Can you imagine...

[Four4Four]

This whole playoffs was a can't imagine. I would have been pissed if the birds were Detroit against Dallas. I would have been super pissed if the birds were Dallas when they played the packers. I would have been angrily pissed if the birds were the packers in that nfc title game. And finally, I would have mind blowing don't speak to me for a week I ain't watching espn for 2 months stupid pissed if the birds were the Seahawks in that superbowl.

 

[ErkTheJerk]

When they came to the line of scrimmage, I said out loud, "W...why are they in the shotgun?!" When they snapped it and threw a quick pass into traffic I was stunned. Couldn't believe my eyes. I don't have a problem with passing there, but geez, line up under center and play-action to Beast Mode and someone should be OPEN. Crazy to advertise pass and throw that ball like they did!

 

[eaglesnut]

Exactly. In real time it seemed horrendous but when you think about it logically,

Some of us think logically in real time.

Only gripe really from me is the type of pass it was. Id have called a corner fade or something.

Me too, but not like they have a fade WR that they could trust.

 

[djm]

You can say what you want about the play call. Good or bad doesn't matter. Give the credit to the DB who knew what was coming because he watched enough film.

Too many what if's. What if Lynch fumbles and the Patriots recover? There is no guarantee as to what would have or would have not happened. The only thing I saw as a great defensive play but a guy who was ready for the play.

 

[Taz]

I'm old school, I do not believe in ever throwing the football from the 1! EVER! I line up my horses and knock you the fuck out! Period. I go I Formation with a lead blocker and run right behind my biggest run blocking Beast o-lineman, with my BEAST Rb. That is how I roll.

Preach on brother. Forget the time, if he doesnt get in on second down then call your timeout and run it again on 3rd down. If they stop you they stop you, you tip you hat and move on. You never get beat by running your 30th best play.

 

[deerpathdave]

Preach on brother. Forget the time, if he doesnt get in on second down then call your timeout and run it again on 3rd down. If they stop you they stop you, you tip you hat and move on. You never get beat by running your 30th best play.

So if you do it that way, if you don't make it, you most likely run out of time and never get a 4th down play.

By throwing on the one down, you give yourself one more chance. Its a 1% chance of turnover and a 67$ chance of conversion. Personally, I will take the one more chance.

 

[eaglesnut]

Preach on brother. Forget the time, if he doesnt get in on second down then call your timeout and run it again on 3rd down. If they stop you they stop you, you tip you hat and move on. You never get beat by running your 30th best play.

2 chances is not better than 3 chances, no matter how awful you may think Russell Wilson is.

 

[old duke]

Some of us think logically in real time.



Me too, but not like they have a fade WR that they could trust.

Chris Matthews, the 6'5" WR that burned them all day?

 

[eaglesnut]

Chris Matthews, the 6'5" WR that burned them all day?

The 6'5 WR that had no catches the entire season? Who knows what plays they even had for him. That would have likely been my playcall considering the options, but I can see why they wouldn't have too much faith in that.

 

[old duke]

Hindsight is 20/20, but I think on 2nd down, I'd have Wilson under center, and then execute the read/option with Lynch, and do the same 3rd and 4th if necessary. The play they ran was on the film that the Pats saw, thus the CB recognized what was coming. With Wilson, you need him to utilize his skill set, and as was mentioned all day, when Lynch tried to run the ball from the 1 yard line, he was stopped 5 out of 6 times. As I said - hindsight.

 

[Iron Eagle]

If that append to us, I'd probably be licking my wounds in the darkest corner of my liquor cabinet.



...having said that, they already have a trophy. ...they will survive.

Horrifically scarred for life, but they will survive.

 

[Los Eagles]

You can say what you want about the play call. Good or bad doesn't matter. Give the credit to the DB who knew what was coming because he watched enough film.

Too many what if's. What if Lynch fumbles and the Patriots recover? There is no guarantee as to what would have or would have not happened. The only thing I saw as a great defensive play but a guy who was ready for the play.

The whole point is if you're going to lose, you go out with your best. Seattle's best is Lynch and Wilson. They both had success running the ball. Rolling out Wilson and giving him the option made all the sense in the world. Yes it was a great play by the DB but an awful call to throw over the middle. That was not Seattle's best. Even when guys got to Wilson he juked and ran around them most of the night. I wouldn't have even thought of throwing over the middle on second down from the one. That was a pathetic call.

 

[deerpathdave]

For most of the crowd, its as simple as the play didn't work, therefore it was a bad call. Those same people would have been lauding Carrol's genius is the play was successful. The crowd doesn't really think it through. It sees success or failure and evaluates accordingly.

Deeper strategic thinkers don't think that way. They recognize that every play has a chance of being a success of failure and the end result doesn't change the quality of the decision.

This is the highest stakes and the guys making the decisions on both sides have earned the right to be there and have won the big prize before. There is something to be learned by taking a deep look at their thought process under the presumption that they are smarter at this than we are.

For Seattle:
- While Lynch is generally a good bet to pick up short yardage, its not as slam dunk as you may think. For the season, Lynch was 7/20 under 5 yards, but only 1/5 from the 1. It seems like the more obvious the running play, the more likely the defense will stop it. Even at 7/20, you do that 3 times in a row. and you are are far from a guarantee of scoring.
- The pass play from the one was shown alot of success. Only 1% turnover and successful 2/3 times.
- You can expect 3 shots at scoring if you run at least one pass play, but may only get off two plays if you run on all three plays. 3 shots is better than 2.

For New England

- I was somewhat questionable not to call a timeout prior to the play. If Seattle scores, an extra 30 seconds on the clock gives you a chance to get in field goal position and tie the game.
- On the other hand, by not calling the timeout, New England created the time crunch which somewhat limited Seattle's options. I think it took Seattle a little more time to get off the first play, because they were thinking NE was going to call time. Then Seattle didn't have enough time to run on every play.
- Very impressed with how well prepared the rookie freee agent corner was for New England. This is great coaching.

 

[eaglesnut]

- On the other hand, by not calling the timeout, New England created the time crunch which somewhat limited Seattle's options. I think it took Seattle a little more time to get off the first play, because they were thinking NE was going to call time. Then Seattle didn't have enough time to run on every play.
- Very impressed with how well prepared the rookie freee agent corner was for New England. This is great coaching.

Great post. I just wanted to comment on this part.

Belichick knows his teams are well prepared so when it comes down to calling a timeout there, it really just gives the seahawks more time to think about what they wanted to do. Belichick trusted his defense to know what to do in that sitaution and they did.

 

[deerpathdave]

Great post. I just wanted to comment on this part.

Belichick knows his teams are well prepared so when it comes down to calling a timeout there, it really just gives the seahawks more time to think about what they wanted to do. Belichick trusted his defense to know what to do in that sitaution and they did.

Yeah. Everyone wants to talk about the play call, while it was actually the play execution that made the difference in the game. The backup player was able to diagnose and make a play on the ball. Also a more experienced receiver may have made the play or at worst not allowed the INT. Imagine if it was Harvin in the slot there with Golden Tate throwing the block. Who do you think is quicker to the ball then? Seattle doesn't have any real talent at WR. Losing Golden Tate and Percy Harvin is arguably the difference between winning and losing this game.

With a four point lead, all Belichick was worried about was if his defense was ready and set. He wasn't worried about the time.

I suspect with a 3 point lead, he would have called the timeout as he then would have needed to be more worried about the game continuing more than 4 plays.

 

[Wings]

It was a terrible play call, PERIOD!

 

[deerpathdave]

It was a terrible play call, PERIOD!

Lol. Appreciate the in depth analysis. I got it I won't convince you. Please explain your rationale. I can be convinced.

 

[old duke]

Dave,
The Seahawks were afraid that Lynch would get stuffed. That much is true, even Carroll as much as admitted it, so they went with a quick slant and got burned. I understand his rationale, but I would have done a play action, and either handed off or rolled out. The fact is, they were afraid, and that is surprising that the brave Seahawks acted like that. This is going to go on the rest of the offseason.

 

[deerpathdave]

Dave,
The Seahawks were afraid that Lynch would get stuffed. That much is true, even Carroll as much as admitted it, so they went with a quick slant and got burned. I understand his rationale, but I would have done a play action, and either handed off or rolled out. The fact is, they were afraid, and that is surprising that the brave Seahawks acted like that. This is going to go on the rest of the offseason.

I do agree a play action pass would be a good choice. Would love to end up with Wilson rolling out with a run/pass option with the defense crashing in on Lynch. I do think that play may have been on their mind as well. The issue with that play is it does have a good chance of being for negative yardage. If the defense plays it correctly, they can catch Wilson for negative yards. The odds of a turnover are so low, I don't think a play caller tends to factor in an INT into his plans. You come up with your three best plays and plan on mixing it up a little to give your players the best matchups by being a little unpredictable. If I am Seattle, I go with the quick hitter on the first play (low chance of it being a negative play), The Lynch run on the next (another low chance of being a negative play), and the play action rollout on 4th down.

 

[eaglesnut]

I do agree a play action pass would be a good choice. Would love to end up with Wilson rolling out

And right into a sack!

Play action is extremely dangerous with the QBs back turned away from the defense. Shotgun gives him a clean look.