In any Super Bowl, there are a lot of moments that could have changed the outcome. Wes Welker’s drop in the fourth quarter, which would have given the Patriots a first down in field goal range with less than 4 minutes to play, has become the focal point of this one and Welker puts the responsibility squarely on his own shoulders.
“The ball’s right there,” Welker said. “I’ve just got to make the play. I’ve made it a thousand times in practice and everything else. It comes to the biggest moment of my life and [I] don’t come up with it. It’s discouraging.”
Welker is one of the surest-handed receivers in the NFL, and Chris Collinsworth was dumbstruck, saying during the broadcast, “That catch, Welker makes that 100 out of 100 times.”
“It hit me right in the hands,” Welker said. “I mean, it’s a play I never drop, I always make. Most critical situation and I let the team down.”
To be fair, it was anything but a gimme. The throw was high, although catchable, and Welker leaped high enough to get both hands on the ball. It would have been a great catch, but it is the kind of catch he characteristically makes. It was a surprising drop, but not on par with Jackie Smith’s infamous drop in Super Bowl XIII.
“Wes was running down the field and it looked like they messed the coverage up a little bit and I threw it to him,” Brady said. “[Welker] went up to try and make it, as he always does, and we just couldn’t connect. He’s a hell of a player. I’ll keep throwing the ball to him for as long as I possibly can. He’s a phenomenal player and teammate and I love that guy.”
