let's face it, it was a great defensive play by a undrafted rookie.a slant on the 1 yard line is a good call or a fade to the corner of the endzone
the guy did make a great play.
the play in itself might be a viable call on the 1, but not against that defensive alignment.
that's what makes it a bad call. if they are stacking the box then an inside slant runs right into the defense. with everyone packed so tight there really isn't a chance for an incompletion, if it bounces off the receiver there's no room for it to hit the ground before someone snags it.
the real problem is this. carroll sent in a 3 receiver set, so he expected the pats to defend those receivers which would have created room over the middle for the slant to work.
he didn't expect them to ignore the receivers and stack the box. when the pats did that, wilson didn't adjust, he just followed the play given to him, not giving consideration the pats D was not spread out like it should be.
a more experienced QB would have audibled or looked for the second option.
belichik guessed right. carroll should have called TO when he saw the pats weren't lined up as one would expect when a 3 WR set is out there.
he is trying to spin it, note how he fudges his words when he mentions the match ups, that they had their goal line people in and he had 3 WRs so he like the matchup........but then why throw inside right where the meat of the D is stacked?
viable call, but bad because the D knew it was coming and carroll and the QB didn't realize it.