The Sunday Night NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots was one for the ages, but on Monday morning, the NFL world will be talking about one play.
With the game on the line, the New England Patriots‘ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels elected to go with a short-yardage run with Cam Newton in the final seconds (a play he’d run in the same situation several times that game). It didn’t work, and the internet let him know about it.
Newton had driven the Patriots to the one-yard line, and with the score 35-30 in the Seahawks’ favor, a TD would have given New England the win. New England had success with the play throughout the game with Newton having two touchdown runs from the same situation earlier.
On the final play, the Seahawks were ready.
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McDaniels Took Criticism From Everywhere
The critics of McDaniels’ choice of play with the game on the line came from all over the sports world. Not least of which was ESPN First Take personality Stephen A. Smith:
Look, we all know the @Patriots are gonna call Cam’s number with that final running play, nonetheless. BUT……how about switch it up and let him throw (OC) Josh McDaniels? I mean, the brother’s already thrown for nearly 400 yards.pin-point in last drive! Why not trust his arm?
What. The. %#^* ??? That’s the best Cam play call for the win ya’ll can come up with, Patriots? #NFL #patriotsvsseahawks
Bill Belichick on the Final Play
Head coach Bill Belichick didn’t throw his offensive coordinator under the bus. He supported the call and gave the Seahawks credit for their execution on the play.
Belichick asked about the thought process on the final play-call: “We had one play to score. We tried to go with what we thought would be our best play. What else is there to think about?”
Adds, “I thought Seattle made a good play.”
Cam Newton on the Final Play of the Game
Newton said “we might have gone to the well one too many times,” but he also put the blame on himself. He talked about some of the things he wished he’d done better on that play, as well as the one interception he threw.
Cam Newton on the final play: “I figure we just went to the well too many times. … I could’ve bounced it. … I’ve just got to be better.”
It Was the Wrong Call
It’s easy to say it was the wrong call in hindsight, but it does feel as though it was a bit too predictable. Some would argue that if you have one yard to gain with the game on the line, you go to your strengths and don’t try to be too tricky. However, having been in that situation multiple times on Sunday night, it seemed as though there should have been at least a slight deviation.
A Newton run would have still been a decent call, but perhaps you go with a different formation or grouping to spread the Seahawks out a bit more. Again, hindsight is 20-20, but even before the ball was snapped I was saying to myself, “are they going to run the same thing again?”
Apparently, the Seahawks were thinking the same thing.
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NFL Media Blasts Patriots’ Josh McDaniels For Final Play Call