2011 NFL Season - A New Game

[tomalak301]

What a weekend for the 49ers and the Faithful. They win one of the best playoff games I've probably ever seen (At least the best one in a long long time) and now they get to host the NFC Championship game. Talk about a dream senario coming true. Of course I'm not going to take the Giants lightly becuase they played a hell of a game yesterday but I do have to say the Packers looked awful. So many dropped passes, 4 turnovers (Should have been 5) and I do wonder if the game against Kansas City took a lot of wind out of their sails. They did not look ready to play.

Still, looking at this optimistically, win or lose, I don't think anything can diminish the season the 49ers have had. They have the coach of the year (If he doesn't win it a crime would have been committed in football) and this was his first year. They can only get better which is scary for the rest of the NFC West.

Can't wait till Sunday and the NFC Championship game. One win away from their possible 6th Super Bowl. Who would have thunk that at the beginning of the season. I sure didn't.

 

[SmoothieX]

I'll give you a different take on that one. They weren't boing the 'hurt' player, or showing a lack of class. They were booing because the Pats were in a hurry-up offense for most of that, and it seemed that after every decent to big play, a Bronco suddenly went down and they had to stop the clock, slow things down, allow subs, etc. Granted, some of the injuries were legit, but in a great many of those cases, the injured player was right back on the field one play later, no worse for wear. Seems if you can't get up, need the trainers to check you out and help you off the field, you should miss more than 12 seconds of game time, no?

My wife and I watched this game and noticed it did seem a little fishy. I know football is violent and injuries happen, but the number of quick off and back injuries do make you wonder a little bit. But, that's no excuse to boo someone, because he really may be hurt, and you can't really tell how he feels.

Save the boos for the showboating, cheap shots, beanballs, elbows to the chops, etc.

I don't want to take anything away from what the Giants are accomplishing, but thinking back to a few weeks ago when the lowly Chiefs beat the Packers, I'm beginning to wonder, where the 2011 Packers the biggest myth of the season?

Every team is allowed one shit the bed game per season. I'm a Pats fan, and that game in Buffalo in September was a hot mess. You can write off the Chiefs game in that manner, I saw them in person, and they sucked it sideways.

I despise the Giants, but I'd take Eli over any current QB if I needed a road win in a big game.

Besides, the biggest myth of the season was the Eagles 'dream team.'

The Giants are looking like the Giants team that ended the Patriots "perfect" season a few years ago. They've gotten hot at exactly the same time, winning on the road.

(OK, they haven't won yet, but I think they will.)

I close my eyes, and imagine you as a football being spiked and losing 3 lbs of air pressure after Gronk scores a TD.

Ugh...I am going to NY this coming weekend for my mom's birthday, and will hear nothing but Giants stuff the whole time, and be stuck listening to the Pats game on the radio while driving home.

After the Packer disaster today, I'm in for the Brady win #4.

Always room on the bus for another Pats person.

taking 15-1 plus homefield advantage and throwing it in the trash is never going to sit right.

Trying taking 18-0 into the Superbowl and not coming out with a ring

Yeah, all we got as fans was ring sting after that game. Still feels like I'm wiping with sandpaper.

 

[Roger Wilco]

My wife and I watched this game and noticed it did seem a little fishy. I know football is violent and injuries happen, but the number of quick off and back injuries do make you wonder a little bit. But, that's no excuse to boo someone, because he really may be hurt, and you can't really tell how he feels.

That still doesn't necessarily mean anything. In a hard collision you might just get the wind knocked out of you, which takes you out of business for a couple minutes, but you can recover quickly.

I have a hard time believing faking injuries is used as a tactic anywhere in American Football, I don't think that fits the mindset of the players. They rarely even let themselves get carried off the field even with gruesome injuries.

I think 99 out of 100 times if a player stays down, there's a very good reason in this sport.

 

[Scout101]

Problem is, though, it DOES happen a lot. Not in normal play, but when the opposing team is in a no-huddle or hurry-up offense, and the defense is getting schooled. Someone will go down to get a quick time out, let the defense catch their breath, reset the plan, etc. When it's in regular play, you don't see it as much, but when the offense is in a groove, suddenly it becomes more prevalent. Which is what was being booed.

If you still have a hard time believing it's possible, check this out. Heck TWO people faked at the same time, they couldn't decide which one was going to do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PgQULPRKLc

 

[1001001]

Problem is, though, it DOES happen a lot. Not in normal play, but when the opposing team is in a no-huddle or hurry-up offense, and the defense is getting schooled. Someone will go down to get a quick time out, let the defense catch their breath, reset the plan, etc. When it's in regular play, you don't see it as much, but when the offense is in a groove, suddenly it becomes more prevalent. Which is what was being booed.

If you still have a hard time believing it's possible, check this out. Heck TWO people faked at the same time, they couldn't decide which one was going to do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PgQULPRKLc

Yeah, that was ridiculous.

 

[archeryguy1701]

Just a thought, but isn't it possible that injury timeouts become necessary because of the hurry up? Let's say a player really is having issues. During a normal offense, he would have the opportunity to get off the field, whether it be because he needs to get off or because defensive packages are changing. With the hurry up, defensive players don't have that opportunity. They are stuck on the field unless they want to risk having too many or too few people out there. Eventually, if they're stuck out there long enough, it could become a bigger issue.

Now, I'm not saying that there aren't cheap folks who would fake an injury to get the slow down- hell, your video proved that there are folks who'll do that. But like I said in a previous post, I really don't think that's what happened with Denver. The only defensive player who left and came right back that I recall was the safety Carter after a hard tackle using his head/ neck area, and he was gone for good before halftime with a neck injury.

 

[gblews]

Why is it that no one, including the announcers, saw number 91 of the Giants just knock the hell out of Rogers' head on that play? I guess everyone was too focused on the Giants' player who made the initial hit on Rogers (who didn't make contact with Rogers head). The roughing call was spot on.

Probably because number 91 didn't actually make a play. He was GOING to, but the other guy drive Rodgers into him. You can't get a roughing the passer call if you don't actually tackle him,

Regardless of whether or not number 91 "made a play" or not, he made contact with Rogers' head on the play. Roughness gets called whether it's deemed intentional or not. You've never seen a defensive player get called for roughness while attempting to hold up his attack? I sure have. That call is made based on the results of the contact, not the "intent" of the contact.

Also, a defensive player can get called for roughness even if he doesn't make a tackle. If there is contact with the quarterback's head or if the contact is considered by the ref to be excessive, the call can be made.

Considering that 91 made considerable contact with Rogers' head, even though the contact was initiated by another player, the call was completely understandable and appropriate.

 

[Yoda]

There was contact to the head for sure. I've seen a lot worse not get called, and I've seen a lot weaker get called. The problem is there's not much consistency in these calls... You get guys who accidentally tap a guy in the head getting penalties, and then you have Tebow getting his facemask practically ripped off and there's nothing.

In general the calls were going the Packers way yesterday, which makes the beatdown even worse. I was cheering for Dallas in week 17, then Atlanta last week because I knew both of those teams would be far easier for the Packers to deal with. But still, the Packers should have handled their business.

As for the Harbaughs and why I hate them. I don't know... maybe because Jim was a Bears QB? Then there was his stupid game management against the Cowboys. That really bugged me.

I always hated the Ravens, since the very start with Art Modell taking a shit on Cleveland (as if that town doesn't have it bad enough). So to some extent their Harbaugh inherited that hate. They also both kind of look like Rick Santorum.

 

[archeryguy1701]

Why is it that no one, including the announcers, saw number 91 of the Giants just knock the hell out of Rogers' head on that play? I guess everyone was too focused on the Giants' player who made the initial hit on Rogers (who didn't make contact with Rogers head). The roughing call was spot on.

Probably because number 91 didn't actually make a play. He was GOING to, but the other guy drive Rodgers into him. You can't get a roughing the passer call if you don't actually tackle him,

Regardless of whether or not number 91 "made a play" or not, he made contact with Rogers' head on the play. Roughness gets called whether it's deemed intentional or not. You've never seen a defensive player get called for roughness while attempting to hold up his attack? I sure have. That call is made based on the results of the contact, not the "intent" of the contact.

Also, a defensive player can get called for roughness even if he doesn't make a tackle. If there is contact with the quarterback's head or if the contact is considered by the ref to be excessive, the call can be made.

Considering that 91 made considerable contact with Rogers' head, even though the contact was initiated by another player, the call was completely understandable and appropriate.

I disagree 100%.... there is nothing that 91 can do about the QB being tackled into him. In fact, if you look at this video (it's the best one I can find), 91 looked to be pulling up and trying to move away from the QB. If he was still going in for the tackle, then yes it should be roughing the passer. But you can hardly be held responsible when someone gets tackled into you, and you shouldn't ge flagged for that. You point out that folks have gotten flagged for non-intentional actions.... the difference is that those flags have been for people making incidental contact while making a play. This guy was out of the play and incidentally got pulled into it.

 

[Timby]

Bill Leavy is a relatively bad referee in the first place, but he had a night of really bad calls last night. The non-fumble call alone deserves a demotion, because holy shit.

 

[tighr]

Here's a good screencap from the fumble that wasn't a fumble. Not sure if I'm allowed to directly hotlink the image, so I'll link to it instead:

http://30fps.mocksession.com/2012/01/15/because-everyone-needs-a-good-screencap-of-that-fumble/

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Well, that's not really a good screencap of anything since Corey Webster is blocking our view.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Why is it that no one, including the announcers, saw number 91 of the Giants just knock the hell out of Rogers' head on that play? I guess everyone was too focused on the Giants' player who made the initial hit on Rogers (who didn't make contact with Rogers head). The roughing call was spot on.

Probably because number 91 didn't actually make a play. He was GOING to, but the other guy drive Rodgers into him. You can't get a roughing the passer call if you don't actually tackle him, but pull off your route.

It was a terrible call. The guy went to the side and used his shoulder, basically a textbook tackle...

I don't know the number of the player, it was not the player who made the intial contact, but the follow up guy hit him upside the head, perhaps by accident, but it did happen.

 

[1001001]

How bizarre is this stuff coming out of Kansas City?

It got lost in the excitement of the divisional round, but there was an amazing story in the Kansas City Star, published on Saturday, about the allegedly negative environment from top to bottom in the Kansas City Chiefs' front office.

The Kent Babb-penned piece outlined a culture of paranoia that reportedly led ex-head coach Todd Haley to believe that his phone was being tapped and his office was bugged.

From the article itself...

Haley walked into the public relations office at Chiefs headquarters on a Thursday in early December. Four days before he was fired as the team's coach, he wanted to talk about what life was like inside this organization. But he didn't know who else might be listening.

Looking up toward the ceiling, he darted into a back hallway before hesitating. Then he turned around, going back through a door and stopping again. Haley suspected that many rooms at the team facility were bugged so that team administrators could monitor employees' conversations. [...]

This past year, Haley stopped talking on the phone and repeatedly checked his office for listening devices. After being fired, Haley didn't respond to interview requests; many former staffers said they signed confidentiality agreements upon being let go.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...ment-secrecy-intimidation-fear-175257336.html

 

[tighr]

Hahaha, comment on a youtube video about the bad calls in the Packers/Giants game:

Giants 37, Packers 6, Referees 14 (F)

 

[Pegaritaville]

We're one step closer to an all-Harbaugh Super Bowl. I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like that.

I'll be rooting for the Niners and the Ravens, but I'm not looking forward to the Harbaugh hype that would come with both teams making it to the Super Bowl.

Still bummed about my Packers losing. I had a feeling they'd be rusty after sitting so many starters in week 16, but I didn't expect them to look that bad.

 

[GoldsBawHair]

Giants will win it! Let's go giants ... Let's go!

 

[Sheep]

Aaaaaaand in news that should not surprise many, the Colts have fired Jim Caldwell after an abysmal season.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7471905/indianapolis-colts-fire-jim-caldwell-nfl-worst-2-14-season

 

[Caligula]

Aaaaaaand in news that should not surprise many, the Colts have fired Jim Caldwell after an abysmal season.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7471905/indianapolis-colts-fire-jim-caldwell-nfl-worst-2-14-season

It's about time. Caldwell was a lousy successor to Dungy. Even that Super Bowl run two years back did nothing to impress me as far as he was concerned. That had so much more to do with the team than the coach. I'd also contend they lost a great deal of momentum as a result of his decision to rest the starters with two games remaining in the '09 regular season.

 

[Timby]

Aaaaaaand in news that should not surprise many, the Colts have fired Jim Caldwell after an abysmal season.

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

So, let's talk about how we're going to prepare for next season. I assume you're drafting Luck?