[a.wayne]

Well it applies to Goddall and his 44 mil a year salary ..

http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2014/09/23/will-nfls-tax-exempt-status-sustain-attack-by-members-of-congress/

Same for the PGA AND THE NHL .....

[Rob Babcock]

The play that would've had the greatest chance of success is the option. Fake handoff to Lynch and Russell Wilson runs left to the edge and if he can, run it in, otherwise pass to TE or tall receiver in corner or end of endzone.
QB sneak could surprise.
Alternatively, just handoff to Lynch and QB fakes to outside.
I'm sure that Lynch could get 1 yard in 3 tries.

But he wouldn't have three tries!  They had just over 30 seconds left with one time-out, 2nd down.  You make a point; of all the pass plays to try there are probably better ones than they chose.  Still if not for a very good play by the defender it would have been a TD.

[OzarkTom]

Conspiracy theory about Seahawks' fateful call is just strange

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/conspiracy-theory-about-seahawks--fateful-call-is-just-goofy-194227126.html

[macrojack]

Jeez, the palaver, speculation and perpetuation of absurdities go on even though the game is over and Rob Babcock has been kind and patient enough to explain in painstaking detail everything reasonable that can be said about the transpiration of play during the game. The better team won. New England has had more to overcome in the way of drama, adversity, negative publicity, misfortune and prejudice than any team in NFL history. Tom Brady has a clean record, has been a model citizen, has outperformed any QB in NFL history and continues to amaze despite having to do so every year with a new cast of supporting players. And yet there are people bashing him, reading all sorts of villainy and bad intentions into his every move and every utterance. What is wrong with these people?
And then there is Bill Belichick. The guy refuses to play into the hands of the media so they treat him badly in their press commentary. I applaud him for snubbing his nose at those parasites. He is one of only 2 coaches to win 4 Super Bowls. The other, Chuck Noll of Pittsburgh, won his in rapid succession with essentially the same personnel. Belichick won his with only one player being involved in all of them. The rest of the personnel have been mostly turned over every three years. Just consider that the Belichick/Brady Patriots have played in 6 of the last 15 Super Bowls and won 4 of those. Personally, I'd like to see them win the next 3. Since Denver is depending entirely on Peyton Manning, Indy is still forming and can't currently challenge NE, Pittsburgh is unstable and Baltimore just lost their OC, I think the challenges within the AFC are not too strong.
Those of you who hate the Patriots are going to be kept very busy for several more years.

[ted_b]

Jeez, the palaver, speculation and perpetuation of absurdities go on even though the game is over and Rob Babcock has been kind and patient enough to explain in painstaking detail everything reasonable that can be said about the transpiration of play during the game. The better team won.

Well, I am sorry, then for my opinion (er, absurdity and palaver).  And I didn't realize god (er Rob) was telling us "in painstaking detail everything reasonable that can be said about the transpiration of play during the game".  My bad.  I didn't realize we were in the midst.  I will sit back and listen, and ......

WTF!!  Who made you king sh#t?    How dare you come on here and tell each of us that our opinions are absurd and that they bore you to death.  And an AC veteran at that.  You should be ashamed (or banned).  Any of us can have our opinion about a freaking football game, dude.  This is a discussion thread.  And I didn't have a dog in this fight, but posts like that self-righteous rude crap certainly give me one.

[a.wayne]

Well , i can say this much  after watching the play again , it was a done deal right up until the ball was snatched by the rookie ,it was bam , bam , game over, err , wait a minute  , snatch , oppps , then worse game play in SB  history ......


If not for the ball being fumbled and snatched away , it would be nothing but Seahawks, hey , if GB  rolls over again there's much potential for them to repeat and  make better , tuff luck , good try and go Patriots .....


Just saying .....

[Pneumonic]

Great game and congrats to my Pats. Been a Pats fan since 1980 and so have gone through some trying times but, since Kraft took over, my fandom has been pretty darn sweet. 

As for the call ..... I probably would have run it (even against a 8 man front) but I thought the call was fine ... Seahawks got a favourable matchup against an un-tested rookie in what was the biggest stage imaginable for the kid.

Like most instances, it came down to player execution. Butler made a spectacular play. Sometimes you just have to give the other guy kudos for a job well done. 

[charmerci]

Even if they had made the TD, I'd still be amazed that it was a "bad" call. I would have said "wow, that was risky." A bad call is not in the execution, it's in the chancy, high risk category. 

How often do teams throw a short two yard pass over the middle at the 1 yard line? Almost never. I've never seen it - though maybe it has happened before.

[Pneumonic]

Even if they had made the TD, I'd still be amazed that it was a "bad" call. I would have said "wow, that was risky." A bad call is not in the execution, it's in the chancy, high risk category. 

How often do teams throw a short two yard pass over the middle at the 1 yard line? Almost never. I've never seen it - though maybe it has happened before.

I have no clue what the INT % is on a 1 yard slant down in the red zone but I imagine it's miniscule. The fumble % is almost certainly exponentially higher. 

[macrojack]

Even if they had made the TD, I'd still be amazed that it was a "bad" call. I would have said "wow, that was risky." A bad call is not in the execution, it's in the chancy, high risk category. 

How often do teams throw a short two yard pass over the middle at the 1 yard line? Almost never. I've never seen it - though maybe it has happened before.

It wasn't really "over the middle". Russell Wilson was standing on the left hash mark when he released the ball. Malcolm Butler intercepted the ball by cutting in front of Seattle's receiver just outside the right hash. It was a slant pass and, if not for amazing anticipation by the defender would certainly have provided the winning TD.
Given that half the world's population was expecting a run, the slant pass was a good choice. Watching the replay repeatedly convinced me that the Patriots were very ready for that very play.

[mick wolfe]

ESPN cares about revenue. Sports are the pretense under which they exploit that pursuit. Pay them no mind.

Agreed 100%.... not to mention that they totally reek of politcal correctness.

[jimdgoulding]

Mj- A slant to the outside was a heck of a lot safer.  Bad play, my man.  Too risky.

[mick wolfe]

Mj- A slant to the outside was a heck of a lot safer.  Bad play, my man.  Too risky.

That or Russell Wilson on a roll-out/run option. Nobody better than Wilson at that.

[jimdgoulding]

That or Russell Wilson on a roll-out/run option. Nobody better than Wilson at that.

Agree with that, Mick.

[jtwrace]

 

[Pneumonic]

It's easy to judge after the fact in this case. In hindsight, yeah, maybe running it in or calling a Wilson boot might have been more successful. However, you can be assured of this ....... if the play had resulted in a winning TD then no one would be complaining about the call.

[rajacat]

But he wouldn't have three tries!  They had just over 30 seconds left with one time-out, 2nd down.  You make a point; of all the pass plays to try there are probably better ones than they chose.  Still if not for a very good play by the defender it would have been a TD.

Hmm... I thought they had 2 timeouts left.

[jimdgoulding]

It's easy to judge after the fact in this case. In hindsight, yeah, maybe running it in or calling a Wilson boot might have been more successful. However, you can be assured of this ....... if the play had resulted in a winning TD then no one would be complaining about the call.

It might have raised a few eyebrows, however, cause there were less riskier options.  I think about everybody was expecting Lynch or a fake to him and an end around with a Wilson keeper with 2 downs available.

[a.wayne]

Even if they had made the TD, I'd still be amazed that it was a "bad" call. I would have said "wow, that was risky." A bad call is not in the execution, it's in the chancy, high risk category. 

How often do teams throw a short two yard pass over the middle at the 1 yard line? Almost never. I've never seen it - though maybe it has happened before.

Marino did it often .........

[Pneumonic]

It might have raised a few eyebrows, however, cause there were less riskier options.  I think about everybody was expecting Lynch or a fake to him and an end around with a Wilson keeper with 2 downs available.

Risky? In terms of turnover %?  The turnover % on that call is very small.