But beyond that, there's been plenty of debate about whether Wes Welker should have been able to haul in Tom Brady's pass with about four minutes remaining in Super Bowl XLVI. Former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien is one person who feels Welker has received too much grief following "the drop" and New England's eventual loss to the Giants.
"That wasn't a drop," O'Brien told The Boston Globe's Greg Bedard. "That would have been a tremendous catch, and he should never think twice about that. And it had nothing to do with us losing the game. There were many, many plays before that where we could have made better coaching decisions, and better plays. That's just one play of many."
Welker was uncovered in the left seam on second down with just over four minutes left in the game, but he was unable to haul in Brady's pass, which would have gained 25-30 yards for the Patriots and put them in the red zone with a running clock and a 17-15 lead. Instead, the Patriots were unable to then pick up a first down on third down, and were forced to punt, giving Eli Manning a chance to orchestrate a game-winning drive for the Giants.
Welker took a lot of heat for not making the play, although it would have been a tremendous catch had he been able to reel it in, as Brady's throw was far from perfect. The wideout immediately shouldered the blame himself following the loss.
"It comes to the biggest moment of my life, and [I] don't come up with it," Welker said after the game. "It's discouraging."
The amount of blame really seems to have discouraged O'Brien a bit, as it's obviously something that's still bothering him even as he moves on to his new head coaching gig at Penn State.
"I would tell [Patriots fans] they should be very grateful, I'm sure they are, to have a player like Wes Welker as a Patriot," O'Brien said. "He is what Boston is all about, in my opinion. He's a hard-working guy, he's a tough guy, he's an honest guy, nothing was ever given to him…he's what Boston is all about."
Well, drop or no drop, O'Brien is right about all those things.
