Did anyone else wonder about the play call/throw by Eli on third and eight with 1:48 to play and the ball on the Saints' 36 yard line? ( Saints had 1 timeout remaining )
Obviously I am pleased that it turned out to be the game winning play of the game. However, it was a very risky ( 50/50 ) throw to make given the game situation and given that Cruz was tightly covered the entire route. An interception would have been devastating and might easily have cost the Giants the game. Only a great play by Cruz saved the day.
Why not a safe, short throw for the first down. An incompletion at that point would still have left the Giants within field goal range.
NO was stacking the middle of the field, betting Eli would not go deep in that situation. They bet wrong.
Also the pass really should have been broken up or even intercepted - we'd be killing a Giant DB who let Cruz make that catch.
Exactly! Well played, Sir!
And to some extent why he has 200 INTs in his career, and not considered "elite" by some.
But like you said, its those kind of plays that gave us 2 magical SB runs & wins. I'll take the 2 SB wins, & the SB MVPs, thank you very much.
It sucks that when Favre did the same, he was referred to as a "gunslinger", a great HOF QB, who knows when to take chances, but in Eli's case its "but but but..."
The thread wouldn't be here about Cruz, if Beckham does his
job, on a relatively easy catch. They came out on top,
but they still have work to do.
That was a gutsy call in that situation, and while I would've been pissed if it didn't work and we lost, I cannot argue that that is Eli, always has been. He is a gunslinger.
Quote:
pass to make it a more reasonable FG. They were at the the 36 - that's a 54 yarder. Not sure Ben even tries it. Brown missed from 52 earlier. You can't risk giving Brees the ball back at the 44. A 5-6 yard pass brings the FG under 50 and of course the receiver could pick up the extra couple of yards for a first down. It was a gutsy call by either Ben (if Cruz was the first option) or more likely Eli.
Also the pass really should have been broken up or even intercepted - we'd be killing a Giant DB who let Cruz make that catch.
Exactly! Well played, Sir!
Brown's missed 53 yarder was a football width or less outside the post with plenty of distance. It wasn't hooked or poorly struck. He just didn't have it lined up correctly. Not a bad miss at all.
Not sure BM attempts the 54 yarder there, just in case of a miss that would have given the Saints the ball on the 44 with less than 2 minutes. If it was earlier in the game, he would definitely try the FG.
Great GiFs NFL4... !