My worldview just exploded! Skip Bayless with the factual mic drop on the 'play.'

[MKHawk]

Well they certainly can't be expected to be as sharp as fans with the benefit of hindsight.

To me this isn't far off from when I hear fans complain about poor officiating. Most of the time, the fans doing the complaining don't know the rules well enough to realize the ref actually made the correct call.

I mean, really? Pointing out that expecting a gunner to run a sharp WR route is silly is hindsight?

 

[MKHawk]

We've had this discussion before. AGAIN, it's just a slant. High school QB's throw them. If you can't trust your budding top 5 QB to throw one, might as well just... I dunno, say uncle? The 'maximize' argument is why everyone and their dog thought that Marshawn was going to run it again.

Hell not even the Jones Futch Alexander Hawks didn't run left EVERY play. Even though that would be 'maximizing' their talents.

The other guys get paid too. The other guys are pretty good too. You play the %'s, and go against type in the chess match that is EVERY nfl game.

As I said, there are plenty of times where going against type are both warranted and smart. I don't think this situation was one of those times.

I should add that Russ' "weakness" is the least of the three that troubles me about this play.

Plus, I believe they enjoyed the most success on this type of play when using Lynch or a TE in the Lockette role.

 

[JMR]

I mean, really? Pointing out that expecting a gunner to run a sharp WR route is silly is hindsight?

A slant is pretty much the first route you ever learn as a WR. The way you're describing Lockette, it's like you think he should have been a special Olympian or lacked a complete nervous system. It's a friggin slant!

 

[MKHawk]

A slant is a simple route yes. But you or I can't run it the way an NFL receiver is expected to run it. How many receivers flame out because they can't run a "simple" route the way Brady, Manning, etc. want them to run it?

 

[MKHawk]

Let me put it this way, is there an appreciable difference in how Baldwin or Lockette would run a slant route? I say yes.

 

[chf]

As I said, there are plenty of times where going against type are both warranted and smart. I don't think this situation was one of those times.

I should add that Russ' "weakness" is the least of the three that troubles me about this play.

Plus, I believe they enjoyed the most success on this type of play when using Lynch or a TE in the Lockette role.

But AGAIN, they'd successfully run that play to LOCKETTE that season. It's not as if they were hoping and praying. They had a perfect call against that coverage, if Lockette doesn't lean and tip Bulter, at worst it's incomplete and stops the clock. At best it's an easy TD for the 2nd Lombardi for the showcase.

AGAIN, I was hoping for a rollout, with a run/pass option. In hindsight, I was PROBABLY right on that wish, but AGAIN, there's nothing to say that Browner couldn't have stripped Russ on a run and recovered the ball too.

We're not the hero's of our own narratives. It's a game. Two sides. The other side can make great plays too. Sadly for us, Butler was the man who balled out.

But it wasn't the CALL that led to that great play.

 

[chf]

A slant is a simple route yes. But you or I can't run it the way an NFL receiver is expected to run it. How many receivers flame out because they can't run a "simple" route the way Brady, Manning, etc. want them to run it?

C'mon man, think about it. If you second guessed every little possible flaw in a plan like that, you'd be paralyzed with indecision. You have to at some point trust the guys who got you there. We're retconning Lockette into some kind of shortbus riding scrub. That's simply not true. He caught TD's ON SLANT PLAYS during that season. He was a big physical receiver more than capable of pulling off that route. The problem wasn't even his route running, it was his tipping of Bulter with his pre-snap body language (credit to Butler, how many guys would do that kind of film study?)

AGAIN, even with him tipping Bulter, you could STILL run that play a hundred times, and 80-85 times it'd be incomplete.

 

[chf]

Let me put it this way, is there an appreciable difference in how Baldwin or Lockette would run a slant route? I say yes.

But if Baldwin is out there, then you bet your ass that the D is thinking...'hmm, why is Baldwin out here?'

If Lockette doesn't tip Butler it's a TD, or incomplete. 90 - 95 times out of a100.

It's kinda funny, because the conventional wisdom lately this season is media people grousing about coaches 'coaching not to lose!' (Dallas in their loss to Washington).

Pete and Bevell played that game to win it.

But they were generally called idiots for making a bold choice.

Apparently that's not the truth anymore.

Heh.

 

[MKHawk]

C'mon man, think about it. If you second guessed every little possible flaw in a plan like that, you'd be paralyzed with indecision. You have to at some point trust the guys who got you there. We're retconning Lockette into some kind of shortbus riding scrub. That's simply not true. He caught TD's ON SLANT PLAYS during that season. He was a big physical receiver more than capable of pulling off that route. The problem wasn't even his route running, it was his tipping of Bulter with his pre-snap body language (credit to Butler, how many guys would do that kind of film study?)

AGAIN, even with him tipping Bulter, you could STILL run that play a hundred times, and 80-85 times it'd be incomplete.

FWIW, I don't believe the bolded is true. He caught 2 TDs in 2014: Game 1 vs GB (I believe this was on the play that faked GB into thinking it was a read option keeper and then Wilson lofted it to a wide open Lockette) and Game 3 vs DEN (think this was a go or stop and go move down the sideline). The majority of these plays I remember on goal to go featured either Lynch or Zach Miller (admittedly not an option for the Super Bowl play).

 

[chf]

Fair enough. That's likely my faulty memory. I believe what was reported was that he'd caught slants that year, not TD's on slants.


Nice catch there, but definitely not a slant.

Irony abounds in this one...


He breaks up a pick, then scores a TD, AND HERE'S THE IRONY, Lynch scores on a slant the TD after, split out wide right, just like L and Kearse lined up in the Superbowl.

 

[blstoker]

Lockette was our #3 WR for the game, so I don't know why people are claiming he wasn't a legit option, unless people really think that Chris Matthews (despite having the game of his life) and Bryan Walters were higher on the depth chart despite playing fewer snaps combined than Lockette did.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

One of the stupidest overreactions I've ever seen. If Carroll completes that pass it goes down as one of the most genius plays in NFL History. "The fact everyone expected Lynch to run and Carroll calls a pass, BRILLIANT!" It's similar to that STUPID ass call by Payton to go for the onside kick. Because it worked everyone considers it genius.

I did NOT like the pass play we called, but I did like the pass play. Regardless, the fact everyone chastised Carroll for that call was absolutely dumb as fuck.

THAT was the stupidest call in SBOWL history? Please. The onside kick from Patyon was FAR worse, it just WORKED out. And I watched Seattle that year, ALL season. Lynch was constantly stuffed from 1 yard line rushing situations, and his 1 TD I believe was not a walk in.

 

[chf]

I've gotta' immediately go and buy lottery tickets.

First Bayless, now Shark.