TURNING POINT
John Kryk dissects the one play that started the Patriots’ winning rally
FOXBORO, Mass. — The play of the game for the New England Patriots in Sunday’s AFC championship game victory involved receiver Danny Amendola.
No, not his four-yard touchdown catch with 8:48 left in the Pats’ 24-20 defeat of the Jacksonville Jaguars, which trimmed the Patriots’ deficit to 20-17.
No, not his 20-yard punt return with 4:58 left that put Tom Brady and the revived New England offence just 30 yards from the go-ahead touchdown.
And, no, not his second TD grab with 2:48 left, that proved to be the winning score.
Rather, it was the play with 10:49 left that sparked the above big plays, and others, as the Patriots overcame a 20-10 deficit.
It was a third-and-18 from the New England 25, following an eight-yard Marcell Dareus sack of Brady, and a deep incompletion to Chris Hogan.
“Look, when you need 18 yards, I don’t have many calls on the call sheet that specifically are designed to be perfect calls for that situation,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Monday. “I mean, you have to have a couple, maybe, but that’s not a very ideal position to put yourself in.”
McDaniels called a smart shotgun play with three wide receivers, plus tight end Dwayne Allen to the right, and running back James White staggered left in the backfield.
The outside receivers, Brandin Cooks left and Phillip Dorsett right, ran deep hook patterns at the sidelines, which kept Jacksonville’s best pass defenders — all-Pro cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey (on Dorsett) and A.J. Bouye (on Cooks) — jammed to the sidelines, too. The safety on the right side, Barry Church, dropped deep to help Ramsey cover the speedy Dorsett.
When running back White flared out into the short left flat, the slot corner lined up on Danny Amendola — New England’s slot receiver on the left — abandoned his pass-drop and burst forward and toward the sideline, thinking Brady probably was just going to dump off to White.
When Brady looked that way and pump-faked, the linebacker pass-dropping to that side, Myles Jack, began moving that way too, further creating oodles of space in the deep middle.
Similarly on the right side, when tight end Allen sprayed out into the short flat, linebacker Telvin Smith — stationed to that side — began to run wide, to pick up Allen.
That left the entire middle open of the field open now for Amendola. He ran straight upfield from his inside left slot position, and cut hard to the right, once passing the line to gain 18 yards up-field.
Jacksonville’s deep safety in the middle, Tashaun Gipson, was a moment slow in breaking on coverage and Brady drilled a perfect pass to Amendola, who caught it for a 21-yard gain.
“They were in a quarters kind of coverage,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Monday. “So (Amendola) got behind the linebackers … and kind of split the safeties. Tom made a really good throw.”
Explained Amendola after the game: “Basically, I had a little bit of an option route in the middle of the field and I saw that there was room. I had pointed out the line (to gain) before the play snap so I knew where to get to.”
That was critical. How many times do we see a receiver run a six-yard route when eight yards are needed?
“I obviously didn’t see what happened to Cookie on the first read,” Amendola said, referring to Cook on his left-side deep curl. “And then Tommy had a great ball. I knew it was coming right by that ’backer or safety in the back. Great throw.”
Said Brady: “It was an unbelievable catch and big play in the game. I mean, that ended up being a huge drive for us. Without that, we don’t go down and score that (first fourth-quarter) touchdown.”
Gipson, the safety who closed down late on the route, injured a foot at Pittsburgh seven days earlier, and could barely run in practice on Friday. To his credit he did not use that as an excuse.
“Obviously, I would like that play back,” Gipson said. “I am a better player than to give up a thirdand-18. That’s Tom Brady.
“If we could re-run that play 10 times, nine out of 10 times I make that play.”
Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said the soft zone coverage his defence played was a safeguard in case the pass rush didn’t get home. It didn’t get home. The Pats offensive line held off a standard four-man pressure.
“The protection was the critical element of the play,” McDaniels said. “Tom moved a little bit in the pocket, subtly, to really try to buy himself an extra second or second-and-a-half.
“A lot of little things have to happen on plays like that in order to make them successful. Our guys really did a good job of executing in that situation under pressure, and making the play that we needed to make.”
If any of those elements failed, the Patriots are punting with just over 10 minutes left, still down 10 points. Jacksonville’s win probability would have skyrocketed.
Four plays later, Brady hit Amendola on his first of two TDs. The comeback was on.