The Drop

bloguin.com

There was something like four minutes left in regulation and the Patriots were on their way to capping a Super Bowl championship. The Patriots offense was rolling and Tom Brady was being vintage Tom Brady. The Giants defense was playing a hell of a game, getting to Brady as often as possible and making the big plays when necessary, but it seemed like the Pats high octane offense was about to silence the G-Men and get their long awaited revenge. Personally at this moment in the game my heart was racing and I was praying for something big to happen. Sure enough it did. It was 2nd and 11 on the Giants 44 yard line and the Patriot lined up in a shotgun set with four wideouts and an empty backfield, obviously a passing situation. Wes Welker was lined up in the slot to Brady's left. The ball was snapped and Welker whizzed passed Antrel Rolle and broke the Giants zone defense and was wide open on the middle of the field. Brady launched a pass that turned Welker around, Welker turned and leaped and subsequently dropped the pass. The Patriots were deflated from this play on. However, watching this replay and honestly watching it live what I see is not a drop on a catch that has to be made, but an overthrow to a wide open receiver who tried to bail out his quarterback, but could not. Yes "the drop" that will be remembered by New England fans possibly forever really wasn't a drop at all, at least not in my eyes. What I saw in that play, and still see after many views, is not Welker leting down his team and his quarterback, but Tom Brady not being as clutch as he is supposed to be, I see Brady being rattled and throwing an inaccurate pass when there was absolutely no margin for error what so ever. I also feel that despite this play being as big as it was the Giants still had to take the field and make the plays that they did to win the big game.