Dropping the bowl

On 2nd and 11 from the Giants 44, Quarterback Tom Brady released the football and there was not a doubt in the world that the Patriots were going to pick up a key first down and make the Giants’ hope of winning Super Bowl XLVI slimmer than ever. The Giants had done an inexcusable thing, blowing coverage on the best wide receiver in the game with four minutes left. If Wes Welker caught the ball, the Patriots would be in field goal range with the clock still moving, while the Giants would have only one time out left, down 17-15.

Neither linebacker Antrel Rolle, nor safety Kenny Phillips covered Welker. Brady, a three time Super Bowl champion, was second in the league in passing and had thrown for 5235 yards in the regular season. He simply did not miss these kinds of throws.

But this time, during the most crucial moment of the Super Bowl, Brady did miss him. The ball was not thrown directly to the wide open Welker. It was over his opposite shoulder. Still, Welker rarely drops passes. He only dropped five passes in all of the games leading up to the Super Bowl. However, when Welker extended his arms to reel the ball in, it deflected off his hands and hit the turf.

Incomplete.

“When it comes to the biggest moment in my life and I don’t come up with it, it’s discouraging,” Welker said after the game. The sad truth of the matter is that Welker’s 122 receptions for 1, 569 yards may be well forgotten because of the drop. But, as many know, it was a tough play to make on an uncharacteristically poor thrown ball by Tom Brady. Welker should not get the complete blame for the missed opportunity; however, it’s a play that Welker usually makes.

Whose fault is it for the drop? Welker or Brady?

Super Bowl XLVI - Stephen_D_Luke-Flickr

Wes Welker knew that he was going to be blamed for dropping the ball that was being passed by Tom Brady during the last four minutes of Super Bowl XLVI.

“That’s one of those plays I’ve made a thousand times. It hit me right in the hands. I just didn’t make it. It’s the most critical situations, and I let the team down,” said Welker, putting all of the blame on himself.

"The ball was right there. I've got to make the play. It's comes at the biggest moment of my life, and I don't come up with it. It's discouraging," Welker said.

The Patriots went into fourth quarter with a 17-15 lead. Brady's first past during the fourth quarter was an interception. When the Patriots regained possession, they drove down the field. During that drive, Brady's pass to Welker was not successful. Brady threw the ball way to far to the left for Welker to catch it. The pass behind Deion Branch was also incomplete. Receiver Deion Branch and tight end Aaron Hernandez both had dropped passes during the game. Welker should not take all the blame.

Brady was disappointed on a lot of the plays that the Patriots didn't make this year. Not just Brady, but Hernandez too.

"It's frustrating to lose knowing that if we would have made those plays, we would have come out with a victory, " Hernandez said.

No one should really be blamed for losing this game.

"We had too many errors and too many mistakes. We started off sloppy, and when you make mistakes early, they catch up with you later in the game," Hernandez said. The team might not be ready for the Super Bowl. Welker and Brady both should not be blamed for the outcome of the game. It's the whole team's play.

Is anyone really responsible for the Patriots’ loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI?

Who is to blame for the Patriots' loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI? Football is a team sport where one shouldn't carry the whole team to a victory. Many sources such as ESPN and Yahoo Sports blame Wes Welker for the dropped pass and Tom Brady for the inaccurate pass, even though there are other factors that was crucial to the game, such as the 38-yard pass to Manningham late in the fourth quarter that gave the Giants momentum and confidence to get the win. “He wasn’t the only one dropping passes.” said a Pawngo company spokesman in a Daily News article. It was just a broken connection between Brady and Welker, and that happens every time, even in professional sports.

Welker, leading the NFL with 122 receptions, is one of the best active wide receivers without a doubt. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, he makes that grab," fellow receiver Deion Branch to ESPN. "It's football. Nobody's perfect." Even his teammates support him, and they don’t blame him for the dropped pass. “He’s a hell of a player," Brady said to NFL.com. "I’ll keep throwing it to him as long as I can.” In the Super Bowl, Welker completed seven of eight targeted passes. The dropped pass turned out to be the most crucial.

This season, Brady proved to doubters that he still is one of the best players in the NFL. Brady won three Super Bowls with the Patriots and is also a three-time MVP and a seven-time Pro Bowler. Not only that Brady knows how to dodge tackles and move on his feet, but he is also one of the most accurate throwers in the league. The chances of the Patriots going to the Super Bowl without their amazing quarterback is very slim, so it’s not really logical to blame Brady for the loss. If you watch the highlight of the throw to Welker, you can see two safeties near Welker, so maybe Brady had a difficult decision not knowing where to throw, making sure the pass wouldn’t be intercepted. It’s not really the quarterback’s throw that cost the Patriots the most important game of their season.

In each football game, there are a few plays that would decide who will win the game. In this game, the dropped pass by Welker was just one of them. It isn’t really fair to put the blame only on this pass. Something that could’ve happened was Patriots forcing a turnover, either an interception or fumble and not allowing Giants to finish their final drive that won the game. Also, if they didn’t have the 12-players on a field penalty earlier in the game. That would’ve given them the fumble recovery early in the game in the first quarter; those plays would’ve made a big difference.

The Patriots missed many opportunities during that last drive. The AP reported, “The Patriots also had several drops on their final drive, and there were many more plays that cost them their fourth Super Bowl championship in 11 years.” It shows that maybe the Patriots aren’t so good under pressure. “It always comes down to one or two plays in this game. If you make it, you’re celebrating. If you don’t, you don’t sleep for a week.” said Tom Brady to NFL.com. No one is really at fault for this dropped pass, because missed opportunities happen often in professional sports.

Wes Welker's drop: No need to blame

Super Bowl XLVI- astrolame- Flickr

The New England Patriots’ loss to the New York Giants was affected by Wes Welker’s drop, yet who was to blame: Tom Brady or Welker? It really does not matter, because a single person is not responsible for a team’s loss, and plays like this are inevitable in a game like the Super Bowl.

A game’s outcome is never caused by one play, but is instead the end result of all the players’ performance. Certainly one play is not the factor that decides which team will win. As Brady said in a San Francisco Chronicle article, "You win as a team, and you lose as a team."

Neither, though can Welker’s drop be called the turning point of the game. It could have been Aaron Hernandez’s or Rob Gronkowski’s dropped passes that changed the game.

Placing the blame on one person does not help the team. Instead, it discourages players and hurts the team as a whole.

A victory or defeat is collective and the whole team shares in the result, whether it is a win or loss.

Who is to blame for the outcome of Super Bowl XLVI?

Super Bowl XLVI- sciondriver-flickr.com

Some may disagree about the game changing play, in Super Bowl XLVI, but the play that changed the outcome was when New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady attempted a pass to wide receiver Wes Welker, and Welker dropped it bringing embarrassment to himself and the team. The question is: Who was at fault, Brady or Welker?

Welker holds an amazing record of 122 catches this season. Welker made an attempt to catch a pass from Brady with about four minutes left. Is there true justification for blaming Welker when he was able to catch that ball 122 times before? Welker has always been able to get open and be ready to catch whatever is thrown at him. Deion Branch said in an ESPN article, “Ninety-nine percent of the time, he makes that grab.” Although Welker made the attempt to catch the ball by twisting his body, that does not matter because he did not catch it. Therefore, some of the blame should be placed on Welker. 


Brady, known to deliver any pass to the correct hand, may be at blame for the incident on the day of the Super Bowl. Throughout the game Brady played very well, but he never acted like the leader. His team was playing at a slow pace, one that was favoring the Giants. Brady is the quarterback who is paid millions of dollars to make the right play and deliver it on time and on target. If Brady cannot do that, why should the blame be on Welker? Brady threw the ball too high and behind Welker. For even David Tyree that would have been a very difficult pass to catch. Therefore, Brady should take part of the blame. If Brady was able to pass the ball on target, not too far away or high from Welker, the outcome of the game could have been different.

The loss of the Patriots should not be blamed upon one man. Although there are many plays that could have changed the outcome of the game, Brady's pass to Welker had the most effect. Welker had dropped the pass, but it is Brady's job to deliver the ball right into Welker's hands. Let’s see what the game changing play will be next year. 

Who deserves the blame for Super bowl XLVI?

Super Bowl XLVI- Flickr- stephen_d_luke

With the New England Patriots in the lead with 4:06 remaining left in the game, Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker dropped a 23-yard pass that could have secured the win for the them. As a result of this, the blame of the Patriots loss was placed on his back; however, the pass was overthrown by Tom Brady.

Welker is only 5’9” and had to jump and turn around while sprinting to the pass. Pulling off a move like this is not easy and even though Welker got his hands on the ball, this drop was only a small portion of why the Patriots lost on Sunday.

The Patriots defense failed to do their job and let Eli Manning get the ball down the field to score, but this is no surprise. During the regular season, the Patriots defense was ranked 31st in the league against passing. Even if Welker was not able to make the catch for a first down, Manning was still able to get past the defense to score the game winning touchdown.

This play should be looked at nothing more than a bad pass. Brady’s pass was thrown over the wrong shoulder. A pass like that was not fit for Welker’s size and ability, which is why he does not deserve the blame. The Patriots loss should not be blamed on Welker and the New York Giants were able to make something of their last drive.

Three fumbles, three chances at Super Bowl XLVI, none taken

The New England Patriots forced three fumbles during Super Bowl XLVI, but they failed to recover any of them. If they had recovered just one of them, they could have turned the game around and prevented the New York Giants from scoring, while creating scoring opportunities for themselves.

The first of the three fumbles was recovered by the Patriots, but because there were 12 players on the field the recovery was nullified. Instead the Giants moved forward, and they scored a touchdown few plays later.

The second fumble there were six Patriot players around Hakeem Nicks who dropped the ball, but not one of them was able to pick the ball up. Henry Hynoski was able to pick it up instead, and the Giants kicked a field goal few minutes later.

The last of the fumbles was in the fourth quarter near the Giants end zone. Ahmad Bradshaw lost the ball at the 13 yard line, which bounced of James Ihedigbo's helmet, but Giants lineman Chris Snee recovered it.

With none of the three fumbles recovered, the Patriots weren’t able to get the one touchdown to win the game. "I thought we played very competitive, had our moments where we moved the ball and stopped them. We were in the lead for a good part of the game. We just came up a couple of plays short," Bill Belichick said to the Associated Press.