acmesalesrep:

It’s too bad the media is fixating on the “Look! A big guy!” aspect of Dan Connolly’s return, because there’s a lot more to like about it from a pure football standpoint. It’s actually a very good return from a technical standpoint, one that a lot of true return guys could learn from:

0:03—Connolly calls Rob Gronkowski off the ball. Gronkowski sets up to the side to let Connolly field the ball cleanly.

0:04—Connolly fields the ball and immediately protects it with two hands in anticipation of contact with the coverage team. Gronkowski confirms Connolly’s got the ball then turns downfield.

0:05—Connolly gives the blockers time to engage then follows behind them (rather than juking like a maniac looking for an opening that hasn’t yet developed). This also lets him concentrate on protecting the ball and keeps him moving downfield.

0:07—Connolly clears the scrum and finds the opening. As he does, he gets up on the balls of his feet (giving him a surprising burst of speed for his size) and transfers the ball to his outside arm.

0:10—As he turns the corner, Connolly is already looking for his blockers. He knows he’s not going to win a footrace, so the question is how best to set things up for additional yards.

0:12—Charlie Peprah takes a swing at Connolly and misses. You can’t see it from this angle (though you can in the replay at 0:55), but Connolly holds him off with a textbook stiff-arm and simply muscles past as Sergio Brown comes in to help.

0:14—Connolly starts looking for the cut back under Mason Crosby and Atari Bigby. Again, he knows he’s not going to outrun them so he’s got to wait for some help.

0:15—The one ugly part of the return: Sammy Morris gives Connolly his opening with a blatant block in the Crosby’s back, causing Crosby to go down like he was shot. I don’t know how the zebra missed it; for all I know, he was thinking “A punter wouldn’t stop him anyhow. No harm, no foul.”

0:16—The Packers finally catch up to Connolly from behind and bring him down just shy of the end zone. But it takes two of them, after Bigby trips him up.

Collinsworth’s “Ohyougottabekidding…” at 0:09 was entirely appropriate. It’s just a shame that nobody in the press ever got beyond that. This was not a fluke play; this was something that Connolly was clearly very well prepared for. Why am I not surprised that we’d see that in a Patriot?

What’s so perfect about this play is a) the coaching, as you point out, was so good, and b) Big Dan’s stiff arm is the kind of play OLinemen dream about. He pasted that dude.