OT: OT - NFL HFLeaf thread

[Gary Nylund]

Coach blew it twice on 4th down.

The first was incredibly unnecessary. Up by 14, moving the ball well, defence playing well. Instead of going up by 17, messed the 4th down and gave SF life.

Receiver’s dropping passes is a sign that they were jarred by the turn of events and tried to do too much before actually catching the ball.

2nd 4th down, kick the damn FG and the game is tied after they scored, but nope.

Lions lost this game because of their coach’s penchants for risks.

@ACC1224: Campbell or Tomlin?

Death by freezing (Tomlin) or by burning (Campbell)?

Disagree. There were many passes that should have been caught, period. From the start of the second half they started dropping passes and they were still playing with the lead, seemed like nerves to me. I would also have kicked the field goal to go up by 17 but you could argue it both ways and if they make it, nobody's criticizing the coach and gambling and winning was how they got this far isn't it? If you exceed expectations and get this far, hard to blame the coach for not changing tactics out of the blue.

 

[LeafSteel]

Disagree. There were many passes that should have been caught, period. From the start of the second half they started dropping passes and they were still playing with the lead, seemed like nerves to me. I would also have kicked the field goal to go up by 17 but you could argue it both ways and if they make it, nobody's criticizing the coach and gambling and winning was how they got this far isn't it? If you exceed expectations and get this far, hard to blame the coach for not changing tactics out of the blue.

Disagree.

You are winning, your defence is doing what you need it to.

You keep putting up points any way you can and let your defence do its job.

Your main priority is don’t give them anything to give them hope, and keep putting up points.

SF won because the Lions lost.

 

[Buds17]

Campbell having the Lions (unsuccessfully) go for it on fourth down and 2 really helped turn the tide in the game, IMO. Just didn't think it was a risk worth taking with the team having a two touchdown lead, although I'm obviously glad to now have my team competing for The Super Bowl. SF most likely won't be able to claw its way out of trouble again though if it spots KC any kind of significant lead during the biggest game of them all.

 

[GoonieFace]

To be fair this is how the Lions played all year, so why change. If Reynolds’s makes 2 routine catches that game is over.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Disagree.

You are winning, your defence is doing what you need it to.

You keep putting up points any way you can and let your defence do its job.

Your main priority is don’t give them anything to give them hope, and keep putting up points.

SF won because the Lions lost.

All they had to do was keep doing what they'd been doing all year, and they would have kept putting up points. Instead, they started dropping passes.

To be fair this is how the Lions played all year, so why change. If Reynolds’s makes 2 routine catches that game is over.

Exactly.

 

[GoonieFace]

All they had to do was keep doing what they'd been doing all year, and they would have kept putting up points. Instead, they started dropping passes.


Exactly.

Their field goal kicker has like 4 attempts this year lol, they took him off the practice squad after week 14 I think. The only questionable call was running the ball on that last drive and burning a time out. I’m not a lions fan, but love their coach, he’s easy to blame but a catch off the face and a fumble on the next play really turned the tide

 

[ACC1224]

To be fair this is how the Lions played all year, so why change. If Reynolds’s makes 2 routine catches that game is over.

You have to adjust your game to the situation. Once they had the drops and the game started unfolding the way it did you make the adjustments that gives you a better chance at winning. They needlessly threw that game away by sticking to a script and that's even before they blew the timeout which made the onside kick do or die.
Brutal coaching and I'm certain he is being roasted in Detroit today.

 

[GoonieFace]

You have to adjust your game to the situation. Once they had the drops and the game started unfolding the way it did you make the adjustments that gives you a better chance at winning. They needlessly threw that game away by sticking to a script and that's even before they blew the timeout which made the onside kick do or die.
Brutal coaching and I'm certain he is being roasted in Detroit today.

Disagree, you don’t change how you play all year and they were 85% successful on 4th and 3 or less. 2 dropped passes sealed their fate, coupled with a ball caught off someone’s face. Their kicked attempted 4 field goals this year and was 59% from 45-49 in his career. The calls were correct, the execution failed. The only call you can question was running the ball on the last drive and burning a time out. The hindsight 20/20 culture is ridiculous

 

[ACC1224]

Disagree, you don’t change how you play all year and they were 85% successful on 4th and 3 or less. 2 dropped passes sealed their fate, coupled with a ball caught off someone’s face. Their kicked attempted 4 field goals this year and was 59% from 45-49 in his career. The calls were correct, the execution failed. The only call you can question was running the ball on the last drive and burning a time out. The hindsight 20/20 culture is ridiculous

Nothing ridiculous about pointing out mistakes, what a dumb comment.

 

[GoonieFace]

Nothing ridiculous about pointing out mistakes, what a dumb comment.

One mistake, not multiple which you suggest. Going for it on the 4th downs were 100% the correct calls, they did it against the Rams and Bucs as well, and nobody complained because they worked out.

 

[shaner8989]

Lamar Jackson gonna choke everytime

 

[GoonieFace]

Lamar Jackson gonna choke everytime

That was a prime example of a team changing its identity in a playoff game. How does Edwards only get 3 carries?

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Both arguments are valid for the 4th down decisions. In fact, seems like every model had the winning percentages almost dead even for either decision (slight edge to going for it, by 0.2-0.3%)

On the first one, I think if you have a chance to make it a 3 possession game, you take it. However, they were aggressive all year and drew up a good play that was dropped by Reynolds (not the greatest throw, but certainly catchable). Didn't mind the decision on the second one.

Missed sacks, drops, failed INT, fumble in own territory, wide open receivers, failed 4th downs......Lions gifted SF the win.

 

[Squiffy]

Jesus Christ 9ers, my liver can't take these games, I'm not that young anymore.

 

[ACC1224]

Jesus Christ 9ers, my liver can't take these games, I'm not that young anymore.

One more game.

 

[Squiffy]

One more game.

Thankful for the bye lol..

 

[Sniper99]

Thankful for the bye lol..

I wish they would just turn on Madden and simulate the game just to get this over with. Niners knocked out my Packers and I just dont need to hear about Swift and Kelce and then Mahomes weirdo wife and douche brother celebrating in the booth

 

[ACC1224]

I wish they would just turn on Madden and simulate the game just to get this over with. Niners knocked out my Packers and I just dont need to hear about Swift and Kelce and then Mahomes weirdo wife and douche brother celebrating in the booth

That's how I felt watching the Ravens and Chiefs. If only they could both have lost.
You're right about the Chiefs, that circus has made them so easy to dislike. I've hated the Ravens for as long as I can remember and I found myself pulling for them at times yesterday.

 

[keonsbitterness]

To be fair this is how the Lions played all year, so why change. If Reynolds’s makes 2 routine catches that game is over.

I don't mind that philosophy in general, but you're playing better teams in the playoffs. If you don't convert, those teams are more likely to make you pay.

I also don't like the idea of passing up a FG with a 14 point lead. A made FG increases your advantage to a three score lead.

 

[BertCorbeau]

I actually liked that particular 4th down call, as they had been moving the ball well on offense up to that point. And I also consider their kicker wasn’t that good, particularly from longer distances.

A TD would have been a way to sway momentum heavily to Detroit’s. Bad execution from Reynolds.

But that’s the risk. It was definitely the turning point of the game. They could have rallied from that but the Lions did themselves in.

 

[Gary Nylund]

My favorite sports quote this season is from Patrick Mahomes when he said something like "if I play better, everyone will play better" when the team was struggling earlier in the season. I posted that here a few times saying I wish we had leadership like that on the Leafs!

Well he did lead the way by playing better and just like he said would happen, everyone else played better to. Now they're in the Super Bowl again and once again he's showing leadership by asking the team to stay away from Vegas temptations this week, and promising to bring back the team to Vegas to party if they win. I can only imagine how good this Leaf team could be if Matthews possessed this kind of leadership capabilities!

Mahomes is the man!

 

[Darcy Tucker]

I smashed the KC money line and a few prop bets like Kelce to hit 25+ yards per half and anytime TD. I have a parlay that pays 20x going that involves several stats. Hope it hits. Go Chiefs. Should be a wild one.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

Post Malone what

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

That was sick

 

[Maple Leaf]

Jesus Christ 9ers, my liver can't take these games, I'm not that young anymore.

wow i am the opposite