"Oh No", oh yes......... It hurts. This is my take on something that is often missing from our team/coaching in my humble opinion. I know it is easy to arm chair QB, but when they lined up in that final formation with a slant call, they have to anticipate that the other team has watched that play enough to know what is coming. Then you have to anticipate that when Browner, who normally lines up on the right side of the D formation lines up on the left, that he knows what is coming. Then you also have to anticipate that the Pats D has nothing to lose, they have to, in this situation, go out of character to make a play.
So where's the ingenuity to set the Pats D up?
My idea of a setup is to line up in the same formation, run the same play, but rather then throwing the slant, have the TE, who was essentially non existent all game, slip out behind Browner, get Wilson rolling right with the option to run it in, or hit the TE in the back of the end zone. If Russ doesn't like it, throw it away!
Again I know it's easy to second guess this, but my point is I often feel like our O is too predictable. Or plays in a box. Occasionally we'll see a wrinkle, like the RO pass to Lockett early in the season, and it catches everyone by surprise. I just think they need more of that in the offense at strategic times.
Looking forward already to next season!