Some Less Discussed Observations From The Super Bowl

[CanDB]

I think we have heard and discussed most of the obvious stuff that happened in the SB (ie. Seattle's "disastrous" play call), so I thought I'd offer some things that caught my attention, even if not the most talked about:

1) Chris Matthews, who played 2 years for our CFL team - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who was barely on the roster, comes up with the onside kickoff against Green Bay, and then has a whale of game yesterday, and is a great candidate for MVP if Seattle wins. This, after not catching a ball in The NFL! (I know, this was a story, but had to mention it again, given he played here in Winnipeg!)

2) Bill Belichick looked like a deer in the headlights in the last minute, not knowing what to do with his time outs. If Seattle wanted to, they could have basically killed the clock with the winning score....didn't happen, as you know.

3) The key play of the game might have been Lane's interception on Tom Brady.....given his ensuing injury changes the way Seattle defends for the rest of the game.

4) Perhaps there is karma.....Seattle seemed too lucky in NFC Final against Green Bay, but then makes a play that almost no one sees coming to lose. Also proves that Wilson is human.

5) Another key play was the missed pass interference call, that was not called, when the Pats Dback tripped but reached out to trip The Seattle receiver with his arm. I forget who the players were, but that would have been a good gain when Seattle was having trouble moving the ball in the 4th Q.

6) The fact that Seattle lives by the sword, and ultimately died by the sword. Listen, not letting them off the hook, but they do make a lot of calls that most would not. Think about the fake field goal against The Pack, and the TD yesterday with a few seconds left in the 1st half. Hey, if it works, you're a hero!

[CanDB]

Further to, now that I hear Carroll's side of the play call, it does make a little more sense, and it brings to light how critical that time out was after the circus catch. That time out was a villain in the end. Carroll says they had to use it because they needed it after the lengthy wait for the circus catch call to be made, plus they probably had to look at the play upstairs, to determine if they needed a challenge.

So, with less than a minute on the clock and one time out, Carroll still wanted 3 plays to get it done, and therefore he could not run on the 2nd down. Failing to score would have meant using up their last time out, which means they probably couldn't run on 3rd down, for fear of running out the clock. By passing first, which he was confident doing, even an incompletion assured them that they could still run or pass, on 3rd and 4th downs. He said they were all clear on that strategy. BUT, that really shows how important that 2nd time out taken was.

[Rancid]

Carroll's explanation is like putting lipstick on a pig. It is still a pig.

One he will be riding for quite some time.

[LSIGRAD09]

I now know, without a reasonable doubt, that Vinovich is.......a NE fan.

[JakeNbake]

I now know, without a reasonable doubt, that Vinovich is.......a NE fan.

What about the "Running into the Kicker" penalty and the helmet to helmet on Eddelman. THere were missed calls both ways. Vinovich is just a horrid ref.

[fallforward3y+]

Further to, now that I hear Carroll's side of the play call, it does make a little more sense, and it brings to light how critical that time out was after the circus catch. That time out was a villain in the end. Carroll says they had to use it because they needed it after the lengthy wait for the circus catch call to be made, plus they probably had to look at the play upstairs, to determine if they needed a challenge.

So, with less than a minute on the clock and one time out, Carroll still wanted 3 plays to get it done, and therefore he could not run on the 2nd down. Failing to score would have meant using up their last time out, which means they probably couldn't run on 3rd down, for fear of running out the clock. By passing first, which he was confident doing, even an incompletion assured them that they could still run or pass, on 3rd and 4th downs. He said they were all clear on that strategy. BUT, that really shows how important that 2nd time out taken was.

Agreed, the 2nd time out should be blamed more than the play call. His explanation is great, but the 'captain hindsight' crowd seemingly prefers to blame a coach for not knowing players wouldn't execute the play well.

Not sure I agree about the Lane injury though. Their game plan seemed to work very well even when he was in there, I think they would have been able to still attack Seattle's defense.

I was amazed by Chris Matthews' performance, especially since he had never caught a pass in the NFL before. The Seahawks are incredible with big plays down field in the passing game more than most people realize imo, they seem to be able to do it even with back ups. I don't think I've ever seen so many 20 plus yard passes completed in the Super Bowl.

Wilson makes bad plays at times, however imo every QB does. He played pretty well though I thought, he was great with big plays down field and did a great job making guys miss.

[fallforward3y+]

What about the "Running into the Kicker" penalty and the helmet to helmet on Eddelman. THere were missed calls both ways. Vinovich is just a horrid ref.

I had that play in mind in case there was a bad call that went against the Seahawks. If the running into the kicker penalty is called NE may have been able to get a bigger lead on the Seahawks early.

[CanDB]

Agreed, the 2nd time out should be blamed more than the play call. His explanation is great, but the 'captain hindsight' crowd seemingly prefers to blame a coach for not knowing players wouldn't execute the play well.

The more you watch the pic, the more amazing it is. Butler bounces off the receiver first and still catches the ball. That's just not normal, and would happen about 1 time out of 100. The ball was actually not in too bad a place, though it had to be quicker. Then again, it might have been caught and still not made it in for a TD.

[dizzolve]

Is it true that Winnipeg is the coldest city in the world with more than 1m people

[beastlyskronk]

There is absolutely nothing that can be said to make me believe passing the ball there was a good call. You have lynch, let him do what he does. Or let Wilson run the zone read with that little pass option. Or throw a fade route, but don't run a rub route with your two most inexperienced receivers. There is no other passing option on that play and it has to come out quick. With Wilson being so short I doubt he could even see butlers break on the ball.

[beastlyskronk]

I had that play in mind in case there was a bad call that went against the Seahawks. If the running into the kicker penalty is called NE may have been able to get a bigger lead on the Seahawks early.

I hate this rule more than any other rule. I'm glad it was only 5 even though it should have been 15. There was no possible way for him to avoid the punter.

[bronx_2003]

No matter how anyone slices it up that was the worse play call I have ever seen.... And it has nothing to do with hindsight, everyone I was watching with said there's no way lynch will get stopped here and we couldn't believe he didn't get the ball.

The pats hadn't stopped him all game, there is zero chance they stop him making one yard in 2 plays.

If lynch gets the ball Seattle win... Its that simple.... And that will go down as the worse play call in SB history

[canadiansbronco]

Still can't believe Seattle went offside right after the pick

They had another shot and went offside hahaha, sadly that is something I could totally see us do

[LSIGRAD09]

What about the "Running into the Kicker" penalty and the helmet to helmet on Eddelman. THere were missed calls both ways. Vinovich is just a horrid ref.

Pssh, he was only trying to cover it up!

[MileHighInNY]

What about the "Running into the Kicker" penalty and the helmet to helmet on Eddelman. THere were missed calls both ways. Vinovich is just a horrid ref.

Yeah, Vinovich is almost certainly the worst ref in the NFL, but he's not biased, just completely incompetent.