O.K., in non-jock jargon, explain that last touchdown

[UTUSN]

I only watched the opening through the coin toss and the halftime. I was in the band, have no sports mania. However, this morning I was intrigued by whatever that was at the end.

The dude who did the sit-down goal was interviewed, I've read some sports page accounts, and cannot get what happened.

1) Why was the eventual goal-maker being told (by his own team?) NOT to make the goal?

2) Why were they so close to their end of the field if the Patriots were going for THEIR goal?



Just, what the heck went on?!1 Please, thank you.

[one_voice]

1. So they could run one more play....

run down the clock, giving the Pats less time to score. You'd be surprised what can happen in 50 seconds.

[Brother Buzz]

2. They wanted to run the clock down and win with a walk-off field goal

He blew it because he thought he was going to be hit and stopped before he crossed the plane (actually a smart player preparing the the hit) but ended up falling into the end zone unimpeded.

[OriginalGeek]

3. NYG had the ball

on the Patriots' 4 or 5 yard line. They ran a running play up the middle assuming the Patriots would tackle the ball carrier and that would run time off the clock. But the Patriots figured a TD or at least a field goal was inevitable so they let the runner right on through so the clock would stop on the touchdown and they would get the ball back with almost a minute instead of almost no time (had NYG been able to run the clock down to nothing and take the Field Goal)

Give Tom Brady the ball and 57 seconds and he has a pretty good shot of scoring. The Giants must believe it too as they were trying to run off as many of those seconds as possible.

However in the heat of battle sometimes it's hard for a running back to go against his years of training and NOT score when he sees an open goal line. Everything they do from the time they first pick up a football is geared to getting that football across the goal - and they have probably been doing it since Jr High or even peewee leagues. SO Bradshaw remembered too late that they were running time off the clock and tried to sit down before the goal but it was too late and he fell across. He was probably shocked at how easy it ws to get through the defensive line.

And Brady got the ball after the ensuing kickoff and gave it a pretty good try. Until that clock said 00:00 and the ball was dead on the ground the outcome was in doubt.

[LynneSin]

16. Well it has to be tempting for any RB to say "I scored a TD in the Super Bowl"

I mean if this was a regular season game Bradshaw would have known better but the Super Bowl. That's the pinnacle of your career to say you've scored a touchdown

[The Wizard]

17. The winning touchdown. (NT)

[UTUSN]

4. THANK you posters 1-3, you did really good, but I am not getting it, maybe Bob COSTAS

would be who could do it - and this is NOT a put-down at you.

[ohiosmith]

5. Okay, here goes:

巨人不想進球，因為它將使回球到新英格蘭上的時鐘，然後，他們希望有更多的時間。愛國者繼續讓它發生，使他們能夠得到更多的時鐘上的時間和機會將比分再次回球。
In other words:
Jùrén bùxiǎng jìn qiú, yīnwèi tā jiāng shǐ huí qiú dào xīn yīnggélán shàng de shízhōng, ránhòu, tāmen xīwàng yǒu gèng duō de shíjiān.Àiguó zhě jìxù ràng tā fāshēng, shǐ tāmen nénggòu dédào gèng duō de shízhōng shàng de shíjiān hé jīhuì jiāng bǐfēn zàicì huí qiú.

[UTUSN]

6. Good for you!1 n/t

[ohiosmith]

7. Pleased to be of service.

[HappyMe]

11. Huh, that's what I thought.

[ohiosmith]

18. Couldn't be clearer.

[OriginalGeek]

9. I think we can get there

But I need clarification on your 2nd question -

Why were they so close to their end of the field if the Patriots were going for THEIR goal?

I think your first "they" must be the Giants since you name the Patriots later. If so, the Giants were at the PATRIOTS end of the field. not their own end. The Giants were a few yards away from scoring. After they scored then the kicked off and then the Patriots got to try and drive towards the Giants end of the field to score. But they failed.

IF I haven't discerned your pronouns correctly then you'll need to enlighten me because I believe somewhere in there is the problem.


We can doo eet!

[Brickbat]

8. Basically it illustrated the inherent stupidity of NFL football, wherein a team (the Giants) would

have rather NOT scored a touchdown, and would have rather run down the clock and kick a field goal, rather than score the touchdown quickly and give the ball back to the Pats and show a little confidence in their own defense.

Watching two teams worry more about the clock than scoring points is a waste of my time, and I say that as a huge sports fan. :p

[The2ndWheel]

13. The Giants lost to Green Bay earlier in the season

because they left too much time on the clock after they took the lead late in the game.

[Brickbat]

14. No, they lost because their defense couldn't stop the Pack from moving 70 yards in five plays.

[The2ndWheel]

19. And they would take that same risk in the Super Bowl?

With one of the best QB's to ever play? The Patriots still came somewhat close on that last drive.

The opposite of that being the Giants trying to kill the clock, and something goes wrong. A fumble. A missed kick.

[Ruby the Liberal]

10. It was a clock management strategy

They would have foregone the 6 point touchdown, ran out the clock a bit more and then kicked a 3 point field goal. They were only down by 2 at that point, so the field goal would have still won them the game - and without giving the Patriots the time on the clock to go back down field. With an arm as strong as Tom Brady's, that was actually a good call from a coaching perspective, but it didn't work and the game came down to an end zone Hail Mary that could have gone either way depending on who came up with it (as opposed to nobody).

[UTUSN]

12. O.K., I think I got it!1

Thanks to all, both to those who explained at my level and those who flew it over my head, and you respectively know who you are!1


And just to show I really did get it, here's my playing it back: NY wanted only 3 points by running out the clock so as not to give the ball back to NewEng with enough time for them to score another goal. I liked what somebody posted about this strategy showing a lack of confidence in their defense. How's that?!1

[LynneSin]

15. First it's a touchdown not a goal. But here's the scoop.

The Patriots defense knew there was enough time on the clock that the Patriots could take the ball downfield and possibly get another touchdown. Tom Brady is one of the best QB when the pressure is on and there were plenty of timeouts left. A typical two-minute warning usually takes at least another 30 minutes to play.

Knowing that, the Patriots defense just let the guy run in for a touchday - left it wide open. Eli Manning saw that and screamed for Bradshaw to not take the bait. There was too much time left but the Giants were on 2nd down AND on NE 6 yard line. They only needed a field goal to win the game. So why not use up the clock with 2 more plays (along with possibly wasting New England's final time out) and go for the field goal with the win.

With only 57 seconds left Tom Brady got in 9 plays including 3 first downs - which is a very dangerous thing. Brady is always one play away from creating something huge. Had the Giants not scored, they would have done two more plays and probably waste the last time out for the Patriots and gone for the easy field goal and probably left the Patriots about 20 seconds left to get something done.

[KamaAina]

20. There's a right way to do that, rather than just letting him score

go for the STRIP rather than the tackle. The worst thing that can happen is he scores anyway. But maybe, just maybe, someone can poke the ball out and you WIN, without having to rely on a two-minute drill.