Considering how close the Patriots’ last gasp shot at the endzone was to being the greatest play in NFL history, I think it’s time that we break down just what it takes to successfully complete a hail Mary.
To start, there are two types of hail Mary plays. First up is the straight catch. In this instance, the offense simply heaves the ball into the endzone and hopes their player can out-jump the defender. Ironically enough, the Giants were able to successfully implement this type of hail Mary against the Green Bay Packers just a few weeks before the Patriots’ attempt fell short. Here’s what I’m talking about:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YNNYo3TomTw
I want to point out that the Packers did a very poor job of boxing out the receivers. Frankly, officials aren’t going to throw a flag on the defender on a hail Mary play unless the penalty was blatantly obvious. In this case, the Packers barely touched Nicks on the play. I also want to point out that this type of hail Mary takes slightly longer to develop than a standard hope-to-catch-the-tip one. That’s because the primary receiver has to be in position to make a legitimate play on the ball instead of just making sure the defender can’t get an easy interception. On this particular play, Eli Manning was able to buy himself plenty of time to make the throw to the endzone, and the Giants were rewarded with the touchdown.
The second type of hail Mary is the tip drill style. In 2010, the Jacksonville Jaguars were able to successfully pull this rabbit out of the hat to beat the Houston Texans in dramatic fashion:
In this case, Mike Sims-Walker is technically the primary receiver, but his job is really to make sure the Texans can’t get an easy interception. Yes, Sims-Walker wasn’t able to do his job very well, but the defender opted to bat the ball back (something many defensive coaches preach in hail Mary circumstances). Unfortunately, Mike Thomas was exactly where he needed to be to make the play and win the game.
Now, let’s take a look at the Patriots’ attempt at a hail Mary in Super Bowl XLVI:
As you can see, the Patriots had the play set up nearly perfectly. Their primary receiver was exactly where he needed to be, and the Giants weren’t able to get a solid beat on the ball. Unfortunately Wes Welker wasn’t where he needed to be. Go ahead, watch the clip one more time. Welker pulls up short of the play, which wasn’t so terrible, but he needed to be further to the viewer’s left. His other problem was that he was on the scene too quickly, virtually stopping any momentum he had moving forward. At that point, he really had no chance of catching the ball unless it hit him square between the numbers.
Unlike most facets of football, the hail Mary is one of the least predictable, most luck oriented plays. Sometimes you’re just at the right place and the right time. Regardless, they’re also some of the most nerve-racking moments in sports.
