Why abandon the run game?!
What was the Atlanta Run-Defense ranked going into Super Bowl Sunday?
26th. Yup... 26th, and throughout the entire first half of Super Bowl Sunday that same 26th-ranked Atlanta run-defense was outperforming the New England defensive scheme ten-to-one!
What Does That Have To Do With Shanahan Abandoning The Run Game???
I'm glad you asked... It comes down to fundamental football strategy. IT LITERALLY IS THAT SIMPLE. When your "Little Giants" are playing defense out there like the New York Giants... YOU GIVE THEM A BREAK! It's called economy my dude. Shanahan completely failed to come to the realization that by the end of the FIRST QUARTER his passing game was all but useless!
Okay, No... Julio And Hooper Had Pretty Decent Games Though...
Julio Jones is without-a-doubt, the best wide receiver in the National Football League. That being said, of course he will still make some lemonade out of tired old lemons every now and then! As for Hooper, the tight end position is one of the most exploitive receiving positions in the sport of football. Unless you have centered your passing-defense around TE coverage, that TE will make some plays repeatedly. However, go into the locker room at halftime and what does a coach do when he's gotta fix a pesky TE problem??
HE SQUASHES THAT PROBLEM LIKE A BUG.
Hooper was an absolute non-factor in the second half; not for lack of trying on Shanahan's part...
28-3 Though...
When you are winning a football game by that much in any case, much less the Super Bowl, you utilize your running backs and manage that clock. It's literally that simple. When the Patriots began to force three-in-outs stopping the Atlanta run attack, Shanahan freaked out and had Matt Ryan air it out. Problem is, that solution is useless if the team is A) coming back, and B) murdering your passing attack completely...
The bottom line is this, Devonta Freeman takes at minimum 4-yards just to fall down... Tevin Coleman, his backup, is just as good and just as effective. With that lethal of a run attack, you do NOT abandon ship at the first wave of Patriots defensive line and throw the ball for help... Shanahan not only relied on a failing passing game, but also a defense that had been playing WAY above its caliber and that inevitably got tired and plum worn out.
Congratulations to the New England Patriots, 2017 National Football League Champions.
OH! and congrats to Kyle Shanahan on the biggest choke in Super Bowl History.
