so...safe to say Welker dropped the superbowl championship?

[Zev Love X]

The pass was a lil behind him but you gotta make that catch. If he catches that its almost a guaranteed win. To a lesser extent Aaron Hernandez's drop was bad too but wow welker's gotta make that catch

[Roy H.]

Lots of fans seem to think so.

I think that was a tremendously difficult catch, even though he got his hands on it.  He had to contort his body awkwardly and would have had to make an acrobatic catch. 

To me, the fault with that play is on Brady.  If he'd made a better throw to a wide open receiver, the Pats win. 

I think Welker is the victim of high expectations, and is further victim of the Sainthood of Tom Brady.  I just heard Steve Young talk about how Brady does "more with less" than any QB in history.  That's despite having a very, very talented receiving core the last several years. 

Brady made a bad throw.  I don't expect Welker to make a miracle catch just because the ball came out of Wonder Boy's hands.

[Fafnir]

I think you can put it on either player, both had a chance to make a huge play there.  Neither executed like they're supposed to.

[Roy H.]

I'm surprised that Brady isn't getting a little more blame.

* A bad intentional grounding penalty to gift the Giants two points and the ball;

* A terrible interception on 1st-and-10 from the 43 yard line with the Pats up 17-15 in the fourth quarter;

* That very poor throw to Welker.

Yes, he strung together 16 straight completions, and he looked good in the second and third quarters for the most part.  However, early and late, Brady let the team down, and he's probably the individual player most responsible for this loss.

[banty19]

Roy got it. Brady is the goat and outside of that Denver game, he hasn't been good in the playoffs in a long time. Obviously still a really good quarterback but I think him being the top QB is a stretch.

[PosImpos]

I think ultimately people will blame Brady.  He had the ball with 57 seconds left in the game and 80 yards to go, and he couldn't make a completion until 4th and 16.  The final Hail Mary play was pathetic.  When it really mattered, Brady looked pedestrian at best.

The Patriots could have lost this game and it wouldn't have affected Brady's legacy . . . but not like this.  People will question Brady and Bellichick after this.


Perhaps rightly so, after this SB I think people will say Brady is a top 5 QB in the league, but there are a number of guys better than him.  Maybe he's one of the best 2 or 3 in the regular season, but the regular season doesn't mean anything.

[Change]

The truth is Tom Brady has been awful in the playoffs since Spygate fiasco. He came up small yet again tonight. But hey, Brady is Mr. Untouchable in Boston.

Edit: Keep it classy Boston. Scapegoating Welker is beneath you. When you know very well pass sailed on Brady. Welker is 5'8 not 6'4

[Zev Love X]

Of course brady wasn't great overall for the whole game, but if there's one 'gimme' play you could change that was closest to the end of the game, and so would most guarantee the Pats win that game had it gone differently, in my opinion it's that dropped catch. Brady under threw it but that's more on welker than brady no question

[Roy H.]

Of course brady wasn't great overall for the whole game, but if there's one 'gimme' play you could change that was closest to the end of the game, and so would most guarantee the Pats win that game had it gone differently, in my opinion it's that dropped catch. Brady under threw it but that's more on welker than brady no question

That catch was definitely not a "gimme" in my opinion.  It was a very difficult catch, because of a poor throw.  If Brady makes even an average throw, that's a completion, and if he makes a good throw, it's a TD.  Instead, Welker had to contort his body to attempt to catch a ball that was high and behind him, and he couldn't do it.

[Zev Love X]

Brady let the team down, and he's probably the individual player most responsible for this loss.

I agree with this. Lemme make it clear that saying Brady was most responsible for this loss doesn't mean that Welker didn't drop the superbowl. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive

[rondohondo]

Of course brady wasn't great overall for the whole game, but if there's one 'gimme' play you could change that was closest to the end of the game, and so would most guarantee the Pats win that game had it gone differently, in my opinion it's that dropped catch. Brady under threw it but that's more on welker than brady no question

I agree, people are hating way too much on Brady here saying it tarnished his legacy. He made the throw he had to make to pretty much put the game away and it was dropped by a " elite WR" ( at least he will be getting paid like one ) . A multi pro bowl reciever has to make that catch I don't care what anyone says ....

I mean look at the catches Manningham made this year and tyrie 4 years ago, those are better catches than Welkers would have been, but now Manning is going to be a HOF and some say Brady isn't as great because one guy's recievers made great catches and Welker dropped a comparably easy one ....

It's the derek Jeter effect , People hate on Brady way more because he wins so much , has the supermodel wife etc

[TheReaLPuba]

Brady got outplayed by Manning again.

Manning may have had the more complete team and with Gronk hurt the Giants were probably the more talented team too.

Can the Pats get Brady a running game sometime before his career is over?

[stylo617617]

Lots of fans seem to think so.

I think that was a tremendously difficult catch, even though he got his hands on it.  He had to contort his body awkwardly and would have had to make an acrobatic catch. 

To me, the fault with that play is on Brady.  If he'd made a better throw to a wide open receiver, the Pats win. 

I think Welker is the victim of high expectations, and is further victim of the Sainthood of Tom Brady.  I just heard Steve Young talk about how Brady does "more with less" than any QB in history.  That's despite having a very, very talented receiving core the last several years. 

Brady made a bad throw.  I don't expect Welker to make a miracle catch just because the ball came out of Wonder Boy's hands.

if brady has mannignham,cruz & hicks ..pats win easy ...

brady had welker..the GRONK couldnt even be a factor

sorry the next draft should be WR'S/ pass rushers & nothing else

[Senninsage]

Mistakes by brady and dropped passes by his supposed "elite receivers" notwithstanding, that call in the first quarter by the ref that led to a safety and the ball for the Giants is what unfairly decided this game.

That call was a bad call. Point blank.

[Fafnir]

That call was a bad call. Point blank.

How so?

No WR was anywhere near where the ball was thrown and he was clearly still inside the tackle box, he was also under pressure from the defense so that criteria of the rule was also fulfilled.