NFL Discussion - 2013 Season

Well, Tebow did win a playoff game

I hope the Eagles don't fall asleep at the wheel with Romo out like they did with Adrian Peterson.

 

Eh, Cowboys fans suck regardless. It's hard to imagine them more obnoxious.

 

I would say it's been the Cowboys' hilariously terrible defense that's been blowing games for the past few years. They put up 36 points against a Matt Flynn-led Packers team and still lost.

I know that the narrative is that Romo throws interceptions in the fourth quarter. Looking at late and close (within 7 points), Romo has thrown eight interceptions during the last three years, tying him with, wait for it, noted chokers Tom Brady and Eli Manning. It will also shock nobody to find out that Romo has thrown an extremely high number of passes in that situation (nearly twice as many as Eli, actually) thanks to starting every game and being on a team that's been exactly .500 for three consecutive years.

Romo's overall line in that sample, for whatever it's worth: 191-296 (64.5%), 2393 yards (8.08 YPA), 18 TD (6.1%), 8 INT (2.7%), 98.6 quarterback rating. That's basically identical in all aspects to his career rates, shockingly so actually.

 

I thought Donnie Jones of the Eagles has had a great year (when things were rough, I probably would have said he was our best player ). But punter is not a position that gets recognized easily and they all play fairly similarly so it's hard to say any punter is snubbed.

Although, out of curiosity, what did Pat McAfee do? His numbers seem decidedly average at best (16th in total yards, 12th in average yards, 32nd longest punt, 15th for number of times inside the 20, and 27th for net punting average).

 

I think this is quite likely. The Cowboys' defense has been rough all season, but it's been hilariously terribad for the past six or seven weeks -- the only rushing defense that's worse is the Bears'. And after what the Eagles did to the Bears last Sunday night, I would not expect a low-scoring affair.

 

Well, you can't have people hitting other people at the Pro Bowl, that would be terrible. Of course he didn't make it

 

^ I have seen kickers have to make tackles before. I know David Akers has a few. It's less common to see punters do it, for some reason, although I have seen Sav Rocca make tackles before (he was an Aussie rules player before coming to the NFL, so that makes sense).

Are special teams chosen by popular vote as well?

I do think stats for kicking positions are hard. For punters, times inside the 20 and average punts are what I look for. I'd like to also see hangtime, but I can't remember seeing that recorded.

I agree that circumstances outside of one's control can account for a lot of placekicker statistics. That's why a lot of kickers can get in based on reputation (Adam Vinatieri is an example of someone who for years was a lock. He was certainly a great kicker, but I don't know if he was the best kicker each year). Punters, on the other hand, never get noticed, so it's hard to even get in by reputation.

 

What on Earth has happened with St. Louis? I've never seen a player ejected from a football game before today. And they've been losing their collective temper with the Hawks!

 

An ugly division rivalry got out of hand. 4 penalties on one play!

And the ejection came from completely accidental contact with the ref. It was a bullshit call, but I suppose they needed to get that game in hand.

A poor showing to finish the season for my Rams all the way around.



At least I can take solace in the fact that I'm not a Bears' fan...



What the hell was that? "Hey, let's let that guy just run right by us and see what happens..."

 

I've never seen them lose it like this. Back when you guys had Kurt as your QB, I rooted for them when they weren't playing the Hawks.