Okay, we all know that Wes Welker should have caught that 4th quarter throw from quarterback Tom Brady that would have put the Patriots at the Giants' 20 with a two point lead and less than four minutes to play. But Welker's drop isn't the "reason" the Patriots lost. Yeah, that play is going to be tough to watch for a very long time, but the Patriots had plenty of other opportunities.
When I look back at Super Bowl XLVI, I'm going to see a game of missed opportunities. The defense was great at keeping points off the field for about 57 minutes. However, they let three fumbles hit the ground and didn't recover one. They had a turnover called back by a ridiculously bone-headed 12 men on the field penalty. They missed a couple of opportunities at interceptions. They could have made a stop on the Giants final drive... they didn't.
Tom Brady and the Patriots offense didn't score a single point following the opening drive of the second half. Tom Brady missed throws. There was that unfortunate interception. Had the Patriots scored any of those drives, we're not talking about Wes Welker as the goat of the game.
The bottom line is that football is a team sport. The Patriots had opportunity after opportunity to put that game away, and the ball just didn't bounce in their favor. It sucks to lose another Super Bowl like that, but what are you going to do?
Wes Welker has been a terrific football player for the New England Patriots. The Patriots likely aren't even in Super Bowl XLVI without the guy. I know he's going to take this one hard. I know the fans of New England are going to take this one hard. But for once, instead of throwing out blame, lets give "da Welkah" some support.
Join me in tweeting @WesWelker with words of encouragement.