NFL Discussion - 2013 Season

As strange as it is to say, the Broncos have managed to go even more conservative without Fox. They need to stop taking their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter and put more points up. They are not good at running the ball and draining the clock when the other team expects it, and run, run, pass on 3rd and long is not a recipe for success. Denver is fortunate that the Chiefs have no offense and the Chargers are allergic to doing anything as heroic as a fourth quarter comeback. However, if Denver stops putting up points and Brady gets the ball back down one score, he won't waste the shot like the other two teams did.

 

You gotta give the Broncos a pass in last nigh't game though. Nobody is putting up a lot of points on that Kansas City defense. That and Peyton's bum ankle had the Broncos trying to take a little of Peyton's plate with more running and quick release throws to avoid contact.

 

I fully understand and agree with the need to take some pressure off of Manning and try to strike a more equitable pass-run balance. But this is two weeks in a row where they turtle up in the fourth quarter and have very dubious success with running the clock and playing to not lose. Like I said, the Broncos are not built for running the four-minute offense and they're not very good at it. If they line up in an obvious run formation and the defense reacts accordingly, they are unable to pick any worthwhile yards with any consistency, and running twice and throwing on third & 9+ is not the path to consistent success. I'm not expecting them to hang 50 on the Chiefs, but moving away from their strength at the end of a tight game will get them killed against teams with a better offense. Any team other than SD and KC would have taken advantage of getting the ball back at the end of the game.

 

Chris Collinsworth was talking about how KC needed a Hail Mary pass after the two minute warning to have a chance at coming back. Down 10 points with under a minute left in the game, what is Andy Reid/Alex Smith's idea of a Hail Mary pass from their own 30? A one yard "strike" to Jamaal Charles.

 

Well there is some merit to the line of thinking that you would prefer to get the ball in the hands of a capable runner and block for him like you would a punt returner. Probability rate is considerably low on both but I would rather have Charles try to bust one than trust Alex Smith to heave one into the endzone. They can always play the lateral game for awhile too and see how that works.

 

OH FUCK.

 

I was wondering what the Trek BBS's biggest Patriots fan would have to say. I don't even like New England... in fact I despise them... but they got screwed on that final call. That was defensive pass interference all the way. No question about it.

 

Come on Neroon, does this really look like it's his momentum carrying him away from the play? While I think there would be very little chance of that ball being completed if it was played cleanly (just based on the way he was covered), you can't just take the receiver out of the play like that. At a bare minimum, it should have been defensive holding. As much as I enjoy watching the Patriots lose, they should have gotten one last play.

 

I'm blaming the loss to the Steelers on the Lions being blinded and disoriented by those throwback uniforms.

 

Its hilarious to hear all the Pats fans complaining about this on the talk radio shows. This game isn't the difference between the Pats making the playoffs or not (probably getting the division and possibly getting the #2 seed bye either way).

Besides, everyone knows the BIGGEST BULLSHIT call involving the Patriots and a game that matters is Tuck Rule, and that went your way. Without it, the Raiders probably have a Super Bowl ring and Brady probably never goes anywhere with his career.

 

why do you even bother chiming in on Patriots stuff? Just say you hate the Patriots, mumble about the tuck rule, and move on. We get it, stop trolling and drop it. Tuck Rule was garbage, but it was 12 years ago, and called correctly per the rules (as dumb as they were). And it wasn't made up out of nowhere, Pats actually had a Tuck Rule call made against them during the regular season that year, so they didn't dust off some random thing to keep the game alive. It also wasn't a game-ender, that play after TIED the game. Oakland still shit themselves after, allowed a longer drive, a 45 yard FG in a blizzard, Oakland decided to play for OT rather than make a last push, then allowed ANOTHER big NE drive in the aforementioned blizzard for ANOTHER FG to lose. Wasn't a final play with the ref deciding the outcome, they had another couple drives to score anything or stop the Pats. Oakland wasn't that great anyway, and would have had to still beat the Steelers and the Rams (greatest show on turf and all that), HUGE leap to 'probably win a ring". Especially since you blew a game to the lowly Patriots up 13-3 with only a couple minutes left in the 4th quarter. Get over it.

That said, seems pretty blatant. If you don't like the call for pass interference, defensive holding or even illegal contact works (it's well after 5 yards). Giving a bearhug and pushing the receiver out of the play and away from the ball (oddly, making it then uncatchable because he's too far away?) doesn't seem quite in line with the rules. Got jobbed there, and kinda sick of New England games (football and baseball) ending on crappy/controversial plays lately.

And yeah, obviously making the playoffs, doesn't make this a less crappy call. And if it's the difference between #1 and #2 seed, or worse, #2 and #3, even crappier.

Tighr, does it make it a more acceptable call just because the Pats didn't need the game as bad? It's either a penalty or not.

 

Scout summed up my thoughts pretty well.

It comes down to a judgment call whether it was catchable or not, and the refs said it wasn't. Here's my question...if the defender wasn't on Gronk like a cheap suit, might it have been catchable?

I don't buy that argument either.

 

Even if it's deemed not catchable, that still leaves you with defensive holding or illegal contact, which (if I understand correctly) don't require the ball to be catchable to still be a penalty.

 

Oh wahhh. It was a decade ago. It probably doesn't help that the Raiders lost in the SB the next year, and have sucked for the last decade after that.

Granted, I'm glad you think that one of the greatest QBs in the history of the NFL would have had his career destroyed because of that one call. A stupid rule yes, but it was a rule, and the official enforced it.

Thats not what happened last night.

 

It looks as though it would have been catchable, yes. It's also conceivable that it would still have been intercepted, but that's a lot less likely without Luke Kuechly wrapping both arms around Gronkowski. I'll take it. I feel dirty doing so, but I'll take it.