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#1
I understand your dealing with QB royalty but the real MVP was Butler. Here is why:
1. He got tested a couple of times early in the game and knocked the ball away from the receiver, important for the incompletions and not exposing a weakness in the 2ndary.
2. 3rd qtr Sea drive that started at 3:15 left. SEA really had NE on the ropes, up 10 pts and driving again after NE's 1st two drives of 2nd half resulted in an INT and a 3 and out. Sea had crossed mid field and had a 3rd and less than 2. They go deep cross middle and Wilson throws a perfect pass to Kearse that Bulter is defending, not sure if he got the hand in there or not but he made it a difficult pass to catch and Kearse drops that perfect pass. Huge, huge play. Sea completes that pass and that is most likely game over.
3. Nearly perfect pass defense again on Kearse on the deep pass on the final drive. Get's unlucky and Kearse catches tipped pass untouched. Butler has where with all to get up and tackle him saving the TD.
4. The INT at the 1 to seal the game.
Brady gets the love because the QB is going to be a focus but frankly Brady didn't play very well. Not hating on him and not surprised that they gave him the MVP, just that the fact they won had much more Bulter's individual play, total defense, the game planning during the game, and NE's WRs hustling to make yards after the catch.
Brady 2 INTs were both his fault and were terrible plays, especially terrible the 1st when they were driving early in the game. They had momentum and he could have taken the sack or thrown it away. He went deep exactly 6 times in 50 attempts and outside of the TD to Gronk only 1 was a completion, the deep middle to J. Edelman which was a good play and an important one but it was a bit of busted play with Sea pass rush getting to him and Brady was able to scramble out of pressure and Edelman came free as a result. In comparison Wilson went deep 12 times in 21 attempts completing 6 of them.
Again not dogging Brady, but not exactly an MVP passing performance in my opinion and had a few plays been different then quite likely you would be hearing talk of how Brady cost them the game.
Again my opinion but Bill got out coached. It was well documented how NE was a tough opponent to prepare for as they were able to change up offensively to either pound the run or pass you to death. I think Bill's plan going in was to run more than pass but he was trying to open up the run game by spreading out the offense on all those short left/right passes. It didn't work and Sea shut their run game down despite not being real effective in the post season against the run. They were unsuccessful with the few attempts at the deep pass and frankly think they were scared to test Seattle much deep. Considering the opponent and setting this was great defensive coaching to really limit the NE offense and counter Bill's scheming. On the flip side Seattle's offense this year had remained pretty predictable most of the year, they changed up and unexpected by anyone they went with a lot of passing plays in running situations and tested NE often and with success with the deep pass. I heard a theory that Bill's plan at the end of the game was brilliant, not changing personnel at the goal line, not calling time outs, etc. My opinion but I don't think it was any kind of brilliance, I think his lack of action was due to resigning the score to SEA and hoping to get a miracle out of Brady.
The INT at the end will be debated forever and Carroll will be 2nd guessed to death. But a big part of the reason that Sea was in a position to win the game had to do with Carroll taking risks. I think in 2nd guessing you might want to consider the 3rd qtr. SEA had a 2nd and 3 at the NE 10 and they conservatively run Turbin for 2 yards on 2nd and Lynch who is stopped for no gain on 3rd and 1 at the 8 settling for the FG with the game tied. Later up 24-14 and driving at the NE 47 on 3 and 2 they go for that deep cross over the middle to Kearse that Butler defends. If it were me in Carroll's shoes I would probably be 2nd guessing some of those decisions. Not that they were horrible calls at the time but they could have changed the game. Would you go for it with Lynch with the game tied early in the 4th qtr 4th and 1 from the 8? Tough call but you were about in the same situation at the end of the game. Would you go for it on 4th and 2 at the NE 47 up by 10. Dunno but you might have thought about running Lynch twice when it's 3rd and 2 to pick up the 1st rather than going deep to Kearse (which nearly worked anyway).
Bottom line with it is that people don't understand the pressure and mind games that go into the play calling. I liked Carroll's game plan and play calling and thought he out coached maybe the greatest coaching mind of all time. He took risks and they paid off several times in the game and it is impossible to understand the value of taking these risks. If you don't take them or you have no success how does that impact the game? Not just points on the board but more plays to wear out your defense. The last one backfired and its just the way the cookie crumbled. Also I think people underestimate how important burning the 2nd timeout to avoid the delay of game was on the final drive. I think it made it an automatic decision to pass at the goal line. Carroll had to battle not only scoring but not scoring to quick to give NE a chance at the comeback. If he had the 2nd TO he probably calls one there and does run the ball.
And finally my opinion is that if anything if I were the coach I would be most upset at type of pass play I called at the end. If given a bit more time to consider you probably don't go inside. NE is thinking run and defense is in tight and coming into the middle. We will never know but it is entirely within the realm of possibility Butler was at first coming inside to defend the run when he saw his guy come inside and the other receiver block. I looked at the replay and it appears to me that he moves then notices the pass and makes another move to pick it. Doesn't matter either way but in hindsight way not do the fade to the corner, especially with Matthews the tall receiver that caught the TD earlier on the fade. A lot less risky.
Well anyway, my final thoughts and hope you enjoyed the read.
P.S. I took a small loss on the game. Was up pretty big after hitting the 1H Over (which was lucky) and had Sea 2H and in-game ML. Don't regret it, it just didn't go my way.
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