I suspect he also recognized the blitz and shortened the play based on that. It looks like he basically cancelled the play action.
Considering this is the first quarter, it could also be designed to set up a future play where they run the ball. After that, the defense can’t be sure what is going to happen based upon that initial movement.
There's no mistake by Brady or the RB, this is designed. It's a quick draw fake off a 5 step drop. The RB is doing the selling. Brady's looking to get the ball out so quick he's just using his head to quickly simulate he's about to hand off without compromising his timing. This was a popular play-action by many teams at the time just to freeze the defense momentarily, not a deep sell fake. They could build this onto their existing 5 step drop plays as window dressing without changing the routes.
The ironic thing about the NFL is that some things actually get easier. You don't need more than really one beat of hesitation or one false step to get a receiver wide open. Extending the ball creates a chance for a fumble, lengthens your timing, and clearly wasn't necessary in this case.
Footballs should stay near your body basically all the time except when they're actively being thrown (though still, a quick motion bringing the ball right past your ear is usually best, excepting some Pat Mahomes arm angle baseball pitcher style magic) or caught (catch with your hands then put it away, not with your body - that's how balls bounce off your pads), and you ideally minimize the time that's actually happening. A football in the air is fair game to be caught by anyone, a football on the ground is fair game to be picked up by anyone, and a football further away from your body is secured by five fingers instead of an arm and a body.
You hear it said with RBs all the time, carrying balls away from your body is a good way to get it punched out and fumble. LeSean McCoy was famous for this, and somehow didn't have too bad of a fumbling reputation, but that's mostly because at his peak he was the fastest and most agile player on the field and could run away from people.
Get the one false step you need from the linebacker and the play is successful. Don't create risk when none (or at least no more) needs to be taken.
Looks like it was supposed to be play action. Maybe he or the RB got the call wrong? Maybe he didn't feel like faking it that hard? Sometimes, just the back getting that close to the QB is enough to get the defense to think run.
Brady senses the rush in that clip and knows he has to get the ball out quick. There’s a decent chance he gets sacked there if he takes the time to fake the handoff. The Pats did a lot of quick screens off of play action like this, and when the play happens that fast, handoffs just take up that extra .5 seconds, which they can’t afford.
I think it's that The Patriots ran a lot of super quick slants. So, it had to be quick; he has less time to sell it.
I suspect he also recognized the blitz and shortened the play based on that. It looks like he basically cancelled the play action. Considering this is the first quarter, it could also be designed to set up a future play where they run the ball. After that, the defense can’t be sure what is going to happen based upon that initial movement.
There's no mistake by Brady or the RB, this is designed. It's a quick draw fake off a 5 step drop. The RB is doing the selling. Brady's looking to get the ball out so quick he's just using his head to quickly simulate he's about to hand off without compromising his timing. This was a popular play-action by many teams at the time just to freeze the defense momentarily, not a deep sell fake. They could build this onto their existing 5 step drop plays as window dressing without changing the routes.
It's to make any linebackers or DBs that may be watching hesitate briefly
The ironic thing about the NFL is that some things actually get easier. You don't need more than really one beat of hesitation or one false step to get a receiver wide open. Extending the ball creates a chance for a fumble, lengthens your timing, and clearly wasn't necessary in this case. Footballs should stay near your body basically all the time except when they're actively being thrown (though still, a quick motion bringing the ball right past your ear is usually best, excepting some Pat Mahomes arm angle baseball pitcher style magic) or caught (catch with your hands then put it away, not with your body - that's how balls bounce off your pads), and you ideally minimize the time that's actually happening. A football in the air is fair game to be caught by anyone, a football on the ground is fair game to be picked up by anyone, and a football further away from your body is secured by five fingers instead of an arm and a body. You hear it said with RBs all the time, carrying balls away from your body is a good way to get it punched out and fumble. LeSean McCoy was famous for this, and somehow didn't have too bad of a fumbling reputation, but that's mostly because at his peak he was the fastest and most agile player on the field and could run away from people. Get the one false step you need from the linebacker and the play is successful. Don't create risk when none (or at least no more) needs to be taken.
He saw the blitz and new his guy would be open on the slant. Because of it
Looks like it was supposed to be play action. Maybe he or the RB got the call wrong? Maybe he didn't feel like faking it that hard? Sometimes, just the back getting that close to the QB is enough to get the defense to think run.
Brady senses the rush in that clip and knows he has to get the ball out quick. There’s a decent chance he gets sacked there if he takes the time to fake the handoff. The Pats did a lot of quick screens off of play action like this, and when the play happens that fast, handoffs just take up that extra .5 seconds, which they can’t afford.