Play Was Maybe Ill-Conceived, But Result Was Vital

by David_Wyatt on Oct 19, 2010 5:26 PM EDT

I was taking a quick look at some more reaction articles to the great escape in Mile High Denver and I saw that Rich Cimini had posted a little blurb on the final 4th and 6th pass interference play, which read:

If you're a New York Jets fan, it's a case of, "All's well that ends well." But take a closer look at the Mile High Miracle --Renaldo Hill's 46-yard pass-interference penalty on Santonio Holmes -- and you will see it wasn't a well-designed play by the Jets.

On a fourth-and-6 from the Denver Broncos' 48, the Jets sent four receivers on vertical routes -- Holmes on the backside, with Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller in "trips" to the right. After studying the replay, a revelation: There was no safety valve because LaDainian Tomlinson stayed in to block.

Although it may not have been the best call we're likely to see, I think an important note is that formation allowed Santonio Holmes to get in single coverage and put him in a position to make a play on the football. While watching the game I remember saying, good job we got pass protection on that play, Sanchez needed all the time he could get. So I went back and looked at the play a couple of times, and it shows just how vital LT's block was to supplying Sanchez with that added time. Take a look:

As you can see a Bronco turns the corner on Brick who's able to stay with him and push him out of the play, however another rusher comes inside off the shoulder of Slauson, that rusher is picked up by LT and he maintains the block laterally using some of his quickness to give Sanchez some extra time to make this throw.

I can begin to see what Cimini meant when writing this, however I can't be angry at a play call which helped out a rookie (counting Slauson as a rookie because of the lack of starts, maybe more a redshirt freshman), turned out to be a vital block and gave us single coverage on a clutch receiver like Santonio Holmes.

Also that safety valve of LT is all well and good in hindsight, but I've seen Sanchez miss his target on a simple 5 yard hot pass. I don't love the play, but I don't think it's necessarily ill-conceived either. It got the job done.

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Tomlinson is the man at picking up blitzes! Did you see the block he had on the TD pass to Edwards?? That was huge.

by chrebetsthebet on Oct 19, 2010 5:48 PM EDT reply actions

Another thing I see here is the safety pulling up and not challenging LD on his 2yd TD waltz. And McDaniels claims they didn’t let us score?

by nationalist88 on Oct 19, 2010 6:06 PM EDT reply actions

That safety did not pull up he got blocked into oblivion!

by Jerry Sardella on Oct 19, 2010 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions

You’re watching #55 the LB who is effortlessly blocked by Slauson.

Stop the clip at 2:09. After the whole interior line of the defense mysteriously collapses under a pile of white jerseys, the only guys left standing are on the edge playing contain (and ensuring the run goes up the wide open middle), and two LB’s. One LB decides not to diagnose the play but fires himself into the pile of blockers for no apparent reason. The other is picked up by Slauson. But the safety on the edge, #23, who watches the play develop as he stands at the goal line with plenty of time to meet LD in the now gaping hole, does absolutely nothing but stand there waiting for LD to score.

by nationalist88 on Oct 20, 2010 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Wow. Tomlinson actually held the point of attack against a LB (can’t tell who). He looked like a tiny lineman out there. As a lineman myself, he gets “Champion of the Day” credit.

by colinyoung on Oct 19, 2010 6:49 PM EDT reply actions

I really don't think Denver saw it coming at all

Sure, we only needed 6 yards to move the sticks, but I don’t think Hill thought Santonio was going 46 yards.

by umohan21 on Oct 19, 2010 9:04 PM EDT reply actions

It’s a pretty common move in the NFL on what could be the last offensive play for a team to go long and hope for pass interference.

After the 2nd Period of Opening Night "Best Period of the year" DevonPSU
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.

by Mark D on Oct 20, 2010 3:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Didn't Sanchez say they were trying to run

a “sticks” route, something right to the first down line, and that Holmes wasn’t designed to go vertical until the play broke down and everybody started scrambling?

by dookiehead on Oct 20, 2010 3:55 AM EDT reply actions

CALL IT KARMA!

Ahhh yes, my favorite debate… the “WHAT IF” talk… what if holmes didnt get that penalty that set up a score… what if sanchez didnt throw 2 interceptions…. wait… lets take it back further…. What if the NYG WR Sinocre Moss hadnt caught that perverbial “lucky” catch on 4th and long… would the giants have lost that superbowl game against the patriots all those years ago?

Who knows?

The fact is football is a sport of the moment. Unlike most sports, one botched play could mean the difference between a heart pounding victory and stunning loss.
We cant go back in time and change what happened. if that we the case than many blown calls, last second missed field goals and other unanswered questions could be changed.

I see it as Karma. There was a terrible call of an illegal hit called on Saftey Jim Leonard, which gave the broncos an easy redzone TD situation. if you see the Replay, its clear that The Jets safety made a concious effort to use his shoulder and there was clearly no helmet to hemet contact.

How about the Holmes Pass intereference? it was an inccidental face mask, the defender of course meant to keep the ball out of Holmes’ hands. and that set up our scoring drive.

People talk about how the jets got lucky, but the fact is we had as much misfortune as we did luck.

Furthermore, The broncos had oppurtunites to come back and beat us. Jets turned over the ball 3 times, and the broncos only capitalized on the situation once. Plus they had a last second chance to seal the game, And they messed up.

It could have happened to any team, even the jets and quite frankly im getting tired of all this “luck” talk.

Did the Jets play to the level that they have been the previous games, No they didnt. But they snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat, and now we are flying high with a 5-1 record….

by JragonEyez on Oct 20, 2010 4:25 PM EDT reply actions