reactions to the super bowl game

Despite the lack of the Rams actually doing what they had done for the better part of the year . . . despite the absence of physical magic on the field . . . they were still in the game nearly to the end.

I just don’t see that as “genius” by Belichick. Not even remotely close.

Any game that could have gone either way, IMO, can’t be assessed like that. By definition. It’s not “genius” to escape with a win, when a fraction of an inch here, or a fraction of a second there, would have yielded a different result. As in, that supposed “genius” was entirely at the mercy of plays and series of plays that literally could have gone either way.

To be honest, I wouldn’t give any coach the title of “genius.” Not one in my roughly 52 years of following the sport. It’s all relative from that point on. Are some coaches better than others? Obviously, yes. Are some coaches head and shoulders better? Again, obviously yes. I’d put folks like Belichick, Lombardi, Gibbs, Shula, Landry, Allen and perhaps Vermeil up there. But it’s more for what they got out of their players than from their Xs and Os, their chess games, etc.

To me, the game of football at the NFL level is far more about brute force, speed, agility and just flat out physical superiority — on the field — than anything else. If you have superior physical talent, you’re far more likely to win in the NFL than if your coach is a great chess player. Everyone would love to have both, of course. But given the choice? I’d take the physical talent over the great chess player eight days a week.

Invader,

Lotsa goods points from you, as always. And your use of the word “sync” made me think about a vital role of an NFL coach. Kinda like a conductor of an orchestra. He has to get his talent to mesh, work in harmony, “conduct” that, etc. etc. The best coaches may well be the best conductors.

Agree on the basketball stuff. With just five guys on the court, yeah, one player can really take over. Not sure if you noticed my comment on the Lakers going after Anthony Davis . . . but they must really believe one player can make all the difference too . . . well, at least when paired with Lebron. Might be forgetting other instances in the NFL where a team was willing to mortgage everything for one bloke, but right now, it evades me, outside the Ricky Williams and Herschel Walker trades.

To wrap things up: I’m not saying coaches, coaching, staff, position coaches and the like aren’t crucial. They’re very important to the success of the team. But, as mentioned, I just put a lot more on the players, one way or another, and I just think the “genius” thing is thrown around a bit too often.

I hate to admit it, but, yeah, Belichick is really, really good at what he does. As you mention, perhaps the best. Not ready to say he’s the GOAT, though his record says he is. That, of course, is another subject, another set of questions, entirely, maybe for another thread? Is it really proof, ultimately, that someone is the best coach ever because they have the most rings? I’m guessing most fans would say yes.

As you may have guessed by now, I’m not in that camp.

;>)

Great talking with ya, Invader. Hope all is well.

Expanding on the coaching thing a bit more: I thought the game itself was awful, from the standpoint of just football. If my team weren’t in the game, and I tried to watch it, I would have turned it off before half time.

One can argue whether or not Belichick has, in the past, been an amazing coach, this or that Sunday. But when both sides play relatively lousy football for the majority of the game, I don’t buy the argument that he was “a genius” in that particular game. Or even good. He wasn’t — and that’s if we just go by the results, if we accept the premise that the coach gets the credit for what his team produces on the field.

What did his team produce? A boring, low-scoring, mistake-filled game, matched by a slightly worse game by the opposition.

As mentioned above, I’ve never really bought into that premise about coaches, and have always seen the players are far more important, win or lose. Credit or blame. But it strikes me as a contradictory argument, which I heard almost across the board on the sports shows, from pretty much every pundit, that Belichick proved his genius yet again.

How? His team played poorly overall. The Rams were slightly worse overall. That’s a pretty low bar for “genius” or even “greatness” in my view. The least lousy of the two teams on that particular Sunday?

Billy_T wrote:

What did his team produce? A boring, low-scoring, mistake-filled game, matched by a slightly worse game by the opposition.

i would disagree that it was poorly played.

boring perhaps. but i thought both defenses played very well.

I was initially disappointed in McVay. I thought this was a game where McVay gave up on the run too early. Romo’s comments in the first half about the Pats needing to stick with the run so that Brady isn’t forced to throw the ball 40+ times only reinforced my frustration with McVay’s play calling while watching the game.

Even if TG was injured he still looked pretty good at times–the Pats certainly didn’t shut him down. I was curious to take a closer look at some plays and see if my feelings about McVay would change.

Anyways here’s some plays that stood out to me and made a big difference in the first half.

1st play of the game: Gurley runs between Saffold and Whitworth. There’s a nice hole between Whit and Saffold, but the DE manages to stick his leg out and trip up Gurley. This could and probably should have been a nice 6-7 yard gain on the ground to open the game.

3rd play of the game: 3rd & 7. Goff throws short of the first and low to Reynolds who can’t make the catch. On replay, it looks like the safety is clearly shifted towards Robert Woods side of the field, leaving Everett one on one with #27 Jackson. Everett is running up the seam and it looks like he has a step on Jackson. A good throw here from Goff could have been a big play.

Prior to the super bowl, I saw an ESPN vid where Mangini criticized Andy Reid for not attacking Jackson with Kelce until the 2nd half in the AFC championship game as Beliceck shifted the secondary’s focus to Hill. The Rams should have come out looking for that matchup as well.

2nd Possession 3rd & 3 from Pats 42. Goff flat out ignores a wide open Cooks. Lined up behind Reynolds, Cooks is able to break outside is wide open as Gilmore gets caught up in the traffic as Reynolds goes straight down field. Woods is on the same side of the field and is open at the hash mark until Chung crashes in from his safety spot and knocks the ball. Nice play by Chung but Cooks is wide open.

3rd Possession 2nd and 5 after a nice 5 yard run from Anderson deep in the Rams own territory. The refs call a false start on Havenstein that is almost impossible to identify. I thought it was a curious call while watching the game and I still can’t tell if Have moved early after re-watching the play a ridiculous number of times.

It probably wouldn’t have mattered as the pre-snap penalty wiped out a nice play by the DE who whipped Higbee and clotheslined CJ in the backfield.

4th Possession 2nd and 7 from NE 46. Sullivan whiffs on Danny Shelton who nails CJ for a 3 yard loss. This looks like it could have been another nice run if not for Sullivan’s whiff.

5th Possession 2nd and 5 from the 50: This is the only thing that I’ve seen that makes me question Gurley’s health. I thought he looked pretty much like he has all year during the super bowl. It looks like he could have broke this outside to his left and picked up some nice yards if Everett is able to make any type of block on Van Noy. Gurley, however, stayed patient and banged up the middle for two. Was this a case where Gurley lacked the confidence to cut and go? Or was he just being patient? Gurley did make a similar cut to his left later in the game on the nice run that was called back on Sullivan’s holding.

Last possession before halftime 3rd & 2: Goff throws low to Woods. Everett, on the other side of the field, runs a fantastic route and cleanly beats Jackson. I wonder if this could have been a match-up the Rams could have exploited. Everett ended the game with zero targets. He’s a young guy but I like what he offers.

Taking a closer look makes me feel more confident about next year. This is a tough offense to defend. There’s talent all over the field on offense. A combination of guys on the oline getting whipped, Goff making the wrong guess where to throw the ball and two weeks of preparation for Beliceck led to a shit game.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by Cal.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by Cal.