It's why they get paid the big bucks.
One yard to go. The entire game rests on this one play. Do or die.
If you score, you're a genius. If the play doesn't work, you're a moron and an infinite number of other plays would have worked.
Welcome to Josh McDaniels' world after the Patriots' final play on Sunday night— a 1-yard plunge by Cam Newton — lost 1 yard as time expired to saddle the Patriots with a tough 35-30 loss to the Seahawks.
What went wrong? What did the players and coach Bill Belichick say about it?
Let's first go through the previous three plays out of that package, which were all successful and scored touchdowns:
Clip 1: Power (to RB) TD
Clip 2: Power pass TD
Clip 3: Counter (away from RB) TD
Clip 4: Power at end of game
It's a good series/worked well. You have to defend it honestly and Seattle guessed right on the last one. Late motion by TE/RB makes it hard to ID tendencies quick. pic.twitter.com/t707PMEC65
— Virtual Bubble Justo (Day 192) (@JuMosq) September 21, 2020
WHAT HAPPENED
Seahawks end L.J. Collier was initially lined up on the inside shoulder of Patriots rookie OL Michael Onwenu. But at the snap, as Onwenu goes to drive block Collier back, Collier moves right to Onwenu's outside shoulder and gains leverage. Collier fills the running lane, safety Lano Hill goes low on FB Jakob Johnson on the outside to narrow Newton's choices, and helps to submarine Newton for a 1-yard loss as time expired.