It wasn't the WORST
CALL OF ALL TIME. That's our internet age of hyperbole and lack of
perspective, much less memory, screeching. And a lot of post-facto
wisdom. As if wisdom would be expressed BY SHOUTING IT IN CAPS! Face
it: had Ricardo Lockette caught that ball, they'd all be screeching
'UNLIKELY HERO!' and 'WHAT AN GUTSY PLAY CALL' into the cyber black
hole of media.
In the studio Osi Umeniyora had his hands on his head; I had mine spread in disbelief (you may
have seen the screen shot @c4nfl put up on twitter!). We were both
aghast that the Seahawks hadn't run the ball: they'd nearly got the
TD two plays before, when Marshawn Lynch picked up five of the six
yards they needed, and only a brilliant diving tackle by Dont'a
Hightower saved them. Then Rob Ninkovich came down the line to stop
Lynch for no gain. Bill Belichick didn't call time out, leaving the
game in the hands of his defense. Was he figuring the Seahawks would
throw on second down, to ensure they had a chance to run three plays?
They'd thrown for a TD from the three, to Doug Baldwin, who went all
scatalogical in celebration and cost Seattle 15. I tend to think he
just wanted his players to put the pressure on the Seahawks.
Were the Patriots to
lose because of the Malcolm Butler tip that Jermaine Kearse caught on
his back (while Duron Harmon leaps over him, rather than playing the
ball and probably getting a penalty for hitting an unprotected
receiver) it would have been a sure sign that the gods were still
very irritated with New England, or that Phoenix was no place for the
Pats to ever play again. But football is such a game of inches.
Butler had been beaten by Kearse earlier, only for Kearse to drop
what was possibly Russell Wilson's best throw of the playoffs. He'd
also gotten away with a trip, when he slipped in coverage.
The Seahawks, as
they do so often, marched right down the field after Tom Brady to
Julian Edelman for the TD. A wheel route to Marshawn Lynch beat Jamie
Collins, just as they'd beaten the Packers on the same play. Now it
was second and goal from the 1, down to 26 seconds left.
You can see Pete
Carroll on the sidelines watching the subs. 'They're in goal-line!'
he yells into the headset, which was probably all the prompting
Darrell Bevell needed to try a pass. But the Pats' in goalline had
two problems, defending both edges. Watch the previous play, and as
Nink comes down the line, they've got Hightower to his outside, to
defend the option. When they went 6-2 goal-line, I was sure the
Seahawks would try an option, and Wilson, not Lynch, would get the
winning score.
Aside: Marshawn
Lynch was one touchdown in five carries inside the one this season.
One for five. He's only five for twelve in the past three years.
When the Seahawks
come out with the stack right, you can see Butler checking with
Brandon Browner on who has whom. Butler, as we now know, knew the
pick play was coming. A pick was a good call, you were unlikely to
see a flag on it. But Browner stands Kearse up, which forces Lockette
to run his pattern flat (compare it to Brandon LaFell's slant for the
TD earlier). And if you watch from the ground-level sidelines camera,
you see Butler is breaking to the spot the moment the play starts.
Wilson saw an open receiver, but Butler was already beating Lockette
to the ball. And all of a sudden Tom Brady was 'cemented' to use the
word I saw in a number of internet columns, first from Mike Freeman,
as the 'GREATEST QUARTERBACK OF ALL TIME'.
Now he might well
be; I think he's got a strong case. But lets say Butler drops the
interception, and Seattle scores. Is he then not the greatest ever?
If not, who is? The title of greatest ever is a moveable feast, and I
relish the discussions and arguments it produces. But quarterbacks do
not win games alone, as Malcolm Butler reminds us.
If not the WORST
CALL EVER, was it at least THE GREATEST SUPER BOWL EVER? It may well
be, but the last one in Phoenix was pretty good too, as was the
Steelers-Arizona game the following year. The Ravens-Niners game when
THE LIGHTS WENT OUT had a bit of everything, including the late
goal-line stand. And that's just in the last seven years!
I have to admit, I'm
getting tired of everything having to be decided instantly,
definitively, and triumphantly. It's just white noise, and the
problem is that it tends to interfere with the clear signals that a
brilliant game like Super Bowl 49 sends to us. It tends to turn the
spectacle into the equivalent of a video game, which may be the way
the NFL prefers it anyway. I should note that when the game was
'played' officially on Madden, the result was 28-24 to New England.
I'm glad the players decided to show up anyway.
TEAM BUILDING
A lot was made of
the Seahawks undrafted wideouts: Baldwin, Kearse, Lockette and
Matthews. They did have two drafted rookies, Kevin Norwood and Paul
Richardson, but I'm not sure either actually played. But what was
interesting was on the other side of the ball. When Jeremy Lane
(sixth round pick in 2012) got hurt on his interception return,
Tharold Simon (fifth round pick in 2013) replaced him, but they moved
Byron Maxwell (sixth round pick 2011) into Lane's slot assignment.
The Pats immediately went after Simon, who struggled. But it shows
how the Seahawks pick up corners with the size and length they like,
and then coach them in Pete Carroll's system, which can take a couple
of years. Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor were both fifth round
picks because scouts thought they weren't fast enough to cover;
backup safety DeShawn Snead was undrafted.
The Pats, on the
other hand, got to the Super Bowl in part because of free-agent
corners Darrelle Revis and Browner. Revis shut down Baldwin
completely—I think betting his over of 4.5 catches was my dumbest
call of the day. But when Logan Ryan and Kyle Arrington (undrafted)
had their problems, Belichick had no hesitation in turning to Butler
(undrafted rookie from Division II West Alabama) who had shone in
camp but hadn't had a lot of meaningful snaps. The Pats haven't done
as well developing corners, but their lineup is littered with
undrafted guys, waiver-wire guys (sometimes both) whom they've
identified as guys who can contribute. These are two well-coached
teams. And it's no coincidence Dan Quinn follows Gus Bradley from the
Seattle defensive coordinator job to a head coaching job, his in
Atlanta.
THE DIFFERENCE
When I previewed the
game, I said the Pats would have to play perfectly with the right
game plan, while the Seahawks could win simply playing their game.
And so it turned out. In the fourth quarter the Pats schemed their
way into the match-ups they wanted, content for the most part to take
short gains on passes, and getting a lot of yards after the catch
from Edelman (seventh-round pick) and Danny Amendola (undrafted,
originally signed by Dallas, but high-priced free agent from the
Rams). Meanwhile Seattle got the kind of big plays in the crucial
moments late in both halves to keep themselves in the game and put
themselves in position to win, at least before THE WORST CALL IN
FOOTBALL HISTORY ™. Maybe you can argue that, by passing on second
down, they were playing the Patriot game, trying to outfox New
England, rather than just doing their own thing.
DOING THE RIGHT
THING:
As I
predicted/suggested on the show, Tom Brady did give the pick-up truck
to Malcolm Butler. I hope Chevy give him a choice of colours. The MVP
car is one of two things I dislike at the end of the game, well, make
it three with the Disneyland business. It turns an honour into a
gridiron version of The Price Is Right; it ought to have a woman in a
gown opening her hands to show the car off. But what I really dislike
is handing the Lombardi trophy to the owner, rather than to a team
captain. It shows you who runs the game, and who the game is run for.
Game? Every time I call it a game, you remind me it's a business, and
every time I call it a business you say it's a game (cf North Dallas
40). At least the beauty of this Super Bowl kept us free from
Spygate, Deflategate, arrest reports, and all the other stuff that
will occupy THE SCREAMING PUNDITS for the rest of the off-season. It
was a Super Bowl to remember, and isn't that enough?
LAST WEEK: 0-1
PLAYOFFS: 8-3 REGULAR SEASON: 169-86-1 SEASON: 177-89-1
In the end I tied
with Neil Reynolds for the NFLUK championship (the NFL.com failed to
credit my picking the Colts in week 13 in case you're counting) but
it should be pointed out that Paolo 'The Great' Bandini was ahead of
us both before he missed an entire week. I had never before done
better than 7-4 in the playoffs, and I wound up just two games behind
last season; two games after 267! I've been between 64-68 per cent
correct in nine of the ten years I've been doing this column; as the
internet would say 'YOUR STUPID CARLSON, TWO THIRDS ISN'T EVEN HALF,
YOU SUCK!'
This is the last
Friday Morning Tight End for the season. After a few weeks in Tahiti
recovering from the strain of Channel Four and FMTE, I'll be back at
the end of the month with the off-season Friday Monthly Tight End,
talking about the draft, free agency, arrests, and all the other
stuff that prompts the GREATEST OFFSEASON EVER! See you then, and as
ever, thanks so much for reading, and responding to this column. JUST
NOT ALWAYS IN CAPS!
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