A Giant of a Trick Play!

After being down to the Carolina Panthers for most of the game, the New York Giants came back to take a one-point lead with just over a minute left.  But Graham Gano, the Panthers' placekicker, nailed a 63-yard field goal to win the game, 33-31.  Before Gano's heroics came a great trick play in the second quarter that had the Panthers completely fooled.

Check out the start of the trick play (click on image for a larger view).

The Giants faced a 2nd and 18 from their own 43-yard line.  All the action looks to be to the left of the Giants' line.  Two wide receivers were lined up to the far left, including Odell Beckham Jr (#13).  Giants' tight end Scott Simonson (#82) was in motion to the left.  Saquon Barkley (#26) was the lone running back.  When Giants' quarterback Eli Manning (#10) took the snap, tight end Rhett Ellison (#85) ran straight down the field.

Look at how the play developed in the next screen capture (click on image for a larger view).

Manning is firing to his left, toward Beckham.  Barkley is headed toward the right.  But Odell Beckham Jr is like a black hole on a football field.  When we think of a black hole in the cosmos, we think of an object that sucks everything in, and doesn't let go.  Normally, if a pass goes toward Beckham, the defense gets sucked in his direction, and he's not going to let go of the football.  That's what got the Panthers fooled!

Look at the attention Beckham is getting (click on image for a larger view).

Ellison has done his job in keeping the attention of Panthers' safety Mike Adams (#29).  Panthers' defensive end Mario Addison (#97) was getting sucked toward Beckham!  That allowed Barkley to sneak behind Addison like a stealthy Nittany Lion.  Beckham wasn't going to run; he was going to throw (click on image for a larger view).

Look how far to the left Beckham is when he let go of the pass.  Because Panthers' cornerback James Bradberry (#24) was flying at him, Beckham had to give his pass a little extra loft.  Another view helps show why Beckham had to loft his pass a bit (click on image for a larger view).

Look where Barkley caught the ball (click on image for a larger view).

He's all the way on the other side of the field!  Beckham threw the ball 31 yards down the field, and just over that same distance across the field.  He threw the ball over 45 yards in the air!  His pass left his hand at nearly 49 mph and at a lofty angle of 37 degrees above the horizontal.  The ball took 2.6 seconds to reach Barkley.  I found the trajectory.  Present was, of course, air resistance, which was about one-sixth of the ball's weight acting on the ball when thrown (click on image for a larger view).

The only Panthers' defender with a chance to catch Barkley was linebacker Jermain Carter Jr (#56).  But Barkley turned on the jets, hit 19 mph top speed, and left Carter in his wake.  The touchdown was a given (click on image for a larger view).

Odell Beckham acted first like a black hole in sucking all the attention of the Panthers in his direction.  He then acted like a pro quarterback with a nearly perfect pass to his rookie running back.  What a great trick play!

Gary O'Reilly of Playing with Science joined me on today's Check-Down piece for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for the audio.