NFL 2012 - Drive to Glory

[Caligula]

And the Super Bowl XLVII Champions are... the New England Patriots. Thanks a bunch, Baltimore.

[Gil T.Azell]

For the Denver Bronco's


Go Seahawks Go !!

[SmoothieX]

It is what it is.

[Caligula]

Gil T.Azell wrote:

---

For the Denver Bronco's

....That is all.

In regards to the Seahawks, though, I'm with you all the way.

[Timby]

Just cancel the Super Bowl, that was the best game we'll see this entire postseason.

Awful officiating, however.

[gblews]

Not being too fond of either team, the Ravens - Broncos game was a win win for me. I was happy to to see either or both (wish it was possible) lose. But the fact that it was also a good game...I'm very satisfied. Now I can comfortably root against Baltimore next week.

Hmm, 9ers - Packers so far is closer than I thought it would be. SF's D is not playing the way they are capabe of playing, at least into the third quarter.

[Skywalker]

Oh, Peyton. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Ar-Pharazon]

49ers/Packers....not so close now

[Timby]

Skywalker wrote:

---

Oh, Peyton. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Ah, yes, a man = a team.

The first pick wasn't on him at all, and the fumble was a borderline tuck rule that I thought should have been overturned. The interception in overtime was the second-biggest play in the game, but one bad interception in five quarters does not make him responsible for this loss, at least not solely.

I mean, he had pretty clearly lost some zip on his arm about halfway through the fourth quarter, and why shouldn't he be? That game ran far longer than it should, and he's 36 and playing in thin air.

There were a lot of factors going on, here. The Ravens' offensive line brought forth an incredibly unexpected performance in pass protection -- they played their minds out, well above any level they've shown this season. Flacco's lone sack was almost entirely on him. Also, Denver's secondary, Champ Bailey in particular, completely shit the bed. They haven't looked that terrible all season. And there was that little last-minute fourth quarter touchdown that may have featured the worst safety play I've ever seen in my life.

Honestly, the most egregious decision of the game was to kneel with 30 seconds and two timeouts left. I don't understand that at all, and even though John Fox trends towards being a conservative coach, that was bizarre even for him. With how gassed the Ravens' defense was (they had lost a few steps as early as the end of the third quarter) and having those timeouts in the bank, it should have been easy for Denver to at least get into range for a Prater bomb.

[Skywalker]

Easy, Timby. I was referring more to his less-than-stellar luck in the playoffs than his actual performance. It was pretty obvious that he can't put as much on the ball as he used to, a lot of his passes had barely any zip on them. And yeah, John Fox's ridiculously odd and conservative playcalling didn't help matters.

[Timby]

Skywalker wrote:

---

Easy, Timby. I was referring more to his less-than-stellar luck in the playoffs than his actual performance. It was pretty obvious that he can't put as much on the ball as he used to, a lot of his passes had barely any zip on them. And yeah, John Fox's ridiculously odd and conservative playcalling didn't help matters.

Sorry, I've just been seeing a lot of "Peyton can't do it in the playoffs" narrative since the game and it's driving me nuts.

Honestly, getting to a Super Bowl under Jim fuckin' Caldwell should be worth an extra win or two.

[Caligula]

Well, Peyton won't be going to the Super Bowl this year.... but at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that Charles Woodson won't either!

I'm really starting to become a big fan of Colin Kaepernick. If he can keep performing like he did tonight (almost 200 yards RUSHING!), the 49ers should be in the Super Bowl. I haven't seen the Packers this stunned since the end of the Seattle MNF game.

[Skywalker]

Timby wrote:

---

Sorry, I've just been seeing a lot of "Peyton can't do it in the playoffs" narrative since the game and it's driving me nuts.

Honestly, getting to a Super Bowl under Jim fuckin' Caldwell should be worth an extra win or two.

Although as a Patriots fan it was definitely nice to see Peyton go down in the playoffs again.

I'll bet CBS was hoping for a Peyton/Brady match-up in the AFC Championship Game. Ratings!

[Timby]

I think most people could have seen the Packers' loss coming -- their secondary was pretty woeful all year, but that was an abysmal performance, even for them. The defense repeatedly had no fucking idea what to do against the option, despite them playing the option last week and having similar issues.

That should have been fixed in practice, but the Packers actually looked unprepared.

[Yoda]

Ugh, both Harbaughs advancing. Order of preference for Super Bowl winners now Patriots, Falcons, Texans, meteor colliding with Earth extinguishing all life before Super Bowl is held, Ravens, 49ers, Seahawks.

The gameplan from the Packers was ridiculous on both sides of the ball. MN did us a favor by abandoning the option stuff with Webb and Peterson right away even though it was working. San Fran happily kept it rolling all game, they of course had the bonus that their QB can actually make throws as well... but just pathetic that we had no answer for it.

On offense... ehh.. I'm not even going to get into it. At least we got solidly whooped to end the season this year and last. The close losses hurt more.

Oh, and they had it right when they had Ross on kickoffs and kept Cobb for punts last week. I didn't get that switch at all.