Several experts are attempting to assign blame for the Patriots loss. The only problem is that there isn't one person responsible for the failures. It was a team effort.
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick walks down the field after talking to quarterback Tom Brady in the final seconds of the NFL Super Bowl XLVI football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, in Indianapolis. The Giants won 21-17.As I peruse the Internet to see what others are saying about the Patriots' 21-17 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, I find myself growing increasingly irritated.
It seems that everyone from Bill Belichick to Tom Brady to the defense is being assigned totally and complete blame for the loss. I think all of those answers are correct to some degree.
I also think that each one is wrong when standing alone.
So, I decided to take a closer look at each myth and offer my thoughts, if, for nothing else, as a way to vent.
The defense is to blame: I've seen this take numerous places and I have to wonder if I was watching a different game than everyone else. The defense was responsible for 19 of the 21 points.
In today's NFL, where the rules favor offenses, that's like having your starting pitcher go nine innings and allow two runs. At that point, the onus is on the offense to deliver the victory.
Some people have reasoned that the 37:05 to 22:05 edge the Giants held in the time of possession battle is proof that the New England defense failed.
My answer to that is to watch the tape.
New York held an 11:28 to 3:32 edge after the first quarter due to Tom Brady taking a safety on the Patriots' first offensive play of the game. The Giants scored a little more than five minutes later, their only real touchdown of the game, but I don't think you can really hang that on the defense, considering the circumstances.
Here's a look at the time of possession by quarter:
First: Giants 11:28, Patriots 3:32
Second: Giants 8:17, Patriots 6:43
Third: Giants 9:38, Patriots 5:22
Fourth: Giants 7:42, Patriots 7:18
Between the second and third quarters, New England scored 17 points while holding the Giants to six. New York had a huge edge in the time of possession during that frame and was held off the board for a period of 25 minutes before getting a field goal with 6:43 remaining in the third quarter.
I'll concede that the final drive left something to be desired, but it took a ridiculous effort by Mario Manningham to keep his feet in bounds with Patrick Chung and Sterling Moore approaching him to give it life.
Bottom line: The defense more than did its part in giving the offense room to operate, and the time of possession argument holds no weight.
The loss is on Tom Brady: My initial reaction leaned this direction.
Then I looked at Brady's passing line.
He completed 27 of 41 passes for 276 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
He also set a new Super Bowl record by completing 16 consecutive passes, 10 of which came on a 98-yard scoring drive in the second quarter.
Those facts make it really hard for me to say he's the reason New England lost this game, and, as Michael Rosenberg of SI.com pointed out, lesser performances in the Super Bowl routinely garner praise.
In Brady's first Super Bowl, he was awarded the MVP honors after completing 16 of 27 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. His performance on Sunday dwarfed that one.
I won't argue against people who say he helped them lose the game. The safety was awful. If Brady had just hit Rob Gronkowski in the flat instead of chucking the ball downfield, the outcome could have been entirely different.
It's dangerous to get involved in the "what if" game, and who knows what would have happened if a different decision was made, but those points played a huge rule in determining the outcome of the game.
Brady also had an ill-advised interception on a shot taken downfield to Rob Gronkowski when he had Aaron Hernandez wide open in front of him. There were also several passes down the stretch -- including a much publicized attempt to Wes Welker -- that were less than perfect.
But all things considered, New England isn't even in the game if Brady plays like he did in 2001. That stretch of brilliance – and it was one of the most incredible stretches anyone will ever see -- allowed the Super Bowl to be competitive.
(Before we move on, if you haven't already, read Dan Wetzel's take on how Brady spent the hour after the game. It was a powerful scene that many, myself included, tried to capture, but Wetzel did it better than the rest. Really, it's by far the best piece of journalism to come out of the Super Bowl.)
Wes Welker is to blame: Should Welker have caught that pass? If you ask him, the answer is yes. He beat himself up for letting that opportunity go to waste after the game and begged for the blame.
The ball hit him in the hands. It's hard for a receiver to look past that, and if he had pulled it in cleanly the Lombardi Trophy likely returns to Foxborough.
I didn't fully appreciate it in real time, so maybe others missed it as well, but after seeing the play several times since I've come to realize the pass was awful.
Go watch it again. There's no way that you walk away unimpressed by Welker's ability to even get in position to make a play.
He had plenty of room. Brady should have hit him in stride. Instead, the ball was thrown behind him and he was forced to adjust.
Welker didn't let his teammates down.
Belichick is to blame: We covered this yesterday. Move on.
The only thing you could argue is that the Patriots should have laid down sooner on the final drive.
There's also a lesser case to be made about how the Patriots should have made a better effort to control the clock on their next-to-last drive.
That isn't Belichick's style, though. He didn't want to leave anything to chance and went for the kill. That has, and always will be, his method of operation. It's part of the "genius."
Rob Gronkowski is to blame: Really? We're going to fault a guy for trying to play hurt in the biggest game of his career?
Could he have knocked the ball out of Chase Blackburn's hands on Brady's interception if he was healthy? Probably, but why even go there?
I credit Gronkowski for gutting it out. If I'm New England, I'd rather go to war with an injured Gronkowski than a healthy Chad Ochocinco.
Who is to blame?: If you want to credit someone, New York punter Steve Weatherford is a good player to set your sights on. New England's average starting position was at the 16-yard line. It was a constant uphill battle for the Pats. The Giants special teams did an incredible job.
If you want to play the blame game, then cast a wide net. Everyone listed failed in some respect Sunday night.
But as far as one goat? That person doesn't exist.