Wes Welker's dropped pass was one of several "what-if" plays the New England Patriots failed to make in Super Bowl XLVI.
Sometimes sports can be unforgiving and unrewarding for the players who do all the right things. On Sunday night. one of the hardest working player alive, Wes Welker, dropped a pass that he has caught all season long. Tom Brady threw a back shoulder ball to Welker, who quickly adjusted and spun back towards it and simply could not hang onto it. The play came with roughly 4 minutes remaining and the Pats leading 17-15. NBC showed the New England Patriots’ sidelines as players reacted in a shocked manner knowing the play might come back to haunt them.
It certainly will for a long time after the Patriots suffered their second straight defeat in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants in four years. The Giants have taken three straight from the Patriots in similar fashion with game winning touchdown drives in the final minute on all three occasions.
Welker’s play is the most memorable, but the truth is the Patriots made plenty of mistakes all game long. Brady drew a safety on the first offensive snap for the Patriots and also threw an interception early in the 4th quarter. Jerod Mayo ran right past an easy interception in the endzone that turned into a 9-0 lead for the Giants. The Giants fumbled three times and the Patriots did not recover one thanks to bad bounces and a timely penatly for too many men on the field. Patrick Chung and Sterling Moore could not prevent a deep pass by Eli Manning to Mario Manningham which helped surge the Giants’ winning drive.