50yrpatsfan
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When Carroll explained why he went with a pass call in that situation, he said the reason was that NE went with its goal line package. I was a little confused by that answer as he certainly could have dictated whatever he wanted with his own substitutions, but I see what he means now.
The offense subs first, and the defense is then allowed to respond with its subs. Pete sent out 3 WR's for that play, a bit unusual considering he was on the 1 yard line and had Lynch in his backfield. You'd expect 1 or 2 WR's at most.
I think his calculus was that Belichick would react to this grouping by fielding 4 DB's and 7 in the box, which would give Carroll the confidence to run the ball, which is what he really wanted to do anyway; the 3 WR's was just a ploy to get the defensive look he wanted.
But when BB responded with 3 DB's and 8 in the box, Seattle found itself not only at a disadvantage with a run call, but also at a big advantage with a pass call that only needed to gain 1 yard. To do anything but pass at that point would have been very bad football.
On local radio here, Belichick said that he didn't call time out because he liked what was going on with the substitutions at that moment. He couched that comment in terms of how difficult it is sometimes to get the right sub package called and onto the field on time, but I think what we was really saying is that:
- Pete just handed me a gift from God by sending out 3 WR's
- I want him to pass cause I know what play he'll call and we're ready for it
- I'm sending out only 3 DB's so that he'll be SURE to pass
- I'm not calling any TO so that they can re-consider and put a different set out there
Checkmate. Pete's only recourse if he really wanted to run was to take his final TO.
This was illuminating to me to see how the whole substitution-and-response cycle influences the play call so much, and why an offense sometimes has to take a surprise TO.
The offense subs first, and the defense is then allowed to respond with its subs. Pete sent out 3 WR's for that play, a bit unusual considering he was on the 1 yard line and had Lynch in his backfield. You'd expect 1 or 2 WR's at most.
I think his calculus was that Belichick would react to this grouping by fielding 4 DB's and 7 in the box, which would give Carroll the confidence to run the ball, which is what he really wanted to do anyway; the 3 WR's was just a ploy to get the defensive look he wanted.
But when BB responded with 3 DB's and 8 in the box, Seattle found itself not only at a disadvantage with a run call, but also at a big advantage with a pass call that only needed to gain 1 yard. To do anything but pass at that point would have been very bad football.
On local radio here, Belichick said that he didn't call time out because he liked what was going on with the substitutions at that moment. He couched that comment in terms of how difficult it is sometimes to get the right sub package called and onto the field on time, but I think what we was really saying is that:
- Pete just handed me a gift from God by sending out 3 WR's
- I want him to pass cause I know what play he'll call and we're ready for it
- I'm sending out only 3 DB's so that he'll be SURE to pass
- I'm not calling any TO so that they can re-consider and put a different set out there
Checkmate. Pete's only recourse if he really wanted to run was to take his final TO.
This was illuminating to me to see how the whole substitution-and-response cycle influences the play call so much, and why an offense sometimes has to take a surprise TO.
