(February 2, 2015 at 3:32 pm)Tonus Wrote: A pass wasn't a bad call, in and of itself. And Carroll's thought-pattern is understandable: 25 seconds left, one time-out, three downs to try and score, you pass on second down and run on third down if the pass falls incomplete. If the run fails to get in you call your last time-out and you have one shot at all the marbles without worrying that the clock runs out. I don't see any real problem with that approach.
A pass in the middle of the field against a stacked defense is very dangerous. The chances of a deflection leading to an interception are relatively high versus a fade thrown towards a corner or a short flat pass towards the sideline. Sure, if Lockette makes the catch, the world would be wondering why Belichick left a rookie CB in there when he had Arrington on the bench, and patting Carroll on the back for a "gutsy call." But I think there are calls with much lower risk of a turnover in that scenario.
See, I think there is much less risk in pounding the ball into the endzone as soon as possible and then worrying about your defense stopping Brady for fifteen seconds worth of game-time. I'd much rather rely on my solid defense to make a stop than Russel Wilson to make a one yard pass.
Sure, people probably would have called the play gutsy if it had hit the endzone, but the reality is that it would have been luck, not guts, that did that.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
