decision to throw (they likely would have thrown on at least one of 3 downs), as much as the play design/call.

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by itjclarke

...........Everyone expects run in the situation, .............

Everyone is making very good points, and I can't believe I'm supporting the Patriots this morning since I don't think I've rooted for them once in the Belichick era. Not a fan of his.

Regardless, maybe the play wasn't the absolute best choice by Carroll and the Seahawks, but I'm giving all the credit I can to the play made by the Patriots and their apparent preparation for that exact play. In Belichicks interview by the sideline reporter (and I'm paraphrasing again) she asked if he was surprised by the play call and he responded with "no we felt like we knew all of their goal line sets and we were ready for anything" That apparently was exactly the case.

In the past few years as I evolved into my current state of football fandom, when I watch a game and don't have a rooting interest, I generally am pulling for players and teams to make great plays to determine the outcome of games. That game had plenty of them and from my point of view the game ended more with New England making a great play than with Seattle making a bad choice.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by itjclarke

As mentioned in a couple other threads, the most surprising thing to me is that in deciding throw, they didn't use a hard play action fake to sell the run. Everyone expects run in the situation, and you get any one DB to bite, and someone's wide wide wide open. They could have done so and allowed a TE to sell block and sneak out into the flat (or even a tackle eligible like Gary suggests), or could utilize Wilson's mobilitiy and decisiveness on either a roll or a bootleg with several options to throw, or to keep.

I probably would run there, pass on 3rd down, and do whatever is needed on 4th. As was, they passed, then I'm sure would have run on 3rd and done either on 4th. I don't fault the decision to throw (they likely would have thrown on at least one of 3 downs), as much as the play design/call.

Whats funny is if they score...everyone would be criticizing belichek for not calling a timeout with a minute left..instead he let it tick down to 30 secs...which would of been more than enough time for seahawks to run 3 plays as they had a timeout ....all the pats would of needed would of been a fg to tie the game like green bay did a week earlier...no reason not to call your 3 timeouts if seahawks run ball and are stopped....but..

the irony is...if a timeout was called...I pretty sure seattle ends up running the ball when they have time to think about it on 2nd down..plus another reason they run is they would want ne to burn more timeouts if stopped on a run versus an incomplete pass......

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Seahawks fans are such hypocrites. If they would have caught that ball instead, all you would be hearing about this morning is “The Catch.” Instead, they’re calling it the worst play call ever.

You only need to look at the end of the first half to see another play call equally as bad. With six seconds to go in the half, they opted to go for the TD instead of kicking the field goal (and they would have got the ball to start the second half). Sure, it worked out, but if it hadn’t you would have been hearing about the OTHER bad play call. Why aren’t the Seahawks fans talking about that decision to go for the TD instead of the FG? Because the TD decision worked out.

That wasn't a bad play call there at all. The only risk is if time runs out on you via a scramble or sack. You're throwing into the end zone so it's either going to be an incomplete, TD, or pick. Odds of a pick on that throw were very low. A TD is obviously the preferred outcome. An incomplete stops the clock, they kick the FG.

The two calls are not even close to the same.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Tabe

That wasn't a bad play call there at all. The only risk is if time runs out on you via a scramble or sack. You're throwing into the end zone so it's either going to be an incomplete, TD, or pick. Odds of a pick on that throw were very low. A TD is obviously the preferred outcome. An incomplete stops the clock, they kick the FG.

The two calls are not even close to the same.

The play call before the half wasn't bad to you because it resulted in a TD. If the time had ran out and they didn't put any points on the board, I think you would have a different opinion. Just like you would have a different opinion had they scored a TD on their last offensive play of the game. If that had been a TD instead of an interception, would you still be saying it was a bad play call?

This is exactly what I mean by the hypocritical Seattle fans.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

The play call before the half wasn't bad to you because it resulted in a TD. If the time had ran out and they didn't put any points on the board, I think you would have a different opinion. Just like you would have a different opinion had they scored a TD on their last offensive play of the game. If that had been a TD instead of an interception, would you still be saying it was a bad play call?

This is exactly what I mean by the hypocritical Seattle fans.

David, that's not how all Seattle fans felt. I agree that it should have been a field goal attempt, as did everyone who was watching the play with me. We let out a gasp of relief when he got the touchdown. Same for the Jon Ryan Pass against Green Bay. You get good with the bad with this offensive play-calling. Overall, I'll take it.

But I have to ask: why all the anger? Did you have a bad experience in Seattle? I would call Seattlites passive-aggressive, falling-off-the-cliff left-wing, hypocrites when it comes to screaming for change but then drinking a latte and letting the street kids do their marching, etc, etc., but not football hypocrites. That's crazy talk.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Seahawks fans are such hypocrites. If they would have caught that ball instead, all you would be hearing about this morning is “The Catch.” Instead, they’re calling it the worst play call ever.

David, I don't think you can call someone a hypocrite for an alternate scenario that was brewed up inside YOUR head.

I just keep thinking about the 1967 NFC Championship game - if only Bart Starr had thrown a pass...