Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
(Post 494007)
Fair point. But scroll down to the last YouTube clip -- you can see Butler tell Browner what's coming.
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I actually read quite a bit of it this morning, but had to stop.
Look, it's a nice narrative and I'm sure the Patriots practiced against a pick play (which is a pretty common play in NFL football), but watch the video again. First, seems to me Butler could be saying anything. He could be saying, "Pick play." He could be saying, "I got wide." He could be saying, "Don't switch."
Second, Butler's play was fantastic. There is no question. But Simmons drooling commentary about how he beat him to the spot is just stupid. Once you think it's a pick play, any halfway decent corner knows he has to get to the goal line first or it's a touch down. That's where the ball has to be on that play. And it sure looks to me like he's closer to that spot than the receiver to start. Not trying to take anything away from Butler, but that's the reality.
All that is why Simmons is so fucking annoying. Maybe I'm wrong and he interviewed Butler or heard Butler say exactly what Simmons wrote he thought, but Jesus. It's a great play without all of the bullshit speculation. Just let it be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
(Post 494007)
And what's below it about Belichick not calling time out is excellent.
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This?:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmons
(Post 494007)
And yet, Belichick never had that one signature moment. We never caught it when it happened in this Seahawks game — that’s how good this one was. We thought he fell asleep. We thought he froze. Repeat: We thought Bill Belichick froze.
You know what really happened? Belichick trusted seven months of practice and two weeks of scouting, and he trusted the fact that he’d already prepared a 24-year-old undrafted rookie to react perfectly, historically and remarkably if that slant was coming. He’ll never get credit because the whole thing seemed too improbable. After all, how could a coach behave THAT differently from every other coach in that exact same spot?
The answer: He’s not like any other coach. Of anyone — seriously, of anyone — he’s the one guy who would stand there and say, “You know what? I think Pete Carroll might screw this up. I’m not doing anything even if I don’t have the best hand. I’m gonna let him raise the pot. CHECK.” The rest was history. Whenever you’re arguing about the greatest NFL coaches of all time, just remember the final minute of Super Bowl XLIX. The man finally gave us his version of Jordan’s game winner in the ’98 Finals. And like everything else that happened with the great Bill Belichick over the years, nobody totally believed him.
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Because that's garbage. If I were a Patriots fan I would be embarrassed by this.
He completely and intentionally skates over the debate about whether it makes sense to run with Lynch in that situation because he wants Belichick to be some kind of manipulative genius. Leaning on the argument that, statistically speaking, looking at every goal line play of all the teams and determining that there is just as likely to be a fumble as an interception is just ridiculous. You have to look at
these two teams. He doesn't do that purposefully. You have to look at
that defensive line,
that offensive line, and
that running back. Why is the fumble to interception ratio he quotes dispositive? Why shouldn't we look at all of Lynch's short yardage plays? All of his running plays (he averaged somethign like 4.7 yards per rush). Simmons is such a homer that he simply can't be taken seriously.
More likely, you're talking about this load of horseshit:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmons
(Post 494007)
Pardon my French, but I’m going out on a limb and saying it wasn’t a fucking accident that Belichick never called timeout. He said to himself, We have a better chance of stoning them than we do of getting that field goal.13 He redirected the pressure to Seattle’s side and hoped they’d implode. Well …
0:30: There’s still confusion on Seattle’s side. Lynch is on the right and Wilson tells him to shift to the left. So he does. Seattle is about to run a slant pass out of a three-receiver set against an eight-man front and three cornerbacks … in other words, it’s the right defense for this specific situation. Belichick knows it. Pete Carroll doesn’t realize it.
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Come on. Stop it. If Seattle scores, all the Patriots need is a field goal and it's tied. He has more confidence he's going to get a stop than he does in Brady making a few plays to get within field goal range? Insanity. You think Belichick was thinking, "Fuck overtime, I'm going with goal-line stand. And because I know Carroll so well, I'm going to assume he's going to keep the best back in the league from doing what he does best in favor of throwing a risky slant--a play I have over-prepared my team to defend against. So I'm going to let precious time tick off the clock because I am certain that we will stop this slant
and both run plays that are coming up, to win this game! I'm in Carroll's head!"
I wouldn't wipe my ass with Simmons' fan-boy analysis of this game. He's writing for his friends. I think he truly believes it, but it's so over-the-top ridiculous that you really shouldn't have cited to it.
TM
