If it works, don’t fix it — and that slogan applies to football games as well.
The Patriots coaching staff sure endorses it, as they called the same designed run for quarterback Cam Newton in Sunday’s Week 2 loss to the Seahawks. And to their credit, Seattle had not showed the ability to stop it, but there’s a difference in calling it in between other plays, with the defense caught off balance, and possibly fatigued — versus doing so after back-to-back timeouts, on the final play of the game, with all the chips on the line.
And the Seahawks — after getting beat by it the previous three times — were ready for it.
They sold out to stop the run, putting all 11 players in the box, and tripping up Newton just behind the line of scrimmage — flipping him over and changing the key NFL picks of top teams in the coming weeks. The Patriots needed only one yard to pull off a potential thrilling comeback win, but couldn’t get it, and the Seahawks went on to win the game, 35-30.
Still, Newton defended the controversial play call, and essentially blamed himself for it not working, as he admitted he could’ve possibly bounced it outside and ran it in for the game-winning touchdown.
Cam Newton on @TheGregHillShow said he would run the last play again vs. Seattle: "The same damn play. … For me, we ran the play 4 times and we were successful 3 of the 4 times and the last time was the 4th play."
Said after reviewing tape, he could've bounce it outside.
— Ryan Hannable (@RyanHannable) September 22, 2020
The Patriots chose not to gamble, and didn’t mix things up on the play, but maybe they should have.
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