It's time to stop using the lame Welker dropped the ball and lost the Super Bowl excuse to not sign Welker to a new contract.

Lately when someone post that the Patriots shouldn't sign Welker because he dropped that perfectly thrown, right on target pass from my man TFB to lose the Super Bowl, I have asked the following very simple yet ignored question...

Please describe the very next play and nobody has done it.  Why?  They don't remember? They just want to blame Welker because he is seeking a well deserved and fair contract from the Patriots for once.  Well let me take a moment and explain.. after all, the Brady to Welker play was only 2nd down.  So what happend next......

3rd down and 11, Patriots at the Giants 44 yard line, needing to get to the 33 yard line for the first down.  Brady takes the snap under center, Woodhead behind him.  The ball is snapped, TFB fakes the handoff to Woody, drops back, has all day to pass and finally throws the ball to an open Branch who is cutting accross the middle of the field at the 25 yard line.  The pass is a bit behind Branch yet branch gets his hands on the ball and drops it just as a defender hits him.  

During the replay Chris Collinsworth says "It's a poor throw by Tom Brady, really Branch could have helped him by slowing down in the middle of the field, there's space in there".  Then says " I think Michael Boley scared Brady off of throwing that thing a head of Branch, and Branch really should have seen that and settled in the hole and made that an easier throw".

So you tell me, why is all the blame on Welker for losing the Super Bowl when the very next play they had another chance but a poor route by Branch and a poor throw by Brady along with Branch dropping the pass, causing a 4th down and punting the ball back to the Giants?  Why is the blame on Welker?  Why not Brady for two poorly thrown balls in back to back plays or Branch for running a poor route and dropping the ball?   Please explain why the blame all goes on Welker?

There were three dropped passes in that series; Hernandez, Branch and Welker.  Game over.

In response to TFB12's comment:

 

It's time to stop using the lame Welker dropped the ball and lost the Super Bowl excuse to not sign Welker to a new contract.

Lately when someone post that the Patriots shouldn't sign Welker because he dropped that perfectly thrown, right on target pass from my man TFB to lose the Super Bowl, I have asked the following very simple yet ignored question...

Please describe the very next play and nobody has done it.  Why?  They don't remember? They just want to blame Welker because he is seeking a well deserved and fair contract from the Patriots for once.  Well let me take a moment and explain.. after all, the Brady to Welker play was only 2nd down.  So what happend next......

3rd down and 11, Patriots at the Giants 44 yard line, needing to get to the 33 yard line for the first down.  Brady takes the snap under center, Woodhead behind him.  The ball is snapped, TFB fakes the handoff to Woody, drops back, has all day to pass and finally throws the ball to an open Branch who is cutting accross the middle of the field at the 25 yard line.  The pass is a bit behind Branch yet branch gets his hands on the ball and drops it just as a defender hits him.  

During the replay Chris Collinsworth says "It's a poor throw by Tom Brady, really Branch could have helped him by slowing down in the middle of the field, there's space in there".  Then says " I think Michael Boley scared Brady off of throwing that thing a head of Branch, and Branch really should have seen that and settled in the hole and made that an easier throw".

So you tell me, why is all the blame on Welker for losing the Super Bowl when the very next play they had another chance but a poor route by Branch and a poor throw by Brady along with Branch dropping the pass, causing a 4th down and punting the ball back to the Giants?  Why is the blame on Welker?  Why not Brady for two poorly thrown balls in back to back plays or Branch for running a poor route and dropping the ball?   Please explain why the blame all goes on Welker?

 

Doesn't matter, took the gas out of the Patriots. Brady didn't even look his way for 3rd down. 

The reason people remember is because it's a play that should have worked.  A wide open Welker and if he can get his hands on it it's over.  The faithful were let down. 

Let there be no mistake.  This does effect the contract talks.  You make those two catches and you name your price.  But he dropped both getting labeled a choke.  Fair or unfair it doesn't matter because if you're going to pay big money those, especially those catches have to be made.

In response to 49Patriots' comment:

On that play Welker ran a short pattern 5-7 yards accross the middle, he was covered and wouldn't have got a first down even if Brady threw the ball to him.  Woodhead ran a short route out of the backfield and was open but wouldn't have got a first down had Brady passed to him,  Ocho got zero seperation down the left sideline and was covered like a blanket. 

So to say Brady didn't even look his way, maybe, but it wasn't because he didn't come down with the ball from the previous play.  Maybe he seen Welker was covered and wouldn't make the first down because there were 2 additional defenders around him had he passed the ball to him.  So before you just make blanket comments, maybe you should check out the play first.  Well unless you just want to put all the blame on Welker, as unfair as that is.  But it seems people would rather just be ignorant about everything and put the blame on Welker regardless of what else happened out there.  Crazy!!

In response to garytx's comment:

And the next play should have worked too but there's no mention of it.  2 poorly thrown passes back to back and Branch drops the ball yet it's all Welkers fault.  Maybe the people watching were to busy crying and had tears in their eyes to where they didn't see the next play.  Pretty unbelievable!

 

Kind of what I've been saying. Barring an turnover, for every missed play, there was a play before and after it. So correct, one play can't lose you the game. Over 100 plays per game, thats over 100 opportunities to shift the game in your favor.

As for the last game, Welker's drop was in the third quarter! Plenty of time before and after that drop that could've have made us all forget about it.

I don't buy that a 3rd quarter drop completely changed the game. Good teams don't let that happen. Pats-49ers, Pats pretty much retook all the momentum in the second half, 49ers didn't let that beat them. Ravens vs 49ers, blackout pretty much helped shift momentum towards the 49ers side, Ravens overcame it. Late Matt Ryan INT against SEA? Falcons overcame it. I would say all those things were more significant than a 3rd quarter drop. Based on the way it was going, and how much of a blowout it was, Pats weren't going to win that game anyways.

 

His drops certainly don't help. I believe Troy Brown has linked his drops to him getting older, as in it takes him more effort to get open, thus he has more concentration breaks when it comes to making the catch. Don't know how true it is, but it does feel like he's dropped more passes than usual.

In response to garytx's comment:

Not true. Deion Branch played back to back great Super Bowls and he certainly couldn't name his prime. He was also supposedly entering his prime too.

A play here or there isn't going to make that huge a difference in contract talks. Hern has had some bad drops and he still got a big contract.

Pats have a price on their players, they aren't going to change that because of a play or 2. Welker, whether he made those plays or not, will still be a 32 year old WR next season and someone who has taken a ton of hits.

In response to dapats1281's comment:

Good post and I totally agree with your points.  As far as Welkers dropped passes, apparently he is credited for 15 drops last season.  The man caught 118 passes for 1,354 yards, mostly in the heart of the defense.  I will take 15 drops with that output every season of his career.  And I don't think age has anything to do with it.  Aaron Hernandez has a higher drop % and he is a young guy.  If by chance Welkers age has something to do with his drops then still 15 drops isn't bad for an old man!!  Whats Hernandez's excuse?

In response to TFB12's comment:

You can't compare it like that. Hern has worse hands overall. 

 

I don't have that stats, but you would have to compare the amount of drops Welker had in 07 and 09 compared to what it is now. (I left out '08 because Cassel was QB)

If his drop rate is going up, then I think it would be fair to assume age is a factor. If that's the case, it's not out of the question to wonder if it'll get worse for '13, '14, and '15.

 

Hern has always had questionable hands. I can't remember this many drops for Welker. I don't have the drop numbers, but it seems like Hern has a steady drop rate while Welker is slowly declining.

With the anniversary of last year's Super Bowl, I watched both the TV feed and the coach's film on NFL rewind. (I know, get a life.) TFB12 is right, the loss was not solely the result of Wes' drop. The incompletion to Branch was simply a poor throw by Brady.  The defendr who broke up the pass was trailing Branch, so had Branch sat down in the zone as Collingsworth suggested, the defender would have gotten to the ball even sooner that he did for an easy breakup.  If Brady had led Branch by another 2-4 feet, it's a relatively easy completion.  As TFB12 said, the ball arrived just behind Branch at the same time the defender made contact.  A much harder catch for Branch than the one to Welker.  

There are lots of plays in a football game but, in my view, the loss boiled down to four unforced screwups: (1) the drop by Welker, (2) the ridiculous intentional grounding from the endzone, (3) Brady's blind heave/underthrow to Gronk on what should have been a TD, but instead was picked by Blackburn, and (4) the Branch incompletion. That makes it Brady screwups 3 Welker screwups 1. As we've seen over and over, unforced errors are the surest way to defeat.     

Well according to NBC Sports here are the drop pass numbers for 2012 regular season...

1 Jimmy Graham NO 13 2t Victor Cruz NYG 10 2t Calvin Johnson Det 10 2t Brandon Marshall Chi 10 2t Demaryius Thomas Den 10 6t Dez Bryant Dal 9 6t Randall Cobb GB 9 6t A.J. Green Cin 9 6t Denarius Moore Oak 9 6t Wes Welker NE 9 11t Julio Jones Atl 8 11t Doug Martin TB 8 11t Brandon Pettigrew Det 8 11t Andre Roberts Ari 8 11t Reggie Wayne Ind 8

Alright, we'll dump Brady and give Welker his contract. -_-

 

I don't think anyone will cry if Welker came back, I think people will cry if Welker came back for anything more than an 8 mill a year deal. The guy isn't a big game WR and we've yet to win a SB with him. He also makes unclutch plays in the biggest moments. Hern is 23, he's not even in his prime yet, he'll have plenty of time to get better. Welker is 32, that's why Hern gets a pass. One guy is on the rise, the other is fading. 

In response to TFB12's comment:

It seems liek a bad statistic.  If you get the ball thrown to you 15 times a game you'll be more likely to have drops

There are some great players on the list.  Welker is a great player.

 

But his drop cost the team a SB victory.  Everyone knows it. 

Pats lost the game... SB46 is now put to rest!

In response to Schumpeters-Ghost's comment:

It definitely reduced our chances of winning by a lot, but there was still 4 mins remaining and the Giants had 1 TO left and the 2 min warning. Even if he does make that catch, there's still the chance the Patriots fail to convert another 1st down that drive. Eli still would've had enough time to drive down the field down by 6. A much more difficult task, but it didn't cost them the game. Giants still could have won even if Welker makes that catch.

And as the 49ers showed us, first half mistakes can still cost you the game.

Brady safety gave the Giants 2 points and an extra possession.

Fact that the defense couldn't convert a single 3 and out killed the Pats in the TOP battle.

Brady's INT was also extremely costly.

Bradshaw's TD came with 57 seconds left. Extremely difficult to march down for a TD, but still possible considering the Pats still had one TO. I remember multiple drops on that drive as well.

 

 

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

If you are happy with how well Brady takes care of the ball you have to accept the reasons this is so. Brady will pass exactly as he did to Branch and Welker in those circumstances in order to minimize the INT risk yet give his guy a chance to make the play. He does the exact same thing on many of his low throws.

Complain about a "bad pass" all you like, but the passes are usually exactly where they are for a reason. And he isn't the GOAT for no reason.

The discussion as to whether we should sign Welker is only partially based on his drops. As far as Branch, he sucks.

In response to BabeParilli's comment:

so he intentionally threw the ball 7-8 feet in the air to a wide open receiver that is 5ft9?
yea that makes alot of sense...

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

Rustyclone, the ball would have hit Welker in the face mask if he didn't stone hand it. I'm guessing the little guy must have gotten high enough to catch it.

In response to BabeParilli's comment:

true, but im sure he didnt mean to make him jump 2 feet in the air and have to twist around to make that catch.

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

You're making our case for us...

Fitzgerald, Johnson, C. Johnson, Nelson, Nicks, Cruz, J. Jones, A.J. Green, V. Jackson, Smith, Boldin, Crabtree, Moss, (Gronk) and a host of other non-5'9 WRs would've made that catch...effortlessly. 

 

That's why you don't build your offense around a 5'9 WR. 

In response to user_1262959's comment:

Good post!  I will only disagree with one of your comments.  The Branch drop I believe was a much easier catch, he didn't have to jump, do a 180 in the air and reach for a high ball like Welker had to.  You are dead on about the Collinsworth comment of Branch needing to set down in the route, the defender would have been all over him.  Brady should have lead him on the throw, I believe he would have easily got the ball over the LB. 

I wasn't aware they had the coaches film on NFL rewind from 2007.  I have kept checking the TenYardTorrents site waiting for someone to post that ther.

In response to BabeParilli's comment:

Oh come on, now your just being silly.  Welker had to get up in the air and reach for that ball.

In response to 49Patriots' comment:

I agree that the Pats need a bigger WR...but guys like that don't get as open as much as Welker does...so would they have made that catch effortlessly? Maybe, but they may not have been open.

And don't put Moss on that list. Sorry, but I just question his effort in big games.

Also, Fitz, Johnson, C. Johnson, J Jones, Aj Green, Crabtree were all top 10 picks...and top 10 picks for a reason...extremely rare and gifted WRs.

I would love to have a guy like that on the team...but after rookie contracts, they almost make QB money.