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

[MBz]

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.

Because it was called against the Patriots.  It was the right call 100%.  Ultimately tonight, it was a collective losing effort.  Brady looked average and the defense couldn't get a stop at the end.  Also, Steve Weatherford was awesome.

[Senninsage]

It was a bad call. That call is hardly, if ever, made in that situation. It was super rare. It was a bad call. Their definition of under pressure, considering they are dealing with Tom Brady is pretty weak.

[Zev Love X]

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

Yea stay classy Change. Way to completely undermine the point I'm making in this thread. People are acting like i'm saying brady is blameless in this. Once again saying that welker let the Super Bowl slip through his hands does not equal me saying that 1. the pass from tom was great and 2. Tom was not overall the player most individually responsible for this loss. Just calm down and answer me this: When i say welker dropped our Super Bowl, how am i wrong? How?

[wiley]

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

Yea stay classy Change. Way to completely undermine the point I'm making in this thread. People are acting like i'm saying brady is blameless in this. Once again saying that welker let the Super Bowl slip through his hands does not equal me saying that 1. the pass from tom was great and 2. Tom was not overall the player most individually responsible for this loss. Just calm down and answer me this: When i say welker dropped our Super Bowl, how am i wrong? How?

You're wrong.  You're wrong because you don't say that unless he drops a gimme.  That was about as far from a gimme catch as it gets.  It was an off target laser to a not-very tall receiver. 

[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

Yea stay classy Change. Way to completely undermine the point I'm making in this thread. People are acting like i'm saying brady is blameless in this. Once again saying that welker let the Super Bowl slip through his hands does not equal me saying that 1. the pass from tom was great and 2. Tom was not overall the player most individually responsible for this loss. Just calm down and answer me this: When i say welker dropped our Super Bowl, how am i wrong? How?

because it was an inaccurate pass. Brady had another down to convert the 1st down in same series. Patriots had another possession with a minutes still on the clock and a timeout. So stop scapegoating Wes Welker.

[LB3533]

All I get out of it is that Wes Welker ain't clutch.

Manningham is clutch.

David Tyree was clutch in 2008.

[Zev Love X]

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

Yea stay classy Change. Way to completely undermine the point I'm making in this thread. People are acting like i'm saying brady is blameless in this. Once again saying that welker let the Super Bowl slip through his hands does not equal me saying that 1. the pass from tom was great and 2. Tom was not overall the player most individually responsible for this loss. Just calm down and answer me this: When i say welker dropped our Super Bowl, how am i wrong? How?

because it was an inaccurate pass. Brady had another down to convert the 1st down in same series. Patriots had another possession with a minutes still on the clock and a timeout. So stop scapegoating Wes Welker.

he had the ball in his freakin hands. Welker admitted he's made that catch 1000 times. we're not talking David Tyree territory here. It would have been far from a miracle if he catches that ball. And if i admit that tom brady was the bigger reason we lost, not welker, than i am not making welker the scapegoat. Only saying he let a Super Bowl opportunity slip through his hands. Agree to disagree i guess

[Zev Love X]

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

Yea stay classy Change. Way to completely undermine the point I'm making in this thread. People are acting like i'm saying brady is blameless in this. Once again saying that welker let the Super Bowl slip through his hands does not equal me saying that 1. the pass from tom was great and 2. Tom was not overall the player most individually responsible for this loss. Just calm down and answer me this: When i say welker dropped our Super Bowl, how am i wrong? How?

You're wrong.  You're wrong because you don't say that unless he drops a gimme.  That was about as far from a gimme catch as it gets.  It was an off target laser to a not-very tall receiver. 

This is just laughable. 'That throw was as far from a gimme as it gets' are you kidding me? The man himself said he makes that catch routinely. I'll admit saying it was a gimme was a bit of a stretch but don't go the extreme opposite and say that was an impossible catch that's absurd.

[Kuberski1]

For what it's worth...49ers fan (but first and foremost die-hard Celtics fan).  After we dropped the NFC championship in a game with some dubious calls, and some extremely untimely mistakes....we went through a tons of Ifs, Shoulds, Coulds....really felt we should have been there with the Pats today.  Oh well...share in your grief.

[wiley]

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

Yea stay classy Change. Way to completely undermine the point I'm making in this thread. People are acting like i'm saying brady is blameless in this. Once again saying that welker let the Super Bowl slip through his hands does not equal me saying that 1. the pass from tom was great and 2. Tom was not overall the player most individually responsible for this loss. Just calm down and answer me this: When i say welker dropped our Super Bowl, how am i wrong? How?

You're wrong.  You're wrong because you don't say that unless he drops a gimme.  That was about as far from a gimme catch as it gets.  It was an off target laser to a not-very tall receiver. 

This is just laughable. 'That throw was as far from a gimme as it gets' are you kidding me? The man himself said he makes that catch routinely. I'll admit saying it was a gimme was a bit of a stretch but don't go the extreme opposite and say that was an impossible catch that's absurd.

I didn't say it was impossible.  But we obviously do disagree about the degree of catchability.  But more importantly, I think you're wrong to use the phrase:  "dropped the superbowl championship" due to a non-catch that you agree was not a "gimme."

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

The much-maligned Patriots defense did a good job overall. Considering the Giants didn't pressure Brady much, this loss falls on Brady & Co. What on Earth was Brady thinking on that safety? And that interception was bad. And he should've made a better pass to Welker. I like Brady, and I appreciate everything he's brought to New England--an unprecedented level of success--but he's struggled in the postseason for quite some time now, and he was light years away from fulfilling his promise to Robert Kraft to play much better this time around. A healthy Gronkowski would've been nice, but that wouldn't have improved Brady's (in)accuracy. To be honest, I think we've seen the last of the championship-level Brady.

[Celtics Fan]

Welker loss it. That would of sealed the game. Giants are Lucky

[PosImpos]

Guys, I've been very disappointed and frustrated tonight thinking about this loss, but I think the best way to look at it is this:


The Patriots are a relatively young team (especially on defense) that hadn't won a playoff game in 3 years prior to this post-season.  Furthermore, they only made it to the Super Bowl because Billy Cundiff whiffed a 35 year old field goal.  I think one could make the argument that the best team from the AFC Championship didn't actually advance to the Super Bowl.  I think the Ravens would have had a better chance of beating the Giants. 

In that light, the fact that the Pats made it to the Super Bowl and came so close to winning is pretty remarkable. 

We all just have unrealistically high expectations because of what Brady and Bellichick did earlier in their careers.  Realistically, though, how often does a team that hasn't won a playoff game in years go into a season with a "championship or bust" mentality?  Seems silly to me.

It's hard to feel very optimistic about next season right now, but who knows.  Maybe the Pats will get hot at the right time in the playoffs against next season, or the season after that, and perhaps they'll have developed some more balance in areas other than passing, and perhaps the team they face in the next Super Bowl will be a better matchup for them.  Or not.  In any case, us Boston fans are just spoiled with all these championships.

That's my best attempt at optimism.

[Tai]

I wish Brady threw that pass to Welker as "bad" as he did against the Ravens game, or he'd have looked much better in that one.

To put it simply, I have a hard time blaming Brady for that throw if Welker was able to get it in his hands. I didn't see passes that good in the Ravens game on as consistent of a basis, believe it or not.

Brady didn't do enough this game, no doubt, but on that particular pass, Welker couldn't even let the ground knock the ball outta his hands or a defender; THAT'S supposed to be the result of having to jump for it, not losing it in mid-air with it in your hands. Maybe I'm wrong.

You can't have it both ways with Brady, though. He gave Welker a great chance to catch that ball, and that's all that can  be asked for in the NFL. Same for Eli with that deep pass to Manningham. Welker drops his, Manningham catches it, and somehow Eli's "elite" and Brady's "done"? Ok, maybe Eli's getting there, but Brady being done I can't buy. 

[BudweiserCeltic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or1nSVUJeq8

Bad throw I say. Threw high and behind him, to a short player with his body's momentum going the other way, a very tough catch to make, he could barely put his hands on the tip of the ball. That he's capable of catching these short of balls is a testament to his talent, not tool with which to criticize him when he fails to make it.