[ColoradoTree]

I think the "right look" would have been just one defender lined up on Whalen.  There, you'd assume Whalen snaps the ball and blocks the defender, with the "quarterback" having a lot of green in front of him. 

I realize this isn't exactly the biggest thing wrong with that play, but why have the QB lined up under center there?  Have him in the shotgun, where he can at least do something with it (including a pooch punt if nothing looks right). 

They did that with Pat McAfee--the best punter in football--sitting on the bench, too.  I'm all for the occasional fake punt to keep teams off balance, and McAfee has successfully converted a few in his day (both running and throwing), so if you want to draw something up, why not do it from a conventional punting formation?  And if the purpose was to draw off the defense, keep Luck out there, try and get someone to jump on a hard count, and either run a play (if Luck sees something he likes) or take the delay of game penalty (if he doesn't), in which case you're still trotting out the best punter in the game to pin the Patriots back.  I get that execution was terrible, but it's difficult to understand the upside of that play and formation. 

Shame, too.  If the Colts punt there and get a stop, we're looking at a different ballgame, where the Colts stick with the (successful) run game a little longer instead of shifting to obvious passing formations and allowing the Patriots to load up in the secondary.  New England was clearly a better football team, but the Colts were in prime position to steal one there. 

[ColoradoTree]

I think the "right look" would have been just one defender lined up on Whalen.  There, you'd assume Whalen snaps the ball and blocks the defender, with the "quarterback" having a lot of green in front of him. 

I realize this isn't exactly the biggest thing wrong with that play, but why have the QB lined up under center there?  Have him in the shotgun, where he can at least do something with it (including a pooch punt if nothing looks right). 

They did that with Pat McAfee--the best punter in football--sitting on the bench, too.  I'm all for the occasional fake punt to keep teams off balance, and McAfee has successfully converted a few in his day (both running and throwing), so if you want to draw something up, why not do it from a conventional punting formation?  And if the purpose was to draw off the defense, keep Luck out there, try and get someone to jump on a hard count, and either run a play (if Luck sees something he likes) or take the delay of game penalty (if he doesn't), in which case you're still trotting out the best punter in the game to pin the Patriots back.  I get that execution was terrible, but it's difficult to understand the upside of that play and formation. 

Shame, too.  If the Colts punt there and get a stop, we're looking at a different ballgame, where the Colts stick with the (successful) run game a little longer instead of shifting to obvious passing formations and allowing the Patriots to load up in the secondary.  New England was clearly a better football team, but the Colts were in prime position to steal one there.