Wildcard Weekend Thoughts

[Oswlek]

Here is a smattering of semi-lucid thoughts after 16 hours of football this weekend.

* As as I'll be if the Tebow-train runs into and over Foxboro next Saturday, I would have been almost unhealthily furious had Pittsburgh taken the Patriots out. They had no business whatsoever even taking that game into overtime, let alone winning, and to see them move on at NE's expense would have been unbearable. On their final drive I said to my wife when it looked lost, "Something has to happen because Pittsburgh doesn't deserve to win this game".

* I already posted in the middle of the WC gameday thread, but as impressed as I was with Houston's defense, much of their success was due to the predictibility of Cincy's offense. Until the game got out of hand, every sack was simply due to Dalton refusing to look away from Green. He'd literally stare him down, hoping against hope that he'd come open until the pressure finally got there.

The good thing for Houston is that they won't face a quarterback this week either, so if their run defense is as energized as it was this past week, they very well could be in the AFCCG next week.

* The refs had a brutal weekend. They had numerous spotting issues, completely botching two enormous turnovers and allowing a staggering level of holding in the Pitt/Den game. Elaborating on these

Spotting - when the game was still managable from Detroit's perspective, NO was handed a free 3rd down conversion deep in their own territory despite it being caught a full yard short. In Sunday's early game, Atlanta had a 4th and inches sneak that was very close. While the chains were being brought out, the ref on the ball literally picked it up and moved it back an inch or two twice! How could he possibly be that certain it needed 3 inches of correction? And why two seperate moves? Of course the ball was a couple chain links short. It was just very strange, almost intentional looking.

Turnovers - Detroit was correctly given a turnover, but they would have returned it for a TD had the whistle not blown. A TD there and Detroit would have been up 21-7 late in the first half. That was a gamechanging screw-up.

Of course, we all know about the fumbled lateral that would have put the Pitt game away. Question for those who watched live, what the hell was Phil Simms babbling on about? He appeared to be trying to explain why the call was right, but all I heard was, "I'm full of bullshit ".

Holding - I counted no less than 10 somehow-blocking-the-rusher-despite-the-fact-that-he-is-between-me-and-the-quarterback holds. Many of these predictibly occured when Pitt was scrambling to come back, but, to be fair, Denver was doing something similar on a couple of their big plays as well. And that doesn't even count a seemingly unlimited number of arm-bars and jersey pulls. It was evenly called, so I guess I could live with similar officiating next week, but the sheer gratuitous level of holding unflagged was surprising.

* Just like NE did in their November meeting, Atlanta played right into NY's hands with their offensive gameplan. You need to respect their DL, but Atlanta was beyond respect, they were deferential, even fearful. When you do that, you play right into their hands and actually make it easier for them. As good as they are, you still need to make them prove it before pussying out.

I also can't say demonstratively enough how terrible the 4th and 1 sneak late in the game was. Hey dipshits! You did this already! And went nowhere! And now you are going to try it again from a bunched formation? WTF?

If you are going to sneak, at least spread them out and give yourself the element of surprise. How an NFL coach can call something that stupid at that critical of a time is beyond me.

* After making an impressive play to give Atlanta their only points on the day, Sanders went on to demonstrate why NE released him. I saw no less than three truckings by Jacobs, as well as numerous athletic failings in coverage. As helpful as his brain would have been, James' body has seen better days.

* Marvin Lewis also spit the bit, failing to challenge what appeared to be a possible fumble on Houston's opening TD drive and then panicking with two "make up" challenges that obvious had no chance whatsoever in panning out. The first round is as far as his teams are going to go.

* They got away with the occassional hold, but Denver's OL was downright dominant in pass protection last night. Is that them improving or has Pitt been that bad at bringing the heat this year without me realizing it?

 

[HSanders]

Saddest thing about the dreadful officiating? These are SUPPOSEDLY the best rated officials.

If there's a drug for "premature whistleitis" I hope they pop 'em like candy before this round of games.

 

[BaldarTFlagass]

The good thing for Houston is that they won't face a quarterback this week either, so if their run defense is as energized as it was this past week, they very well could be in the AFCCG next week.

As a native Masshole and adoptive Tex-ass, my teams are the Pats and the Texans, in that order. I sure hope the two don't meet in the Conf Championship, my head will explode like a Scanners filmfest. Or, I guess, I could look at it as a can't-lose situation for myself.

 

[The Hoodie]

As unenjoyable a weekend of football as I remember. I can't post enough about how dumb Marvin Lewis is with those two horrendous challenges. I believe it was the 2nd one which was the much more obvious one so I thought he was particuraly stupid for that. It also did look like Dalton refused to look for anyone that wasn't Green and constantly missed the FB coming out of the flat for the easy 1st down. That irritated me alot.

Not sure NO looks that good outside the superdome, but their defense couldn't stop Calvin too much. Stafford has some arm.

The Falcons were just bad and deserved to lose. The horrible QB sneak was one of the worst plays i've ever seen. The execution sucked, but there was no confidence in that at all.

I expected the Broncos to win, but not in the fashion they did. The Broncos OL played excellently and it's going to be difficult for Anderson to come through with the sacks if they play the way they did. They had a good pass rush when they used Elvis and Von at the ends.

 

[BostonTim]

They had a good pass rush when they used Elvis and Von at the ends.

Seems to me we should expect the Broncs to bring them up the middle more than off the end this Sat.

We be more vulnerable there, and it's the proven way to get Tom out of sync.

Cheers, BostonTim

 

[chevss454]

A few things stood out to me.

The Giants are peaking and playing their best of the year. To me, they are in the hunt as much as GB and the Saints. Any of the 3 making it to the SB wouldn't surprise me a bit.

The Falcons and especially Matt Ryan blew it completely. They've been inconsistent much of the year but wow. That will haunt them all off season.

Pittsburgh lost that game way more Denver won it, imo.
A. Their poor play began with Ben playing vs Cleveland a week ago with nothing to gain. That was a bad decision by Tomlin.
B. Pitts' defensive game plan was terribly conceived and the lack of adjustments during the game scored a 10 on the Richter scale. The play of Harrison and the safeties cost them the game. Polamalu was awful.
C. Pittsburgh has gotten old, slow and fat right before our eyes.
D. If Ben doesn't get time to run around, he's a bad QB. His game will decline quickly once the decline begins.

 

[Oswlek]

The Giants are peaking and playing their best of the year. To me, they are in the hunt as much as GB and the Saints. Any of the 3 making it to the SB wouldn't surprise me a bit.

I suppose I could see NY taking down Goliath, but they have no chance in hell of beating NO in the dome. Their only hope is if SF can do their dirty work for them.

 

[Ras]

Unfortunately, inadvertent whistles are a common occurrence in football than most realize. However, the cure for this is remove your whistle from your mouth and hold in your hand or carry a finger whistle. I went from a lanyard type whistle to finger type (like hockey refs) and eliminated any inadvertent whistle.

Also, let the play kill itself. With the exception of false starts, defensive offside, sacks and "give up" slides, most plays will kill themselves.

The other problem I see in the NFL is that most sideline officials like to "fish in someone else's pond". What I mean by that is each official should officiate their particular area and don't worry about another official area.

A Side Judge should not throw a flag over to an area officiated by the Linesman. Just as the Back Judge should not throw into the area of the Side Judges or Linesman. Unless the penalty is blatant and obvious, keep the flag in your pocket. If, in a game, I have any official throw a flag into my area and over my head, they will hear from me when we get back to the locker room.

Now, if the infraction is hidden from me, I expect some assistance from the others. Same goes for holds in my area. I don't expect help from the Linesman if the the plays is towards the Head Linesman side of the field.

Also, I am expected to assist the sideline officials and the Back Judge on buttonhooks, quick slants and passes over the middle for those passes which are thrown close to the ground to see if they were a catch or trap. Once the pass clears the LOS, I have to immediately turn around and assist. Most of the time I am there. If the line play is "chippy", I will let the others know that assistance over the middle may or may not be there as my first priority is line play.

Foremost though is the ability for the officials to communicate and confer, if needed, to get the call right. As it has been said to me and and passed on to others..."If you see it, call it. If not, keep it in your pocket".

As far as holding goes, some years ago the rules on holding or should I say what the offensive lineman can and can't do changed. Prior to the change, an OL could use their hands outside of the frame of their opponent. Nothing in the inside, especially under the pads.

Now, the OL can place their hands inside the the middle of their opponent and leverage the player to whatever direction they are blocking. As long as there is no clear grasping of the equipment or shirt, holding will not be called.

As always, officials always look to the "point of attack" for infractions like holding, clipping or chop blocks. No holding call will be made of the left side of the line play when the play is going to the wright unless the infraction is blatant or the defender is dragged down. Same goes for play up the middle during a passing down.

However, the one thing to remember about calling holding. Most of the time there are two pairs of eyes on the line play, sometime four. On the average play, there are 5-6-7 offensive players taking on 4-5-6-7 defensive players in a mass of humanity. The possibility of missing a hold here and there is better than average.

 

[Oswlek]

A little more on NY, we've been bombarded with comparisons to 2007, but the one thing no one seems to mention is that the NFC is much stronger this year than it was then. Both NO and GB are significantly better than anyone NE faced to get to the SB then. They are serious underdogs for very good reason.

 

[PumpDee]

Here's a Wildcard Weekend Thought:


The Falcons should be banned from the playoffs for 2 years for the way they played. I am sending "Coach" Mike Smith a bill for the 2 hours I wasted on that sad excuse for a game.

 

[BostonTim]

Here's a Wildcard Weekend Thought:


The Falcons should be banned from the playoffs for 2 years for the way they played. I am sending "Coach" Mike Smith a bill for the 2 hours I wasted on that sad excuse for a game.

How much per hour to waste your time?


Cheers, BostonTim

 

[Oswlek]

Here's a Wildcard Weekend Thought:


The Falcons should be banned from the playoffs for 2 years for the way they played. I am sending "Coach" Mike Smith a bill for the 2 hours I wasted on that sad excuse for a game.

Totally. And after a great start to his career, Matt Ryan is cementing himself in the "ordinary" category of QB rankings.

 

[midgar8784]

Here is a smattering of semi-lucid thoughts after 16 hours of football this weekend.

* As as I'll be if the Tebow-train runs into and over Foxboro next Saturday, I would have been almost unhealthily furious had Pittsburgh taken the Patriots out. They had no business whatsoever even taking that game into overtime, let alone winning, and to see them move on at NE's expense would have been unbearable. On their final drive I said to my wife when it looked lost, "Something has to happen because Pittsburgh doesn't deserve to win this game".

* I already posted in the middle of the WC gameday thread, but as impressed as I was with Houston's defense, much of their success was due to the predictibility of Cincy's offense. Until the game got out of hand, every sack was simply due to Dalton refusing to look away from Green. He'd literally stare him down, hoping against hope that he'd come open until the pressure finally got there.

The good thing for Houston is that they won't face a quarterback this week either, so if their run defense is as energized as it was this past week, they very well could be in the AFCCG next week.

* The refs had a brutal weekend. They had numerous spotting issues, completely botching two enormous turnovers and allowing a staggering level of holding in the Pitt/Den game. Elaborating on these

Spotting - when the game was still managable from Detroit's perspective, NO was handed a free 3rd down conversion deep in their own territory despite it being caught a full yard short. In Sunday's early game, Atlanta had a 4th and inches sneak that was very close. While the chains were being brought out, the ref on the ball literally picked it up and moved it back an inch or two twice! How could he possibly be that certain it needed 3 inches of correction? And why two seperate moves? Of course the ball was a couple chain links short. It was just very strange, almost intentional looking.

Turnovers - Detroit was correctly given a turnover, but they would have returned it for a TD had the whistle not blown. A TD there and Detroit would have been up 21-7 late in the first half. That was a gamechanging screw-up.

Of course, we all know about the fumbled lateral that would have put the Pitt game away. Question for those who watched live, what the hell was Phil Simms babbling on about? He appeared to be trying to explain why the call was right, but all I heard was, "I'm full of bullshit ".

Holding - I counted no less than 10 somehow-blocking-the-rusher-despite-the-fact-that-he-is-between-me-and-the-quarterback holds. Many of these predictibly occured when Pitt was scrambling to come back, but, to be fair, Denver was doing something similar on a couple of their big plays as well. And that doesn't even count a seemingly unlimited number of arm-bars and jersey pulls. It was evenly called, so I guess I could live with similar officiating next week, but the sheer gratuitous level of holding unflagged was surprising.

* Just like NE did in their November meeting, Atlanta played right into NY's hands with their offensive gameplan. You need to respect their DL, but Atlanta was beyond respect, they were deferential, even fearful. When you do that, you play right into their hands and actually make it easier for them. As good as they are, you still need to make them prove it before pussying out.

I also can't say demonstratively enough how terrible the 4th and 1 sneak late in the game was. Hey dipshits! You did this already! And went nowhere! And now you are going to try it again from a bunched formation? WTF?

If you are going to sneak, at least spread them out and give yourself the element of surprise. How an NFL coach can call something that stupid at that critical of a time is beyond me.

* After making an impressive play to give Atlanta their only points on the day, Sanders went on to demonstrate why NE released him. I saw no less than three truckings by Jacobs, as well as numerous athletic failings in coverage. As helpful as his brain would have been, James' body has seen better days.

* Marvin Lewis also spit the bit, failing to challenge what appeared to be a possible fumble on Houston's opening TD drive and then panicking with two "make up" challenges that obvious had no chance whatsoever in panning out. The first round is as far as his teams are going to go.

* They got away with the occassional hold, but Denver's OL was downright dominant in pass protection last night. Is that them improving or has Pitt been that bad at bringing the heat this year without me realizing it?

The NFL released a statement that said they messed up on the Detroit recovery of the ball, as they should have been able to return it, but....they also said since the whistle blew after the fumble, the ball should have been awarded back to NO like it was in the Denver game, which would still have been a screw up, but according to the rule, it should not have went over to Detroit in the same way that the ball was not awarded to denver on the backward pass.


I saw Denver hold quite a bit....in fact it was not holding, they were flat tackling, although you are right, with a few key injuries the steelers were not getting pressure like they usually do. I do wonder how many times Tebow was going to get facemasked before they called it.

 

[Hawg73]

* After making an impressive play to give Atlanta their only points on the day, Sanders went on to demonstrate why NE released him. I saw no less than three truckings by Jacobs, as well as numerous athletic failings in coverage. As helpful as his brain would have been, James' body has seen better days.

I noticed this as well. For a guy with pretty good size, he was never really much of a hitter, which could be because he never ran fast enough to generate any power. Big plays weren't really his thing, either although he managed one yesterday. Come to think of it, he really didn't have a forte, unless it was being a really good guy that stayed awake in meetings.

I suppose you could say he has declined, or might have had some sort of injury, but he didn't want any part of Jacobs, who showed up for one of the few times this year and ran really hard.

I've complained all year about BB cutting James and Meriweather because we really didn't have much there or go out and get anybody better than they were, but as the year has progressed, and as usual, I think that he might have the last laugh.

 

[The Gr8est]

The NFL released a statement that said they messed up on the Detroit recovery of the ball, as they should have been able to return it, but....they also said since the whistle blew after the fumble, the ball should have been awarded back to NO like it was in the Denver game, which would still have been a screw up, but according to the rule, it should not have went over to Detroit in the same way that the ball was not awarded to denver on the backward pass.
I saw Denver hold quite a bit....in fact it was not holding, they were flat tackling, although you are right, with a few key injuries the steelers were not getting pressure like they usually do. I do wonder how many times Tebow was going to get facemasked before they called it.

Uhhhh, ookayyyyy....

So the refs in the the Lions game screwed up their mistake, but the refs in the Denver game screwed it up correctly?

 

[Oswlek]

Uhhhh, ookayyyyy....

So the refs in the the Lions game screwed up their mistake, but the refs in the Denver game screwed it up correctly?

Yeah, I thought they changed the rule a year or two ago allowing for fumble recoveries after the whistle to still be challengable. Am I mistaken?

 

[midgar8784]

Uhhhh, ookayyyyy....

So the refs in the the Lions game screwed up their mistake, but the refs in the Denver game screwed it up correctly?

Yeah pretty much like that. In other words, in both games, the whistle was blown too early, but in the Detroit game according to the rule, Detroit should not have been awarded the ball. Since they blew the play dead, the other team cannot recover the ball. They were supposed to let more plays go so this would not happen, but it seems the refs got whistle happy again. I could almost see it in the Saints game, hard to tell if it was a bad or tipped or what, but a line judge should have been able to see that was a backward pass by the steelers, it was not really even close.

 

[(P - shoulder)]

I saw an almost identical play (as the Pittsburgh lateral avec premature whistle) in an NCAA game this year. I think it was Oregon vs. Stanford. The lateral was thrown, receiver dropped it, whistle blew, Oregon defender fell on the ball. The play was reviewed and the ref explained that it was indeed a lateral, and since the defender recovered the ball in the immediate aftermath of the play, even though the whistle blew they awarded the turnover to Oregon. Seems like a ruling the competition committee should consider poaching this offseason, because the two plays this weekend were absolutely huge.

 

[Oswlek]

Yeah, I thought they changed the rule a year or two ago allowing for fumble recoveries after the whistle to still be challengable. Am I mistaken?

Now that I think about it, I'm absolutely certain they changed the rule because I can recall a play from last year when the ref specifically mentioned it, the Miami/Pitt game when Ben was awarded a TD, but it turned out he really fumbled the ball.

After reviewing and determining that it was a fumble, despite the whistle having blown, Miami would have been awarded the ball if it could have been proven that they were the ones who recovered it (the ref specifically said this). Without evidence of recovery, the ball was awarded back to the offense, Pittsburgh.

Unless the rule was changed back this offseason, the refs in Denver were both incorrect in their call and in their challenge interpretation.

 

[MaineMan]

A few things stood out to me.

The Giants are peaking and playing their best of the year. To me, they are in the hunt as much as GB and the Saints. Any of the 3 making it to the SB wouldn't surprise me a bit.

The Falcons and especially Matt Ryan blew it completely. They've been inconsistent much of the year but wow. That will haunt them all off season.

Pittsburgh lost that game way more Denver won it, imo.
A. Their poor play began with Ben playing vs Cleveland a week ago with nothing to gain. That was a bad decision by Tomlin.
B. Pitts' defensive game plan was terribly conceived and the lack of adjustments during the game scored a 10 on the Richter scale. The play of Harrison and the safeties cost them the game. Polamalu was awful.
C. Pittsburgh has gotten old, slow and fat right before our eyes.
D. If Ben doesn't get time to run around, he's a bad QB. His game will decline quickly once the decline begins.

A. CHECK. Although, actually, I thought it was a poor decision to play Rothlisberger @SFO in wk-15. I realize that the Steelers still had a chance at the AFC North crown and the #1 seed by winning out at that point. OTOH, if they lost, couldn't improve on the #5 seed no matter what and they were risking going into the post-season with a gimpy QB. THAT was where Tomlin rolled the dice in the first place. Playing Ben in wk-17 compounded the error.

B. CHECK.

C. DOUBLE-CHECK (no discount). I was saying this going into the 2011 draft. And yet, the defensive guys still getting nearly all the starts included:
Farrior, 37
Hoke, 35
Smith, 35
Hampton, 34
Harrison, 33
Keisel, 33
Ryan Clark, 32
Foote, 31
Ike Taylor, 31
McFadden, 30
Polamalu, 30

Meanwhile, many of the young defensive guys they've added to their roster the past couple years aren't seeing significant playing time outside of special teams (aside from Hood and Worilds, though they still haven't displaced their elders when the elders have been healthy and don't appear to have had much on an impact yet). Seems to me that the Steelers are now about where the Pats were at the end of 2008 (and possibly even worse off) - on the cusp of a defensive rebuild. I wonder if Ben and the young-gun WRs will be as able to keep THEM afloat as well as Brady & Co. have done with the Pats. In other news, the Ravens' defense is in somewhat similar shape, age-wise.

D. CHECK.