Marcus Hamilton Helped Beat The Bears Again

Marcus Hamilton was brought up from the practice squad when Aqib Talib was hurt and Elbert Mack was suspended for the game against Chicago. He did a decent job; had a couple passes defensed and made a good tackle. But when the Bucs tried to sneak him back on the practice squad, the Bears claimed him off waivers. They liked him that much.

Now, as a Bear, he was a key player in the fascinating choke job they had against the Falcons in the last seven seconds of that game.

The key to the play was Hamilton. Instead of sinking to give [Mike] Brown enough cushion on the play, he bit up on the flat route. In a situation like this, a corner in any Tampa 2 scheme has to know that when there is a flat route in front of you there is most certainly a Dig (15-yard square in) or a 7 Route behind you. Atlanta couldn’t run the dig route with the amount of time left on the clock, so the only thing they had in that play was the hope that Hamilton would chase a flat route that had no bearing on the outcome of the game.

And he did.

One thing that separates NFL players from college players is their preparation and understanding of the situation. Hamilton has to know, as a pro, that there is only one route that Atlanta can run in hopes of getting to the sideline with time left to spare. It might look like Brown was too deep on that play, but Hamilton left him out to dry at the most inopportune time. Given the depth Brown aligned at due to the requirements of playing “Loose 2,” he has no chance to make that play. If the corner doesn’t sink, this is an easy pass to throw, and [Matt] Ryan threw a rope.

Hamilton doesn’t have a lot of in-game experience, so it’s not surprising that he bit on the route, but the fact that it was a rookie quarterback that executed the play doesn’t make him look any better. And so far, I’ve seen that particular pass replayed about 300 times in the last three days. And sure enough, he gets beat every time. It’s too bad, too, because he could have really helped his former team out by making that play and putting Atlanta a game and a half behind the Bucs.

On a different note, I really like Matt Bowen’s writing style and technical explanations. He was a safety with Washington for a few years, so he knows about covering receivers and what to look for. And since he’s not in the league anymore, chances are good he also knows about biting on routes and getting beat. It would be nice if Tampa reporters could offer this kind of analysis and depth. You can’t tell me there’s not a former Buccaneer out there with decent writing skills that wouldn’t jump at the chance to have his own column. Come on, Times… get it done. I’ll even fly down to Tampa to help Martin Fennelley pack up the shit in his office.