Tuesday, February 3, 2015
What's the fuss about? (A Post-Superbowl assessment)
Every year I allot one day of my vacation leave to watch the Superbowl. I have declared this day a personal holiday where I can share chips and football banter with friends and just chill. Of course it would be perfect if the Greenbay Packers would be the one in contention but then---life is never perfect! Still, outside of my favorite team playing, the game offers other highlights to look forward to, like: The pre-game show; the season highlight reels; the national anthem interpretation; the half-time show (Katy Perry was a mind-blower!), even the commercials (I must say Carl's Jr. is my favorite!). Superbowl is one of my favorite days of the year.
So, what happened in Superbowl XLIX? Well, I rooted for the Seahawks and they lost. However, the game was fun to watch since I was at the edge of my seat from the second quarter onwards with the final outcome of the game decided at the last 20 seconds.
I have watched a lot of come from behind wins to declare any winner early on. The Greenbay Packers led 16-0 at halftime during their conference championship with the Seattle Seahawks and then only managed 6 points the next two quarters to lose 28-22. So when Seattle led by 10 points after the third quarter, I was still biting my nails. Come on, we're talking about Tom Brady here! Why just before the end of the first half, he orchestrated an 80 yard TD in less than two minutes! In football, a second can be an eternity.
Both teams actually showed that they can score fast and in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter, Seattle had the ball at the one yard line on second down trying to overcome a four point Patriot lead. What happened after is now the subject of much discussion. Should they have gone to Marshawn Lynch on all four downs? Maybe. But in the game of strategies, that would be stating the obvious and predictability is one thing that a coach does not want. For all we know, the Patriots was on a defensive stance against the run during that last play and the result would still have been a turn over on downs. But may it be a pass or run, Murphy's Law will always be there to foul things up and on that fateful 2nd down it came in the form of an interception. However, I don't see it as Coach Carroll's fault. Yes, he called it but its execution remained with the people running it. Success is not dependent on one decision because everything that we do is a symphony of individual actions
Stop blaming Coarch Carroll. If that pass play had been caught he wouldn't be crucified for it, right? (And Marshawn Lynch wouldn't be bitching about not getting the ball.) Again, coaching is a mind game. Unfortunately, the gambit did not work for Seattle.
Lesson learned. Move on.
I have watched a lot of come from behind wins to declare any winner early on. The Greenbay Packers led 16-0 at halftime during their conference championship with the Seattle Seahawks and then only managed 6 points the next two quarters to lose 28-22. So when Seattle led by 10 points after the third quarter, I was still biting my nails. Come on, we're talking about Tom Brady here! Why just before the end of the first half, he orchestrated an 80 yard TD in less than two minutes! In football, a second can be an eternity.
Both teams actually showed that they can score fast and in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter, Seattle had the ball at the one yard line on second down trying to overcome a four point Patriot lead. What happened after is now the subject of much discussion. Should they have gone to Marshawn Lynch on all four downs? Maybe. But in the game of strategies, that would be stating the obvious and predictability is one thing that a coach does not want. For all we know, the Patriots was on a defensive stance against the run during that last play and the result would still have been a turn over on downs. But may it be a pass or run, Murphy's Law will always be there to foul things up and on that fateful 2nd down it came in the form of an interception. However, I don't see it as Coach Carroll's fault. Yes, he called it but its execution remained with the people running it. Success is not dependent on one decision because everything that we do is a symphony of individual actions
Stop blaming Coarch Carroll. If that pass play had been caught he wouldn't be crucified for it, right? (And Marshawn Lynch wouldn't be bitching about not getting the ball.) Again, coaching is a mind game. Unfortunately, the gambit did not work for Seattle.
Lesson learned. Move on.
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