I have put it forth many many times before here. The screencap Maelstrom posted before:
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which I believe was first posted by Keasley is when the ball is supposed to be thrown. Lockette may have still been stopped by Butler at the goal line, but as you can see Unger and Sweezy have been pushed back into the passing lane that should have been there. With no passing lane Wilson could not throw it on time due to his height. The rest is history.
I agree with you that the play should not have been called. I have always put forth that running this formation with any variation with Lockette running to the outside results in a walk in touchdown as Browner knew we ran only one route out of this formation. With a simple wrinkle there, we are two time world champs. The post season and especially the super bowl is the best time for doing different things, but Bevell made a stupid decision and stuck to something we practiced dozens of times against the DB that was then opposing us.
Thats not the correct snap.
If theres an aspect of the game Russ has proven he struggles with most, its reading coverage and making the snap decision to let fly. He holds the ball if his read isnt blatantly obvious. Russ should have thrown the ball in window one in the first shot. Lock is basically jogging behind the pick in anticipation of getting the ball while hes before he comes across, not after he crosses itand is charging toward a safety, ILB, or DB coming around the pick. If you watch the play in slow motion, yiu can see Lock going from a jog to a sprint when he sees Russ is actually going to throw it inside. He threw late and high. If you look at the 2nd image, it looks like Butler is who he's throwing to. Lock is just trying to get to the ball. He should have thrown early and low on the body. Even as late as it was, had he hit Lock on the numbers or below, the DB would have had to run through Lock to make a play. At worst, its a tackle at the one or a ball batted away if Butler can get a hand inside.
As to the play itself, it was so effective across the league that the rules committee banned it. So it doesnt line up that a play that is so unstoppable across the league that its banned, is a bad call in a situation like this. Especially when you aee that if the ball was thrown when and where it should have been, we walk off the field, champions.
Russ threw the ball high and inside. Literally to the only place a defender could make a play on it.
You know who made a living running this play? Brady and the Pats. It was a gimme - again, why it was banned.
Russ could have pulled the ball down and bailed.. try to make something up, or thrown it away. Would have been better than tossing a jump ball inside.
Could we have given the ball to Lynch? Sure. Did it make sense to throw the ball on the down we did? Yup. Running the ball would have been an attitude call... imposing our will on them. But running then wasnt a gimme. Although i wish we had.
Could we have thrown a fade or anything else? Yup.
But the playcall wasnt so blatantly horrible, at least not on its own merit.
You can certainly criticiamze the wisdom of letting a QB who was known to not do well exploiting the short field because of his height throw that pattern.
You can argue the wisdom or letting your QB and O run a play they hadnt run often, if ever.
But its hard to blame Lock because he ran as it as he should have.
And its hard to blame a play that was basically deemed cheating because it was so effective when run by everyone but us.
