The difference between Revis and Sherman played out

[marko358]

It's only kinda strange in that going in the Hawks already knew that at this stage in Brady's career and with these WRs the Pats were never going to beat them deep to begin with. Just letting them have the WCO style short passes all game -- even when the running game wasn't working for the Pats -- is just strange to begin with. In hindsight I guess it comes off as a tad stubborn (but that's with the benefit of hindsight, of course).

I have to agree with you. I even thought that the D would start jumping routes like Wagner did on the pick since they kept using the same pass attack over and over.

 

[Popeyejones]

Getting outcoached is different than saying he was outclassed (i.e. playing checkers while Belichick was playing chess).

This was a brutally close game in which we gained more yards and were at the one-yard line for the winning score. Outcoached I can live with . . . outclassed is an emotional and misinformed reaction to a very close loss.

Gotcha. That's definitely a fair distinction. Agreed. :th2thumbs:

 

[hawk45]

Popeye pretty much smacked this thread around by being dead-nuts on.

What are irrelevant are comments about how "this" defense has been the number one defense for 3 years. First of all, "this" defense didn't have Tharold Simon out there being curb-stomped most of the time. Second of all, we were playing Bill effing Belichick and Tom Brady who aren't about to get cute and value "randomness" in their playcalling like some redheaded OCs we're all disgusted with. They were going to use Simon until the using was done.

1) The Patriots came out of the tunnel with better gameplans on both sides of the ball. We can lay to rest the canard about Bevell setting up "the long con" by drowning our offense for 2 quarters each game. Belichick is the gold standard for evil genius and we now see that evil genius does not piss away 30 minutes to set something up later.

2) The Patriots adjusted better on both sides of the ball, and had counter-counter-adjustments ready and waiting. Torched by Matthews? Stick Browner on his butt and disappear him, don't wring your hands at having to actually adjust your defensive strategy (gasp!!!) like it's a fatal flaw to be flexible. (By the way, sticking in Matthews was a GREAT adjustment that Pete and co did make, have to give credit for that).

On defense I will admit our adjustments were very limited given the injury to Lane. It has occurred to me that that Simon, crappy as he was where he was playing, might be even more hideous if he found himself on the other side of the ball. Although...I mean how much more hideous does it get? Edelman looked like he was running routes in underwear for his pro day for all the bother Simon gave him.

Seahawks playing zone? Torch LBs with Vereen. Seahawks playing man? Gronk. McDaniels slapped us around mercilessly all game long and our D only stopped them when we managed to get pressure on Brady. McDaniels didn't even have a rushing attack as a foil, either.


Despite the in-game superiority of NE's coaching staff (and their healthy options) we battled it down to a near certainty of a win.

Belichick's only desperation play at that point was to sucker Pete into passing and to our eternal dismay he leapt at the bait like a puppy going after a doggy treat, heavy assist to Bevell by drawing up the pass play our team executes least competently when called on. Even Belichick had to be in utter disbelief that his gambit worked.

 

[Popeyejones]

Despite the in-game superiority of NE's coaching staff (and their healthy options) we battled it down to a near certainty of a win.

Yep. Agreed. The Hawks are a more talented team IMO.

And I recognize that you have to not be a fan of either team to take this perspective, but that whole final series was kind of a wash for me. It was just too crazy.

We're basically only even having this conversation because Kearse made what will be the best play of his entire career (over Butler, right?) and then that's followed by Butler making what will be the best play of HIS entire career.

You can even take it a step further and say that after Butler made the best play of his entire career, he showed his UFA rookie status by returning the ball to the one yard line rather than staying in the end zone, and then one of the best defensive lineman on the NFL picked the worst possible moment to expose his achille's heel (jumping offsides).

it was all just nuts. It made for one of the best games in Super Bowl history, but in the end it was just all kind of a wash to me.

it gets set up by two wildly improbably displays of skill, and is followed up by two wildly improbably bonehead acts.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Brady didn't have to test Sherman because Tharold Simon was a total mismatch for their smaller, shifty WR's

The Jeremy Lane injury was bigger than Marquand Manuel's in XL IMHO. It changed the entire defense. They had to give Simon help on many occasions which left Gronk open in the middle. When they didn't, Brady would complete passes at Simon's side seemingly at will.

One of the least talked about parts of XLIX is Marcus Burley being inactive. Burley isn't the best corner, but he had the size and speed to stay with Edelman or Amendola.. and you can tell Simon had ZERO confidence out there. Brady was like a tiger that smelled raw meat.

 

[hawk45]

Brady didn't have to test Sherman because Tharold Simon was a total mismatch for their smaller, shifty WR's

The Jeremy Lane injury was bigger than Marquand Manuel's in XL IMHO. It changed the entire defense. They had to give Simon help on many occasions which left Gronk open in the middle. When they didn't, Brady would complete passes at Simon's side seemingly at will.

One of the least talked about parts of XLIX is Marcus Burley being inactive. Burley isn't the best corner, but he had the size and speed to stay with Edelman or Amendola.. and you can tell Simon had ZERO confidence out there. Brady was like a tiger that smelled raw meat.

Agree on all points. If Burley is active he goes in as nickel and we still have Maxwell out there on the outside if we want.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

One of the least talked about parts of XLIX is Marcus Burley being inactive. Burley isn't the best corner, but he had the size and speed to stay with Edelman or Amendola.. and you can tell Simon had ZERO confidence out there. Brady was like a tiger that smelled raw meat.

Totally agree, and I even Tweeted that to David Hsu on Twitter when he came out with who he thought was going to be inactive.

Big mistake IMO to not have Burley active with 3/4th's of the LOB hurt. He would have done much better in the slot than Simon.

 

[rigelian]

Another factor was the success NE was having passing to Vereen - 11 catches. It wasn't just Edelman, although he is the lifeblood of that passing attack. As Seattle tried to react to Vereen, it left Gronk in man coverage. In the 4th quarter he made a couple of huge receptions on the winning drive.

It was a pretty sophisticated plan. McDaniels is a hell of an OC and Brady is the maestro. Nobody can really stop it, that's why they averaged 31 ppg this year.

We eventually adjusted to Vereen coming out of the backfield by dropping a defensive lineman into the middle of the field and letting our linebackers attack Vereen as a priority. Unfortunately what that did is allowed Brady to step into the pocket in the long run (they adjusted to our adjustment) because we stopped rushing people up the gut.

It was a game of adjustments -- neither team commanded things for long. Which is why the game went back and forth.

 

[Seahwkgal]

I have a question; Why didn't B.Max play the slot instead of Simon? B.Max has done it before and was fantastic. I just don't get it. Simon is more of a deep coverage type and for the life of me, I could not understand why he was playing Lane's role when B. Max has done it very well.

 

[netskier]

I wondered that during the game, and can hardly wait for the answer if anyone knows.

 

[hawknation2015]

I have a question; Why didn't B.Max play the slot instead of Simon? B.Max has done it before and was fantastic. I just don't get it. Simon is more of a deep coverage type and for the life of me, I could not understand why he was playing Lane's role when B. Max has done it very well.

Maxwell did take quite a few snaps in the slot. Going into the game, I think the coaches really liked the LaFell matchup for Maxwell, but they were forced to adjust after Lane went down.

For example, Maxwell lined up in the slot on LaFell's TD:

 

[50yrpatsfan]

I have a question; Why didn't B.Max play the slot instead of Simon? B.Max has done it before and was fantastic. I just don't get it. Simon is more of a deep coverage type and for the life of me, I could not understand why he was playing Lane's role when B. Max has done it very well.

From what I saw, this game showed Maxwell's limitations. Amendola was literally running circles around him, both before and after catches. Maxwell's a good physical corner, but if he can't cover Amendola better than that, then how can you put him on the slot?

 

[hawknation2015]

I have a question; Why didn't B.Max play the slot instead of Simon? B.Max has done it before and was fantastic. I just don't get it. Simon is more of a deep coverage type and for the life of me, I could not understand why he was playing Lane's role when B. Max has done it very well.

From what I saw, this game showed Maxwell's limitations. Amendola was literally running circles around him, both before and after catches. Maxwell's a good physical corner, but if he can't cover Amendola better than that, then how can you put him on the slot?

It certainly wasn't ideal . . . LaFell was the ideal matchup for Maxwell during game prep. But then Lane suffered his freakish injury and the coaches were forced to adjust with what they had left in reserve. What they didn't have was Marcus Burley, Lane's backup, who would have been a much better matchup against Amendola, but unfortunately he was not activated for the game.

 

[Popeyejones]

I have a question; Why didn't B.Max play the slot instead of Simon? B.Max has done it before and was fantastic. I just don't get it. Simon is more of a deep coverage type and for the life of me, I could not understand why he was playing Lane's role when B. Max has done it very well.

From what I saw, this game showed Maxwell's limitations. Amendola was literally running circles around him, both before and after catches. Maxwell's a good physical corner, but if he can't cover Amendola better than that, then how can you put him on the slot?

It certainly wasn't ideal . . . LaFell was the ideal matchup for Maxwell during game prep. But then Lane suffered his freakish injury and the coaches were forced to adjust with what they had left in reserve. What they didn't have was Marcus Burley, Lane's backup, who would have been a much better matchup against Amendola, but unfortunately he was not activated for the game.

I know there's a lot of talk about Burley not being activated and I understand why, but I feel like the argument is kind of made in a vaccuum. Burley was inactive for the entire playoffs. The guy who was active in his place was Chris Matthews (who was never active until the playoffs). You can't just activate Burley without likely de-activating Matthews, who like, had a pretty big game and stuff.

 

[hawknation2015]

I have a question; Why didn't B.Max play the slot instead of Simon? B.Max has done it before and was fantastic. I just don't get it. Simon is more of a deep coverage type and for the life of me, I could not understand why he was playing Lane's role when B. Max has done it very well.

From what I saw, this game showed Maxwell's limitations. Amendola was literally running circles around him, both before and after catches. Maxwell's a good physical corner, but if he can't cover Amendola better than that, then how can you put him on the slot?

It certainly wasn't ideal . . . LaFell was the ideal matchup for Maxwell during game prep. But then Lane suffered his freakish injury and the coaches were forced to adjust with what they had left in reserve. What they didn't have was Marcus Burley, Lane's backup, who would have been a much better matchup against Amendola, but unfortunately he was not activated for the game.

I know there's a lot of talk about Burley not being activated and I understand why, but I feel like the argument is kind of made in a vaccuum. Burley was inactive for the entire playoffs. The guy who was active in his place was Chris Matthews (who was never active until the playoffs). You can't just activate Burley without likely de-activating Matthews, who like, had a pretty big game and stuff.

Personally, I would have preferred that they activate Burley -- due to the large number of injuries in the secondary -- and deactivated Cooper Helfet because two TEs are enough and Luke Willson serves the same role.

The reason they didn't is because they had no idea Lane would suddenly get injured.

 

[tailgater]

The difference is that Wilson still threw at Revis and made some plays on him.

Brady didn't even want to attempt to throw in Sherman's direction.

I'll take the NFL QB's opinions of Sherman, and their reluctance to throw his direction, as more than enough indication that I'd rather have Sherman than Revis.

Brady doesn't throw to the right side much in any game. He's best down the middle / left side of the field. Sort of a waste to have one of the best CBs in the game on that side.