Sunday night the Patriots lost to the Seahawks at home, coming off of a bye. Yes, I didn't see that coming. As with just about every Patriots' loss within recent memory, a different outcome with one play could have changed the outcome. A different outcome on a few plays could have resulted in Jimmy G. getting some garbage minutes in the 4th quarter. Well, that didn't happen and here we are freaking out about our ole defense and what could have been. At least we have a game this Sunday.
While some better defense would have changed the outcome, I'm currently going to focus on what I consider to be "cute" plays that helped and hurt the Patriots on Sunday.
Offensive Play Calling- The Patriots frequently give away possessions by running plays with the purpose of seeing how their opponent will line up against them. In my opinion they seem to do this in the first half once they have taken an early lead. Do they use this Intel to call certain plays later in the game, or are they harvesting information to use come playoff time? Usually, it's a little bit of both. This week I think harvesting of information was the plan of the day. While that may serve us well in February, it gave Seattle momentum on Sunday.
End of Game Play Calling- Yeah, let's waste a down by putting our quarterback at risk of injury without actually wanting to score a touchdown. The final play call to Gronk was dumb too.
Offensive Play Calling- The Patriots frequently give away possessions by running plays with the purpose of seeing how their opponent will line up against them. In my opinion they seem to do this in the first half once they have taken an early lead. Do they use this Intel to call certain plays later in the game, or are they harvesting information to use come playoff time? Usually, it's a little bit of both. This week I think harvesting of information was the plan of the day. While that may serve us well in February, it gave Seattle momentum on Sunday.
End of Game Play Calling- Yeah, let's waste a down by putting our quarterback at risk of injury without actually wanting to score a touchdown. The final play call to Gronk was dumb too.
Seattle Going for Two- Wow, that was a cute call. Of course it was by our opponents and it benefitted us, so we'll take it. Of course it probably startled our sideline so much they forgot how to call plays (see previous point).
Sweet Shift- Can't do it all the time, but that defensive shift is awesome when it works.
Dropping the Rope- Ever play tug of war and have your opponent drop the rope? While I don't know for a fact, I think Seattle might have done something similar on two important plays. One time I believe was on a third down play where an offensive lineman pretty much fell down when he was contacted. So he elusively took down a Patriot defender and avoided a whistle. On the last play of the game a very similar technique appeared to have happened with Gronk. He went in hard assuming there would be some contact with Chancellor. Instead Chancellor goes with it and Gronk loses his balance and Brady throws it where he can't catch it, game over.
Sweet Shift- Can't do it all the time, but that defensive shift is awesome when it works.
Dropping the Rope- Ever play tug of war and have your opponent drop the rope? While I don't know for a fact, I think Seattle might have done something similar on two important plays. One time I believe was on a third down play where an offensive lineman pretty much fell down when he was contacted. So he elusively took down a Patriot defender and avoided a whistle. On the last play of the game a very similar technique appeared to have happened with Gronk. He went in hard assuming there would be some contact with Chancellor. Instead Chancellor goes with it and Gronk loses his balance and Brady throws it where he can't catch it, game over.
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