3gifs2014

GIFs That Defined Patriots Super Bowl Win Over Seahawks

February 2, 2015 by Mike Dussault

As expected, this was a game that was tied at the half and went down to the final play. The Patriots found themselves in a 10-point hole in the fourth quarter and, after giving up four-straight scoring drives, things were looking a little bleak as the Seahawks got the ball back.

First, I have to start with a 3rd-and-1 red zone stop of Marshawn Lynch, a play that everyone seems to forget about when talking about the last play of the game. Without this stop, we might’ve been looking at overtime. Siliga does a great job holding the POA while Ninkovich crashes down to make the stop.

Now we’re in the fourth quarter, and the Patriots had to get a stop to keep the game from slipping completely out of comeback reach. So this nextGIF, a Rob Ninkovich sack (thanks to great coverage) is the spark that ignited the rally.

The Seahawks punted, but things still weren’t looking good for the Pats after a sack on first down put them into a hole. This 3rd-and-14 conversion to Julian Edelman was one of the best plays of the game and Edelman paid a vicious price for making the catch. Without this play, the Pats probably would’ve lost.

Edelman makes another huge third-down catch on this same drive, and it almost look like a carbon cop of the last one. Brady climbs the pocket and shows great touch to set the Pats up inside the red zone. They’d score a touchdown two plays later to cut the lead to 24-21.

Seattle got the ball back with clinging to a three-point lead with momentum clearly on the Patriots’ side. Once again the defense rises to the challenge, forcing a three-and-out. Credit great initial coverage from Jamie Collins on this third down to get the ball back in Tom Brady’s hands.

The Patriots wouldn’t face a third down on the game-winning drive, due to a couple great plays to Rob Gronkowski. This one on 2nd-and-11 got the Pats into Seahawks territory and at least on the edge of field goal range.

Then this one to Gronk got them inside the red zone with the chance to take the lead. Everyone contributed on the last two drives, including Shane Vereen and Brandon LaFell, who would make the next two plays after this one. The Pats would take the 28-24 lead a couple plays later.

Once again, Tom Brady got the Patriots a lead in the Super Bowl and it came down to the defense getting a stop. After the miracle catch by Jermaine Kearse, the Seahawks were set up inside the 10 yard line. This stop on first down by Hightower and Chung was a championship-saver. Knowing now that Hightower was playing with a torn labrum makes it look even more impressive. Everyone will remember the last interception, but this gritty stop was every bit as important.

And of course, the play that everyone will remember for all of NFL history.

See the entire season of GIFS THAT DEFINED THE GAME here.

GIFs That Defined Patriots AFC Championship Win Over Colts

January 19, 2015 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots steamrolled the Colts once again, en route to their sixth AFC conference title in the last fourteen seasons. In a blowout of this magnitude, it’s hard to pick the individual plays that the game hinged upon.

The easiest place to start is on the muffed punt catch by Josh Cribbs that set up the Patriots’ first score. This is exactly what the Colts did not want to do – hand the Pats an easy opportunity for an early lead.

The Pats finish the first drive with an impressive run by Blount where he probably could’ve been stopped but just kept fighting.

As soon as this next pass below was completed, I called Develin would get in. He’s just too much of a load to be stopped on the half-yard line.

Of all of these plays, the touchdown to Solder was really the one that sealed it. I’ve been waiting for them to throw to Solder ever since they drafted the former tight end, just like I was waiting for Edelman to throw one. Never thought they’d bust both of them out in back-to-back weeks.

Now the blowout is on, so let’s just enjoy some of these touchdowns. I don’t know how anyone defends this one on Gronk.

Next, things go from worse to worser as Revis explodes from the wash to pick off a floater from Luck. I don’t think I was alone in just not wanting Revis to get hurt after snagging this one.

Finally comes another tough run by Blount, taking it in from 13 yards out with another hard nose run that sums up how things went for the Colts trying to stop the Patriots on the ground the last few games.

Find the entire 2014 season of GIFs That Defined the Games HERE.

GIFs That Defined Patriots AFC Divisional Win Over Ravens

January 13, 2015 by Mike Dussault

This was a back and forth game, with nearly constant swings in momentum. The Patriots dug themselves out of two fourteen point holes and we found ourselves in a tie game at the start of the fourth quarter.

So it’s no surprise that all of these GIFs come from that fourth quarter, with the game on the line. This is where the big plays had to be made, and these four are the ones that got the Patriots the win.

We begin with a third-and-goal early in the fourth, with the Patriots defense having yet to get a red zone stop the entire game. This was a strength of the defense this year, and here they came through in the clutch, which is all that matters.

It should’ve been no surprise that Flacco looked to his tight end in the middle of the field. The Ravens have scored a bunch of touchdowns on this route, including one earlier in the game that the Pats had pretty well-covered. Daniels’ stutter step is enough to open some space behind Collins, but Chung comes through, getting just enough of a hand in to break it up. Forcing a field goal here opened things up for the Pats to finally take their first lead of the game.

Next we have the Patriots on their very next drive after holding the Ravens to a field goal, facing a difficult third-and-6 outside of field goal range. Danny Amendola has gotten plenty of criticism this year, but this play, where he fights off two tacklers to pick up the first down is nothing short of amazing. He should’ve been stopped. The Pats should’ve been punting. But he wasn’t and the drive continued.

Now, after two plays that haven’t gotten much attention, we have two that have gotten plenty. First up is Brady’s game-winning touchdown to Brandon LaFell. I was excited for LaFell in this game all week but he was relatively quiet until this huge play. Just an absolute dime from Brady, who’s long distance accuracy has been fodder for criticism constantly the past five years. Just a money play to the best free agent outside wide receiver acquisition since Randy Moss.

Lastly comes the final interception that all but sealed the game. Duron Harmon has shown great range in his first two seasons and it’s on display here. Credit also has to go to Jamie Collins, whose pass rush forces Flacco to throw off his back foot. That was the ball game.

Find all of the regular season GIFs The Defined… articles here.

GIFs That Defined Patriots Win Over Jets

December 22, 2014 by Mike Dussault

This was a great game with a lot of turns, especially in the second half. The Jets always get up for the Patriots, especially at home, and did a good job of shutting down the Patriots offense.

The Pats won the special teams battle and were able to close it out on offense. That was pretty much the difference.

Here are the plays that defined the win and show the kind of the team the 2014 Patriots are.

We begin with Danny Amendola ’s punt return that set up the Pats’ first touchdown of the game. Amendola needed to step up in Julian Edelman’s absence and he did so both as a receiver and returner.

Red Zone defense might be the defining characteristic of this Patriots defense. Here they face a 3rd-and-7 and are able to get the stop as Hightower correctly diagnosis the handoff and makes the play as the Jets get good push to the side they’re running to.

Here we are again, a third-down stop in the red zone. This time it’s the speed of Jamie Collins that sniffs out the swing pass. In the past, the Patriots did not have the kind of athletes that could make this play. Collins showing great range.

Later in the third quarter, it’s Collins again making the play with an interception 20 yards down the field.

We’re in the red zone again with the Jets inside the 10 yard line, mid-way through the fourth quarter. This time, it’s a relentless pass rush from Chandler Jones and good coverage that puts the Jets in a hole, and eventually leads to a field goal.

The Jets are in Patriots territory once again, posed to take the lead, late in the fourth quarter and it’s third-and-four. That’s as tough a down-and-distance as there is for a defense. The Pats disguise a blitz, but it’s the Jets runningback’s decision to help the tackle instead of blocking Dont’a Hightower that set up the sack. Hightower and Jones are making the big plays in the big moments.

There hasn’t been much offense shown here, because really, there isn’t much to show. But this is the kind of play that you might need in the playoffs. A third-and-1 with the game on the line. The Pats have struggled on third and fourth down short-yardage situations this season.

So to convert this one to seal the win should be a good confidence boost.

Previous Three GIFs:

3 GIFs That Defined Patriots Division-Clinching Win Over Dolphins

December 15, 2014 by Mike Dussault

After a barren first half, there were plenty of plays to choose from in the second half that came to define this game. Had the result gone Miami’s way, the sequence at the end of the first half would have certainly been included in all of its awfulness.

But the Pats came out guns blazing in the second half, and the narrative of the game shifted from what was shaping up to be another down-to-the-wire divisional matchup.

While Brady’s 17-yard scramble was a key moment in the game, it’s already been GIF’d here so we’ll stick to some lesser-shown plays that stood out. But Brady’s run really sparked the team in this one and deserves a lot of credit.

We begin with the first play of the second half. Gronk had no catches in the first half? Well here he is off of play action going for 34 yards, putting him over 1,000 for the season. This play was an immediate message that the Pats weren’t messing around anymore. They kept this momentum going for the rest of the game.

Another thing that changed in the second half was Belichick listening to the pleas on Twitter (I think) and putting Jonas Gray back in the game. Gray finished the game with 11 carries for 62 yards and this was his longest, a gain of 14. Gray just seems to have a strength and burst about him that seems to counter some of the Pats’ OL struggles in the run game. Let’s hope he continues to get more carries, he’s done nothing but play well

Finally, instead of one GIF you get three! All of these play demonstrate the dominance of the Patriots’ front seven, led by the return of Chandler Jones. The Pats can blitz or drop so many guys, all of whom cause different kinds of problems for opposing blockers.

Here the Pats have just one DT and the Dolphins try to run. Chandler Jones shows total dominance over Pouncey, pushing him into the backfield and making the tackle. This pass rush package could be deadly in the playoffs, especially if they can stop the run like this.

This time Chandler has a pure edge rush, getting the sack and forcing the fumble. Chandler was so good in this game I’m left wondering if he even really was hurt, or were they just saving him to unleash him now?

Finally comes a “meet at the quarterback” sack and this one shows what this defense is capable of in terms of disguise. Chandler drops into coverage and Collins blitzes, while Ninkovich wins cleanly off the edge. This demonstrates both winning pass rush via scheme and via pure physicality. All of this is vital to the Patriots’ Super Bowl chances.

Previous Three GIFs:

3 GIFs that Defined Patriots Win Over Chargers

December 8, 2014 by Mike Dussault

Had to throw some bonus GIFs into this one because there were so key many moments that just had to be included. For the most part this game was a defensive struggle, but the Patriots just made a couple more big plays in all three phases that made the difference.

We have to start with Brandon Bolden’s blocked punt, which I admittedly missed because I picked the wrong time to hit the concession stand. I’m just not used to the defense forcing quick three-and-outs like they did last night. Not only was this a big boost for the Pats, but it also broke Scifres collarbone and put him out of the game. Had their kicker not done a pretty good job filling in, this play might’ve been more impactful in terms of field position. This play got things going.

Next comes a blown-block sack by Ninkovich. These are the critical moments in big games, when you’re down in the second half and you must get off the field on third down. You can put it all on the Chargers (like Philip Rivers did after dusting himself off), but some credit must go to the Patriots scheme that was sending and dropping guys creatively.

You knew this next one was coming. The huge number of Patriots fans reigned down boos in the stadium after this replay and yes, it probably shouldn’t have been called, but since it didn’t come back to bite them in the ass I love that this play is all over the place now. Talk about an easy way to define the Patriots’ defensive personality, all the air play of this hit is sending a message to the wide receivers of the NFL. Keep ya’ head up!

And yes, the call left us all like this:

Now comes the play that broke it open, Edelman’s long catch-and-run, the furthest of his career. This is what the Patriots do, they hang in there no matter how flat they looked earlier in the game, and suddenly they have a nine-point lead and are ready to close it out. I’m glad the offense came through like this too, for the defense’s sake. They deserved to win with that performance.

Lastly, we come with a double sack from the interior duo who rose to prominence last year – Chris Jones and Siliga. Great to see how they close the pocket and get the sack to force a third-and-long and eventual punt on a critical series. These GIFs should the complimentary football the Pats are playing right now. If that continues, they’ll be an extremely tough out no matter who they play.

Previous Three GIFs:

3 GIFs That Defined Patriots Loss to Packers

December 1, 2014 by Mike Dussault

This was one of the easier weeks to pick out three plays that defined the game for the Patriots.

As is the case when two good teams meet, it’s the big plays that define the game and the Packers made more of the big plays, especially in the first half when they got a lead and never let go.

It’s not surprising that the first two plays I picked were the longest two plays of the game – both 45 yards apiece.

The first comes on a third-and-two late in the first quarter with the Packers up 6-0. Logan Ryan was in off-man coverage here to accommodate the stack release of the wide receivers. Ryan looks for the out route just a moment long enough for Adam to cut upfield. Rodgers shows great arm strength, winging it off his back foot and placing it perfectly. The Packers would score a touchdown on the next play and the 13-0 hole was built. The Pats talked all week about not letting the Packers get off to one of their signature fast starts. That all went to crap after this play and the one that followed it. A punt here and the game could’ve unfolded a lot differently.

It won’t be a surprise for anyone to see Jordy Nelson’s touchdown just before the half here. Just unacceptable on so many levels. Yes Revis got beat but McCourty needs to make that tackle, and I’m not even sure the Pats should’ve been in Cover-1 here anyway, though it was the catch-and-run that burned them, not getting beat deep. This was shades of the old Patriots defense – the ones who would always give up points before halftime if there was even close to enough time left. Giving up a touchdown like this is the kind of situational football that will give Belichick an ulcer. A huge momentum play, taking the game from effectively a tie at the half to putting New England in a two-score hole. This would be the last time the Packers would see the end zone in this one, so that’s a small silver lining.

Finally we close on the only sack the Packers got in the game, but it came at a critical moment, with the Pats on the edge of the red zone, poised to take a late lead. Most Patriots fans were probably pretty confident Tom Brady would deliver a touchdown here, I know I was, but the drive stalled, setting up this third-and-long, a down-and-distance they’ve been successful on lately.

I’ll need to see the All-22 to know if Brady would’ve had anyone open, but Solder is beaten soundly while Connolly gets beat quickly as well, giving Brady no chance. Tough time for a protection breakdown. It’s moments like this you have to win in the playoffs or else it’s lights out.