When the ball was tumbling towards the end zone should Mark have automatically inferred it was a safety? I understand he didn’t want a defensive TD but wasn’t there other options? Like trying to pick it up and throw it away - even getting tackled in the end zone is still better than giving up and just kicking it out of bounds? Am I wrong here? Would it have been too dangerous to try and pick it up?
Its text book when you are surrounded by the defense - not alone in the backfield and the only one near the ball. Was their pressure that I am forgetting?
Yes. The reason the fumble was called was because Wilfork was 5 yards into the backfield before Sanchez could even hand it off. It was the right call. Im pretty sure we stopped them on the next drive also, so it was only two points. We can pick apart this game all we want, Sanchez made the right move here. If anything Slauson caused this play...
It was the right move. The alternative is to fall on the ball, which is also a safety. In a game that is still close you kick it out the back of the endzone and keep the game close. If the Pats recover for a score there it is 21-7 and sayonara.
You can't pick it up and throw it i think thats a penalty, Wilfork was right behind him and if he picked it up and got hit by Wilfork he would obvioulsy drop it because every Sack on Sanchez is a strip sack fumble
Wilfork was right behind him. The odds of him being able to scoop it up and throw it away were quite slim. Of course he could have also messed up trying to scoop it up (like many players do) and then NE could have recovered it for a TD.
Could you cite the rule that supports this? As the ball never crossed the line of scrimmage, I think picking up a. X throwing oob would have been an option. That said, you run the risk of trying pick the ball up, so Sanchez made a wise choice Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Yeah. Here's the list of things that could have happened on that play: 1. Sanchez kicks it out for a safety. 2. Sanchez falls on it for a safety. 3. Sanchez tries to fall on it for a safety but the ball gets away from him and the Pats get a TD instead. 4. Sanchez picks it up and throws it away for an intentional grounding and a *drum roll please* safety. 5. Sanchez tries to pick it up but bobbles it and the Pats get a TD. 6. Sanchez picks it up and throws it away successfully, no safety. 7. Sanchez picks it up and throws a pick-6. 8. Sanchez picks it up and somehow completes a pass to somebody. Unless the game is on the line on *that* play the first option is the one you take. All the other ones are inferior given their likelihood of occurring. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to make the right call. It does take an idiot to make the call wrongly.
Yes, thats what happened. What bugged me was it looked like it may have possibly been close to touching the ref, in which case it (in my opinion) should have been a dead ball at the 1 or something. I have no rule to back that up but thats what seems fair to me, if it in fact did touch the ref, which I have no proof that it did that either.
I hate Sanchez, but that was the right play. If he had tried to pick the ball up and run, he would most likely have fumbled anyway. If he had picked the ball up, and thrown on a run play, we would have been flagged for illegal player upfield. Same result as kicking it out of the endzone.
Holy mother of fuck, is this serious? He's in his own end zone, his back to the line of scrimmage, the ball bouncing away from him, and he's practically a fumble machine under optimal conditions. Of course kicking it out of bounds is the right move. Its not even debatable. What's great is that he almost whiffed on the kick.
Don't. Even. Go. There. We'll be debating whether or not Sanchez can kick worth a damn for weeks if that conversation opens up right now.
if the situation was 100% safe where he could pick it up and chuck it id say go that route as worse case a grounding penalty is still a safety. i dont think that was the case. best move is to avoid disaster and defensive TD
