OT: NFL Playoffs Thread

[Jacoby4HOF66]

You serious? They have an established pattern of bending and breaking the rules. If there's any team that deserves to win a Super Bowl the least, it's the New England Patriots. They stopped Seattle's previous drive on a defensive pass interference that went uncalled and the "winning" TD was a blatant push off.

#13 for SEA pushed off on a couple of his big catches. **** happens.

10 down at the start of the 4th quarter against the best defense in the league. An earned win that cannot be dismissed.

 

[Capitlols]

Niners Nation @NinersNation
Hey Sherman, how much did the Seahawks lose by?

 

[sycamore]

You serious? They have an established pattern of bending and breaking the rules. If there's any team that deserves to win a Super Bowl the least, it's the New England Patriots. They stopped Seattle's previous drive on a defensive pass interference that went uncalled and the "winning" TD was a blatant push off.

I think its safe to say the Patriots have usurped the Cowboys as the most hated team in the country.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

#13 for SEA pushed off on a couple of his big catches. **** happens.

10 down at the start of the 4th quarter against the best defense in the league. An earned win that cannot be dismissed.

**** seems to happen an awful lot in the Patriots' favor.

It can absolutely be dismissed, and there will be an asterisk by the win forever, especially when the NFL retroactively punishes the Patriots for the deflating thing.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

**** seems to happen an awful lot in the Patriots' favor.

It can absolutely be dismissed, and there will be an asterisk by the win forever, especially when the NFL retroactively punishes the Patriots for the deflating thing.

We shall see, but I doubt the NFL takes this SB win away from NE like the NCAA took that national title away from USC and Pete Carroll.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

We shall see, but I doubt the NFL takes this SB win away from NE like the NCAA took that national title away from USC and Pete Carroll.

Of course they won't take it away. If there were any danger in that, they'd have played Indy vs. Baltimore last week. They'll be found at fault, which will confirm they cheated to get there, and get a slap on the wrist, which will confirm the different standard they have from the NFL.

 

[g00n]

What a terrible ending to an otherwise decent football game. Such a dumb playcall. Why in the world would you do that? Maybe they wanted to get Wilson another pass TD. Or didn't want Lynch, who is disgruntled as hell and likely on his way out, getting the glory at the end. Could they just have overthought something so obvious?


And the Seahawks didn't help the situation with that meltdown. Just what the NFL needs...more bad behavior. If the Pats did cheat earlier in the playoffs it may not have directly affected a SB in perfect conditions but it did affect the run to the SB that got them there (where they were handed the win on a platter in the final seconds by a sore loser team).

But hey, dancing sharks at halftime. So we're good.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Great football game tonight.

I'm annoyed at what I consider a horrible coaching decision by PC/DB to throw the ball there when you have the best power RB in the league and you are up against a D that is the worst at defending it.

Losing Lane and Avril to injuries really hurt.

That being said, the Deflatriots deserved to win tonight. Seattle blew a 24-14 lead in the 4th quarter and Brady got it done.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

As far as the Deflatriots getting punished for deflating footballs, I wouldn't bet on it. They don't want to make the Deflatriots look bad and give the league a black eye after their win tonight.

 

[EroCaps]

The Patriots have been to six Super Bowls and won 4. Do they bend the rules? Yes. Do most teams? Yes. Their organizational structure is second to none.

**** the Seahawks and their classless stars (not Wilson). I'm annoyed they won 1 let alone 2.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Last night just showed me how far we (Redskins) are from consistently being competitive, let alone actually winning. And I'm not just talking about the huge gap in talent on the field, but coaching. Can you imagine Jay Gruden trying to get through the Mike McCarthys, Bruce Arians, or Pete Carroll's just to get to Bill Belicheck or Jim Harbough? Laughable.

 

[BobRouse]

Good game. I still hate the Patriots.

RE: Last call - decison to pass

The Seahawks had a 3 WR set going against a goal line package defense. It wasn't an absurd call by any stretch. NE was daring Seattle to throw it at that point and sometimes things don't go your way.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

The Patriots have been to six Super Bowls and won 4. Do they bend the rules? Yes. Do most teams? Yes. Their organizational structure is second to none.

**** the Seahawks and their classless stars (not Wilson). I'm annoyed they won 1 let alone 2.

Since 2001 NE has:

-14 straight winning seasons.
-Played in 9 AFC Championship Games
-Played in 6 SBs
-Won 4 SBs
-Only 16-0 regular season record in NFL history
-12 AFC East Titles

Yes the organizational structure is 2nd to none, and when you consider this was all done in the salary cap/FA era, even more impressive. I wouldn't mind the Skins being in the same situation. Not one bit.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

What a terrible ending to an otherwise decent football game. Such a dumb playcall. Why in the world would you do that? Maybe they wanted to get Wilson another pass TD. Or didn't want Lynch, who is disgruntled as hell and likely on his way out, getting the glory at the end. Could they just have overthought something so obvious?

I had the same thought RE: Lynch leaving, but the obvious call then is: Turbin up the middle!

Also, that pass is the kind of thing that can break a player's brain. Russel Wilson is going to have a great 7 months replaying that in his head over and over.

 

[g00n]

Good game. I still hate the Patriots.

RE: Last call - decison to pass

The Seahawks had a 3 WR set going against a goal line package defense. It wasn't an absurd call by any stretch. NE was daring Seattle to throw it at that point and sometimes things don't go your way.

It was a TERRIBLE decision to pass. Goal line D still has DBs and at least one safety. And I don't care what package the defense has there, you don't put it in the air and risk interception or a batted ball or a sack. You're also throwing it right in the heart of the D where they would be expecting to stack against a run anyway. In the case of that pick play, you're also risking getting a penalty called that would put you back and force you to pass, which makes it easier for the defense (and you're down to 1 timeout, iirc).

You have Lynch, Turbin and Wilson all capable of running the clock down and punching it in. It was practically a gimme, and they took an unnecessary risk that 99.999% of the time no coach is going to take.

I don't know if there's a bigger blunder in SB history.

 

[BobRouse]

It was a TERRIBLE decision to pass. Goal line D still has DBs and at least one safety. And I don't care what package the defense has there, you don't put it in the air and risk interception or a batted ball or a sack right in the heart of the D where they would be expecting to stack against a run anyway. You have Lynch, Turbin and Wilson all capable of running the clock down and punching it in. It was practically a gimme, and they took an unnecessary risk that 99.999% of the time no coach is going to take.

Meh..I don't agree. I can see that point but can also see what the coach was thinking. Came down to execution.

Also...

Lynch has been a problem. He's aging and wants a new contract. Hawks offered him a new one a couple days before the SB and I guess he didn't want it. 90% chance he's on his way out.

Russel Wilson is about to be their highest paid player and maybe the highest paid player in the league.

If you're going to invest in Wilson then it makes sense to put the ball in his hands on the last play there.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Not running Lynch on 2nd and goal at the 1/2 yard line was outrageous no matter what the defense had on the field. Although, after the game, someone brought up the stat that Lynch had 5 rushing opportunities from the 1 yard line this past season and only scored once, but still, the odds were definetly in Lynch's favor.

And to the defensive alignment, the guy that made the INT was the 3rd CB in the goal line package and NE ran him out when they saw SEA put in 3 WR's. So NE was ready for the pass if it came, and they were.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Also, I usually love NBCs football productions (even though Collinsworth is unbearable) but it was ridiculous that nearly 100% of the camera angles were of the line and the QB. Wilson routinely had 5, 6, 7+ seconds in the pocket/scrambling behind the line and they never showed the downfield coverage.

 

[g00n]

Meh..I don't agree. I can see that point but can also see what the coach was thinking. Came down to execution.

Also...

Lynch has been a problem. He's aging and wants a new contract. Hawks offered him a new one a couple days before the SB and I guess he didn't want it. 90% chance he's on his way out.

Russel Wilson is about to be their highest paid player and maybe the highest paid player in the league.

If you're going to invest in Wilson then it makes sense to put the ball in his hands on the last play there.

Who you "invest" in long term should not have anything to do with what play you call in the waning seconds of a SB from the 1yd line with a running QB and two hot RBs (one of which had already run over 100yds) against a mediocre run defense. By far the percentage play that every football person knows is to run the ball until you're forced to pass.


It wasn't even play action. It was from the shotgun. They knew pass or a draw up the middle was coming. All you have to do is play toward the middle unless the WR breaks hard outside.

Carroll's explanation:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/what-w...explanations-make-little-sense-062200547.html

Here's what Carroll said: "We sent in our personnel, they sent in their goal-line [unit]. It was not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down we throw the ball to really kind of waste that play. If we score, we do, if we don't, then we run it on third and fourth down."

Waste that play. Those words are almost as stunning as the call itself. There were 26 seconds left.

The Seahawks did waste the play. They also wasted the season.

Of course the Patriots would send in their goal-line unit. The play was on the goal line. And the play would have been on the goal line again if Lynch was stopped. And the same on fourth down. This is a running back who is known as "Beast Mode" because he runs over much larger people consistently and unyieldingly. There was a near certainty he would run over just one or two more, and give Seattle a championship.

Makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

I don't know if there's a bigger blunder in SB history.

The only thing I can think of blunder wise in the SB before last night was Thurman Thomas mis-placing his helmet.

 

[g00n]

The only thing I can think of blunder wise in the SB before last night was Thurman Thomas mis-placing his helmet.

Even Scott Norwood's missed FG was 47yds...not a gimme even without the pressure.

I think this is #1.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

The Patriots have been to six Super Bowls and won 4. Do they bend the rules? Yes. Do most teams? Yes. Their organizational structure is second to none.

**** the Seahawks and their classless stars (not Wilson). I'm annoyed they won 1 let alone 2.

The Patriots won because their opponent was not the New York Giants.

 

[Capitlols]

Last night just showed me how far we (Redskins) are from consistently being competitive, let alone actually winning. And I'm not just talking about the huge gap in talent on the field, but coaching. Can you imagine Jay Gruden trying to get through the Mike McCarthys, Bruce Arians, or Pete Carroll's just to get to Bill Belicheck or Jim Harbough? Laughable.

100% agreed, could not help but think this throughout the entire game. The way both teams excel in all phases of the game, in game coaching adjustments, and the ability to execute when needed. Redskins are so far away and it's going to be another wasted year with Gruden at the helm.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Even Scott Norwood's missed FG was 47yds...not a gimme even without the pressure.

I think this is #1.

I wouldn't consider Norwood's miss a blunder, he just missed the kick. It was the right call at the time, the player just didn't make the play. This was a NFL coaching staff making a horrible play call, and in turn the players not executing the play call well either. 2 and goal at the 1/2 yard line, 2 time outs left, with the modern day version of Earl Campbell at RB and they call a slant pass in heavy traffic that results in an INT. Complete debacle.

Did a quick search and Fox has a top 10 SB Blunders. Norwood is on there, but to me blunders are dumb plays. Garo Yepremian's errant pass/fumble that Mike Bass returned for a TD and Leon Lett's premature celebration fumble are blunders, IMO. But neither were part of a SB loss.

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/lists/...I+-+The+ultimate+football+folly&photo=9122916

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Good game. I still hate the Patriots.

RE: Last call - decison to pass

The Seahawks had a 3 WR set going against a goal line package defense. It wasn't an absurd call by any stretch. NE was daring Seattle to throw it at that point and sometimes things don't go your way.

Lynch is the best power back in the league and NE is the worst in the league at defending these situations.

PC always preaches run first/low risk to win games and yet they run a play where there is all kinds of possibilities for disaster.

They have a $10,000,000 extension for Lynch and then they turn around and basically tell him that they don't trust him to get the job done with 2 or 3 cracks from the one yard line.

I'd rather Seattle have lost by playing to their identity and their strength and going against NE's weakness. Not throwing a 50/50 ball in tight coverage to their 3rd receiver. (at best)