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11 Sep 2011
Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
This thread is for open discussion during Week 1 games of the 2011 NFL season. And, if things have worked correctly, this is now linked directly from the FO front page, meaning you no longer need to click two different links to get to the open discussion thread!
186 replies , Last at 16 Sep 2011, 3:15pm by FBCapper
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Browns will beat on Cincy
Indy will be better than people think. 8-8 type team. Still has good players.
Houstaon has to get used to Wade's 3-4 and miscasting their best defender as a Rush OLB at 6'-7".
Pitt and Balt are still good.
Lions D should be good with King Kong Suh out there Reggie White-ing everyone.
Saints will beat Green Bay as GB D looks awful.
Buff will upset KC as broken ribs and bad coaching will undo KC
STL will upset Eagles as D-line of STL will crush Vick
Ten will win vs Jac as Jac is in upheavel. Hasselback not hurt yet helps
NE beats MIA as NE is really good and Henne is not
Others are a wash or too hard to predict
“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”
-Albert Einstein
"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers"
-Voltaire
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
You've got Minnesota at San Diego as a wash? I thought that was the biggest gimme of the week.
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Do I need to tell you that you better flip a coin for your "predictions" next time?
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Appears to be working fine, and much appreciated!
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Did Rodgers just fake a handoff to thin air?
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I noticed that too! Funny. Wonder if it froze anyone.
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So...anyone else think GB looks totally unstoppable? I think I've seen two successful plays for the NO defense, total.
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I see the Saints still think they're playing Seattle. Understandable, GB has a similar coaching tree and color-scheme.
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Can we please stop referring to Gregg Williams as a good coordinator? He had a lucky season -- that's it.
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Are you talking about his lucky 2005 Redskins (-14.0% DVOA, 4th)? Or the equally fluky 2004 Redskins (-14.8% DVOA, 4th)? Oh, I get it - you mean those jammy 2000 Titans (-27.0% DVOA, 1st).
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Don't forget the 2003 Bills (-13.0% DVOA, 7th).
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What happens when the reasonably competent force meets the easily movable object?
I saw decent to good offense on both sides of the ball. But, man, that defense was craptacular. It's only one game, and each team was ostensibly playing a very good opponent, but this was a great game because it was dramatic, not because it was actually well played.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Packers are making it look really easy so far.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Finley vs. Roman Harper seems kind of pointless doesn't it?
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Be sure to join a star-studded cast of your favorite FO posters for another season of IRC football chat! Point your favorite IRC client to bendenweyr.dyndns.org, channel #fo
Or for a web-based solution, just use this mibbit link: chat.mibbit.com/?channel=%23fo&server=bendenweyr.dyndns.org
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Man, Harper is just the most unlucky guy ever it appears. He is getting burned on every big play the Packers have. He's gonna need some ointment for all the burns!!!
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At halftime, the Saints are competitive on offense, but their defense is getting overrun on the ground when necessary and shelled through the air by default. It's a track meet, and barring a collapse by the Packers defense, it's one the Packers should win.
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After how many GB TD's does NO onside kick every time? You gotta consider it at some point right?
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Do it now, I guess. Or maybe tackle Cobb this time.
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I hate this new kickoff rule. Aaron Rodgers is still really, really good. The Saints D is not. And Olin Kreutz has picked up right where he left off with the Bears (meaning that he is whiffing on way too many blocks).
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Whiffing on blocks, and tossing every third or fourth snap sideways.
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wasn't sure i'd see a kick return touchdown anytime soon...
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I think we will be surprised.... I'm expecting KR guys to still try and return them from the end zone (maybe not 8 yards deep) much more than in prior years. The biggest difference will be some of the long legged guys who boot them through the endzone now almost every time. (Janikowski)
I'm sure the numbers will be down... but we will see KR TDs still. Without much a camp, these coverage teams haven't really figured the timing out yet on this. If they all come down hard, they may get to the return man faster, but if he can get himself a crack, it may be harder for the coverage teams to maintain their lanes and their depth to keep a guy bottled in...
Or maybe I am overthinking this...
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I actually don't mind the rule change. It makes it more exciting now when players do elect to take it out and more of a boom or bust prospect because they're taking it out 6 or 7 yards deep. And also, TBH, I thought kickoff returns were playing too big a role the last year or two, it seemed like every drive was starting from the 40.
Also turns out that #17 pick on Janikowski wasn't as wasted as everyone thought.
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And the Packers now have a home-run return threat akin to Darren Sproles. Seems like a second round pick well-spent at the moment.
Add spceial teams track meet to the fun. Ooo boy.
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Masthay's net punting average is not going to look very good.
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Wat do u think the odds of it being positive by the end of the game are?
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Charles Woodson totally just threw a punch, was penalized 15yds for it, and wasn't ejected? Wat.
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Why does Sean Peyton constantly "outsmart" himself in the red zone running reverses and play action on 3rd and inches?
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Not to mention passes to nowhere.
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I loved the Collinsworth anecdote about Payton bragging about his newfound power running scheme. Then push comes to shove, there's a 3rd and 2 in the red zone, and a 4th and inches and you get a sprint pass and play action. Same old same old.
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Looks like NO is targeting Shields relentlessly. Or am I just misremembering
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go for 2 now? Apparently not.
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Yeah, they should have. If you need a 2-pt conversion on 1 of the 2 TDs that you hope you will somehow get, you should do it on the 1st one. If you fail to convert, well then you know that you need 2 scores to win, and you can adjust your offense with that in mind (though obviously converting two onside kicks in a row is a real longshot).
Leaving the 2-pt conversion until the end increases the tension, but I don't see how it helps you win.
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Agreed ... you want the uncertainty out of the way as soon as possible. You don't want to have to guess if you can avoid it: down 8, if you play for one possession and miss the two, you don't have time to win, and if you play for two possessions and make the two, you leave your opponent time to break the tie you just created.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Did Graham just do.. the Belt?
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He did! Hmmm, rookie, maybe wait until you take the lead on the champs?
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I think I saw Matthews possibly giving him some advice on that right after the TD.
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Wow! Run the ball this time, Payton.
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Well, now we know why they passed before.
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I've invented a truly revolutionary play to be used in 1 yard situations. It works similarly to a power running play only instead of wasting time handing it off, the quarterback just kind of leans forward.
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what a game. no matter what happens on this last play. great start to the season
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Yep, two nice offences on show right there. They'll each be dishing out some beatings this season.
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If you like offense, it was a great game - and we have some small evidence that there will be a couple of good offenses in the NFC this year.
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Why wouldn't they line up with a pass/scramble chance?
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Because it didn't work the last time they tried it. Considering the Packers aren't known for their run defense, I think the Saints power running game is still mostly hypothetical.
Go Pack Go!
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well raji at least gives opponents pause
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The highly respected Bob McGinn has Raji rated as the second most important Packer. Behind Aaron Rodgers.
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That PI didn't really look that bad. Totally shocked that the goal-line play wasn't play-action again. Either way, awesome game
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I thought the PI shouldn't have been called... Just looked like a great play by Hawk to me. But I only saw it live, missed the replay.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Disclaimer: Packers homer
The replay from the back side showed that Hawk really slipped his body around Sproles and jumped over Sproles' shoulder (not his back or head to make the deflection). Really don't know what the ref saw, as Hawk never made very little contact with Sproles, even on follow through after the pass was deflected.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Disclaimer: Neutral.
Yeah, it probably wasn't PI, even though I haven't seen any further replays. But it wasn't the type of bad PI call that makes me mad either. It was a genuine mistake by the ref - which is occasionally understandable with everything happening at such speed - rather than a fault with the rulebook, such as when a flag is thrown for a DB brushing a receiver chasing a long bomb down the sideline.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
I thought it was PI. Not utterly egregious but I thought Hawk got there a little too early and made (what at that stage is impermissable) contact. Just because he tried to jump over Sproles doesn't give him free reign to clatter into the receiving player before the ball had arrived. It is a fast game but rules is rules.
(not trying to pick on your post, just throwing my two cents out there)
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
I agree. My first impression was that it was NOT interference. But the more I saw, I think Hawk knocked Sproles off balance with his lower body as he made his leap. It's comparable to a foul in basketball when the player gets a clean block but fouls him with the body.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
wonder what tramon williams' status is...
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
As a GB homer, I didn't see much Pass Interference on the last play, although the angles were weird. I can imagine it may have looked like it to the ref behind the play, though, if he thought Hawk ran the receiver over rather than jumping over him. Also, will be interested to her more about the "sliding into the end zone" rule. That seemed wrong, through green and gold tinted glasses. :-)
Not trying to complain about the refs, they did an ok job. Not like the Saints coverage or the Packers tackling - ugh.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Agree with the PI call. But I thought it was a touchback as soon as I saw it.
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It wouldn't have been a touchdown, or a safety. Even if the end zone acts like out of bounds in that circumstance, he would have been in. I don't know!
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As far as I know, the rule has always been "if your momentum carries you into the end zone, it's a touchback". I've never heard that it differs when you slide vs stumble. I was actually shocked that Michaels and Collinsworth made such a big deal about it, because it seemed obvious that the refs had the right call. Perhaps I've always misunderstood the rule, though?
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No, you didn't misunderstand the rule. The rule is as you said. I also was shocked by the reaction from Michaels and Collinsworth.
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I thought the refs did a really good job all game of swallowing the whistle. There were a few times they could have threw a flag, a couple holds (the packers had a possible defensive hold in the end zone that i'm sure Triplet's crew would have called), a block in the back was missed on Bush.
The two PI calls were bad though. The Saints PI on the Jennings catch was a terrible call. I'm glad Jennings caught it or I would have felt a little guilty. And the ref had a bad angle to call PI on the Hawk play.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
There was an offsides call on a Saints defensive lineman (can't remember who) who had jumped across the line, but got back well before the snap and didn't come close to touching any Packers. But as soon as the guy jumped, Chad Clifton stood up and pointed to him, and the refs called the offside.
Was that right? I thought that, if anything, Clifton should have been called for a false start.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
As far as I know, the refs would indeed not call that if Clifton hadn't jumped; the fact that he did so as an instinctive reaction to the encroachment is why they did. I didn't see the play itself, so if Clifton held firm until the lineman made it back and re-set and *then* jumped and started pointing, that's a bit foggier. I'd be inclined to say it should be a false start in that case, but the rules may actually still side with Clifton there.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
The rule is that if a sudden movement by a defensive player induces an immediate reaction by the offensive player across the line of scrimmage, then the penalty is offsides defense.
This can be called even if the defensive player doesn't cross the line of scrimmage. This rule was put in place several years ago to remove the significant advantage that D-lineman had of being able to move however they wanted while O-linemen couldn't react. Lots of D-linemen would use twitch moves to try to get O-linemen to jump.
In this specific case it can come down to reaction time. The reaction by the O-lineman needs to be immediate, in that the defensive player "caused" him to jump, for it to be offsides and not false start. Collinsworth (I believe) called a "veteran move" by Clifton because Clifton probably could have held his ground, but knew that he could draw the penalty by jumping out of his stance immediately.
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Anyone else think that Jonathan Vilma looks like he has completely lost it? Slow, can't shed blocks, got run over a few times, etc. I'm sure he's still a great leader but he looked totally overmatched.
Of course, the new DTs weren't exactly keeping guys off him for most of the night...
I thought Brees made some really uncharacteristic bad decisions when under pressure. Made a couple of sacks much worse and threw one to a guy on the ground for a big loss instead of just plain at the ground for an incompletion. Hard to find fault with his game overall, I guess, but I didn't think he was as good as his stats indicated.
Is it possible that Sproles is faster on grass than on turf? Not in absolute speed, of course, but in relative speed. He has always been explosive but I don't think I've ever seen him appear quite that much quicker than everyone else. It looked like everyone else was in quicksand whenever he touched the ball. As if he had a limited slip differential and everyone else was spinning their wheels in the wet grass...
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As a Green Bay fan, only Collins and Bush impressed me in the secondary. I have no idea what Williams (before he exited the game) or Shields were doing, but whatever it was, they should stop. Aside from Collins' lone "leaving Williams on an island against a tall Saints receiver," I thought he played well, and even though the Saints tried to pick on Bush when he entered the game, he stepped up. (That is not even accounting for the fact that Henderson pretty much just stopped running to the ball on that almost-interception in the touchdown.) Also, Woodson -- what are you thinking!
What worries me is how hyped they all were. Entering the first game of the season, after such a long time off with the lockout, I can understand why they were out there "just having fun," but they really need to slow it down on defense, get some good wraps on people, and bring them down. Wynn and Raji played lights out, and I was extremely impressed with Walden and Hawk (and I am always impressed with Matthews). Even the "final" play where Hawk came flying in -- in the past, he has had the ability to do that, but he would just miss a lot.
Adding Cobb to the team was a great decision any way you look at it. How any team in the league (even the Eagles) has any way to cover a five-wide Packers offense is beyond me, and I wish them the best in trying!
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Hawk looked much improved as a blitzer. In the past it always seemed like he would at best be the guy sacrificing himself to a blocker to free up someone else, but last night his blitzes we all well timed, with just enough delay to reach a gap.
He got half a sack, I counted at least two pressures and he also drew a holding penalty (which was declined).
I've read a few other people criticizing Williams in coverage, and maybe I missed who was responsible on a few plays, but I didn't see him get picked on other than the one play you mentioned, and that was either a defensive miscommunication (i.e., Williams shouldn't have been expecting help) or a blown assignment by Collins. However, I agree that Brees never went after Collins directly, choosing to attack in front of Burnett.
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This game might have been skewed by the Saints being without Will Smith, their only proven pass rusher, the Pack might have struggled to slow the Saints without Matthews. However, Strief and Kreutz looked pretty poor last night, that has to worry NO a little.
Re: Hawk's DPI, on the first look I thought it was clearly DPI but on replay Hawk made an amazing play on the ball, only brushing the receiver and even then the contact was nearly simultaneous. Shame for Hawk, he finally makes a good play in pass coverage and they flag him and nearly give the game away.
Re: Cobb's return. The Saints really have to stop leaving those invincibilty stars on the field.
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Kreutz looked exactly like he's looked the last 3 or so years: not very good.
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Did the new kickoff rule change anything about illegal procedure on kickoff out of bounds, or was the ruling that it went through the end zone first?
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The latter.
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Is Simms really that clueless (or biased)? That was as blatant a hold as you'll ever see.
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The Texans are absolutely obliterating the Colts in all phases. 10-0 in the first makes it sound significantly closer than it is - the Colts have had a pick that bounced off Johnson's hands, and the Texans settled for a chip shot field goal after a pass came off the hands of both Walter and Jones (same play) in the end zone on third down. The two Colts drives so far have been ended by a mega-sack and a strip-sack recovery. Their pass protection just looks dire.
Edit: And the next play is a botched snap, recovered by JJ Watt, and Collins seems to have dislocated a finger . . .
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Pittsburgh defence getting pushed around up front in the beginning of this one.
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Baltimore's line is looking a lot better than folks seemed to expect from them so far. The usual stupid penalties, but they're manhandling Pittsburgh's DL.
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The Browns look awful. I think we have a Rams' situation brewing here.
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Was going to try and watch the Colts-Texans game at BWW, but their DirectTV was down. So I'm now reduced to "watching" the game on NFL.com and Yahoo's stattracker.
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So far the Eagles look very rusty, their offense is all incomplete incomplete 3rd down conversion and the Rams nearly had 100yds rushing in the first quarter alone.
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So, in this week's battle between the NFC North and NFC South...so far the NFC North looks to have the upper hand.
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Now this is my team, but the Bear's O is looking a lot better than I thought it would.
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And how is that not a TD for Hester? Ed Hochuli makes some terrible calls on replay.
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Nnamdi Asomugha just got rightfully called for a 41yd DPI. First time I've seen him all game, though.
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Has something happened to MJD? Or are the Jaguars just making a concerted effort to get Deji Karim touches? I don't have the game, so I'm just seeing a lot of carries that aren't going to MJD.
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National Jump to Conclusion week:
Steelers defense is old/bad/over the top.
The Ravens defense is not.
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I'm also anticipating a mad FF rush on Flacco this week.
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LOL @ Chargers special teams
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I wish I could be surprised by this but...
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Hey look guys its the Chargers special teams!
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So much for San Diego's improved special teams....
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Glad to see the chargers worked on their spec....
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In actual news: Wait, the Lions won this one? Sweet.
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"When you absolutely don't know what to do any more, then it's time to panic." - Johann van der Wiel
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
And the Chargers defense once again picks up the slack with practically free points.
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McNabb's first pass as a Viking, intercepted. Should have kept Tavaris Jackson.
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Judging by the Seahawks game that might not have been much better.
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Red Zone channel is now showing every Chargers kickoff.
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Wow, how about those Chargers special teams!
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At 5/8 for 145, Cam Newton is currently averaging 18 YPA/29 YPCompletion. That's absurd, however much the tiny insignificance of the sample size makes it.
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"When you absolutely don't know what to do any more, then it's time to panic." - Johann van der Wiel
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
He finished 24/37 for 422 yards.
That has to be the record for passing yards in a player's first start, and probably by well over 100 yards.
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Took a few minutes, but I did find a reputable source saying the same thing. So there's one record Peyton Manning won't still hold when he retires.
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"When you absolutely don't know what to do any more, then it's time to panic." - Johann van der Wiel
Re: Week 1 Game Discussion Thread
Peterson just ripped off a ridiculous 46 yard run to inside the 5. A charger had him tackled, hanging onto his foot... and Peterson rips it out, turns sideways and rumbles downfield. Sanders prevented a touchdown but they score on the next play.
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If the Cardinals (who are tied) and the Chargers (who are trailing by 10) lose.... my entire 20 player survivor pool will be down to 2 people. One who took the Jags.
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Chargers long drive bogs down on 4th and 20. Kaeding was hut on the Harvin kickoff return TD, so they have no kicker. Scifres (the punter) earlier made an extra point.... but they didn't feel good about what would normally be a makeable field goal so they go for it on 4th and 20.... and don't come close.
I've been impressed with the youth movement on the Vikings defense so far... but it could just be typical early season chargers miscues. They've had problems with simple things like the snap count at times...
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So far Seahawks defense doing yeoman's work getting handed awful situation after awful situation by their offense and special teams.
But it's against Alex Smith, so I don't really know what to take from this information.
Plus, you know, awful offense and special teams.
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The 49ers are a bad team, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a worse half of football than what the Seattle OL has shown. Who knows if Tavaris Jackson is as bad as advertised when he's running for his life on every play?
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Redskins just returned a batted Eli pass for a TD....
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Steelers looked pretty bad - I think they'll still contend for a wild card for sure, probably get one, but Baltimore looks to have really improved the o-line this off-season with McKinnie and switching Oher back to the non Blind Side.
Cincy winning sure was weird/fun. Lions look like the next big thang. I can't decide who to root against tonight...Jets or Cowboys?
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49'ers just kicked a FG to extend their lead by 3, now up 19-10 with about 6 minutes to go. Immediately before finally making the FG, the 49er's take a Delay of Game penalty, which Seattle declines, then a False State penalty, which Seattle also declines. All while the ball sits on the 1/2 yard line. Now, its arguable here whether or not to go for it - I'd like them to be aggressive here, but getting a 2-score lead against a poor offense is pretty good, so I'll take it. However, the situation exists, and Seattle has to respect that (particularly in the event, however unlikely, of a fake). So why were both penalties declined? Moving the 49ers back 10 yards pretty much eliminates what chance there may be of a FG fake, and hey, keep moving them back, maybe they miss. I just don't understand why you decline the penalties there.
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I didn't watch this, so assuming things happened as you said, the only reason I can think of for declining the penalties was that they knew a field goal would be nearly automatic even if the ball were moved back 5 yards. (They couldn't know after the first penalty that there would be a second penalty.) That field goal would put them down by 9 points, and they probably figured they couldn't overcome that deficit with TJack at QB and 6 minutes to go.
However, if they were only down 6 points, they would still have a chance. So maybe they were trying to entice the 49ers to go for it on 4th down and hoping to stuff them. That's the only reason that seems plausible.
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Holy crap Seattle coverage teams... a KO return and a punt return in what, like 5 minutes. Jeez.
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Seriously - the Seahawks ST coach should be fired for this.
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Not trying to spoil the moment, but listening to the national anthem before Cowboys-Jets, I just can NOT get over the inappropriateness of the name "lady antebellum". Seriously? They couldn't find someone less rednecky-offensive to represent the country on such a night?
Like, the whole country, not just the white south?
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To the defense of the group, while they're popular on the Country charts, their music is fairly mainstream in terms of lyrics, topics, and sound.
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Hey, rednecks are people too. When it comes down to it I'm one of those people who likes to hear the anthem just sung, preferably by either a soloist and/or the crowd...
...but if we're going to have pop artists do it, why not country groups? After all, if they're (apparently) Americans some people find offensive, shouldn't we make an extra effort to include them?
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"When you absolutely don't know what to do any more, then it's time to panic." - Johann van der Wiel
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I don't think the objection is to country groups. Tim McGraw would be fine. But "Lady Antebellum?" Come on. That sounds like there should be a confederate flag on the field.
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Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. If I were standing on the field as, say, an african american nfl player with south carolina ties, I'm fairly certain I'd have mixed feelings about that.
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They're a good group with a large audience and a lot of crossover fans. They pretty much cleaned up at every music awards show last year (whatever those are good for). I'm all for being PC but come on, that's pretty weak.
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Tim McGraw? The guy who sings a song offensive to Native Americans? The guy who has a song about his girlfriend having an abortion? The one who wrote a song about the "Southern Voice" which describes life in the south as all hunky dory and not 400 years of brutal oppression?
That Tim McGraw?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy his music, but we can nitpick pretty much any artist with any sort of talent and find something un-PC about them. Or we could just go with the Black Eyed Peas every time and just be offended by their crimes against music.
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Nice drive from Dallas. Let's see how that D does, though...
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Pretty good on play one.
I actually think Dallas is going to just smoke the jets....
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We've had what, three kickoff return TDs? (Cobb... Harvin... Ginn.... any others?).
anyway just had a simple thought on how to fix the touchback problem.
If the ball goes out of play... as in out of bounds on the sideline OR through the end zone.... call the penalty and the other team gets it at the 40.
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But the NFL wants touchbacks, they don't want returns. That's why they moved the kickoffs up to the 35.
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One of the commentators during the Ravens/Steelers game stated that the NFL wanted 60% of kicks returned. I then heard the exact same thing in the Rams/Eagles game, and then again in the Redskins/Giants game.
So I'm pretty sure the NFL wants kicks returned.
(This week, it was close to 35%)
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Yep that's the go - the other thing to do is to shorten the distance even more. Kickoff from halfway and get more hang time, that will lead to less emphasis on wedges and massive collisions and make kickoffs more like punt returns which are apparently safer. Collinsworth mentioned it on Thursday night: Maybe the kickoff becomes a punt. The only thing stopping that is onside kicks, although I'm sure you could invent something to keep onside kicks as an option. Maybe drop punts!
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Well, 3rd and 25-- nice way to ruin that momentum.
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And now towards the end of the 1Q, the Jets have settled and are moving the ball well. But *ouch* Dallas' Jenkins bangs his head; their CBs are down to 2nd or 3rd string...
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Did Al Michaels just say Fumble recoveries are random?
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Aren't they?
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They are, yes. But announcers usually say they are a product of "hustle" or "grit."
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Got it. Yes, it is sometimes jarring when a TV person actually says a comment that reflects reality, and isn't just a rehashing of coach-speak or tried-and-failed conventional wisdom.
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Which team recovers a generic fumble is randomly distributed.
That is a different statement than the recovery of a given fumble by a given player in a specific game situation was random.
In a sufficiently long view, the outcome of a generic NFL game will also be randomly distributed. That doesn't make it likely for the Texans to beat Peyton Manning.
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Both defenses are playing well now that things have settled. For Dallas, Ware has been doing well, and the blitz schemes seem to keep the Jets off-balanced. If they can adjust, it might turn into some real problems for the Cowboys for the rest of the game.
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Man. I'm streaming the game on NBC.com and we'e getting the same two commercials over and over again. I get that on actual TV that some ad space is farmed out for regional stuff and the internet makes that difficult-- so perhaps they're forced to replay the same commercials.... but can't they spruce this up a bit?
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Is it the Toyota Venza commercials? Those things irritate me so much.
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YES. "Hey mom, call me," OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
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Nice series be Dallas. The fade to Austin should have been caught, and Dallas sort of broke down as they neared the Red Zone, but I think they'll be happy to take the 3 there.
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Trick Or Treat Tony does it again. This guy can make some great passes, then he looks like Derek Anderson on the next play.
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And Sanchez fumbles it back to the Cowboys. If Bill Walton were announcing this game, he would say, "Would somebody PLEASE hold on to the football!"
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OK, on that blocked punt, the Jet (McKnight?) came right up the middle unblocked.
I can deal with that. But really, does Chris Collinsworth need to endlessly praise the Jets' Special Teams coach for his brilliance? "Run up the middle and block the kick" is hardly up there with Belichick's game plan to beat the Bills in the Super Bowl.
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Cam Newton looked legit. Put up numbers, sure, but he also looked the part. Pretty excited that all the vaguely racist armchair QB coaches who trumpeted their opinions that he was a bust in the making are going to have to face up to this one. Kid has done nothing but do the right thing from the moment he was drafted. Who gives a shit if he bought a questionable laptop or that his dad is a POS, that doesn't make him Jamarcus Russell.
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There was plenty of reason to doubt Newton's ability to break through to the NFL. You have no reason to call people racist.
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I don't? Guess we must not read the same blogs.
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I guess not.
The way you wrote your comment didn't seem to be restricted to particular blogs. You seemed to insinuate the only reason to doubt Newton's ability was latent racism.
There were plenty of other reasons.
Let's see how he does against a decent defense. Let's see if he can run an actual NFL offense and not be easily flustered by any half-decent defensive coordinator.
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Just because there may be some racist morons who "hated" on Newton doesn't mean there wasn't and couldn't have been legitimate skepticism about his prospects. Not all criticism is about race. Many of Newton's critics also didn't and don't think Tebow will ever succeed as an NFL QB. That criticism presumably isn't based on race. And contrary to many of Tebow's supporters, it isn't based on his religion, either.
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Quite. And likewise Jake Locker. All three of those guys come out with a similar fundamental question mark: the style of offense they ran, and their running ability, meant that they did not have to quickly go through reads and release the ball into tight windows in the way that is central to NFL success. All of them have physical gifts which lend them tremendous upside, but all were, to my mind, unjustifiably risky propositions at the spots where they were picked. Newton had the further red flag of a comparatively small body of work, making it harder to be confident in any scouting evaluation of him.
After watching some of last night's game, I'm quite prepared to concede I may have been wrong about Newton. He certainly held the ball too long at times and took a lot of hits as a result; he's never going to be Peyton Manning. But he could well be Ben Roethlisberger with more running ability, and that's a very good player indeed.
That said, the Cardinals may well be terrible, and he may have a harder time against better defenses as the season goes on. We'll see.
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The Tebow comparison doesn't work because the Tebow question has always been fundamentally (hah) about his delivery. Not so with Newton. I was a little drunk and feisty last night so I didn't qualify anything. I'm not talking about people who looked at the offense he came out of and had reservations about running a pro offense. I'm talking about the very loud and quite large contingent of people who claimed he was a sure fire bust based on some very vague reasoning based on his work ethic and desire to be great.
Just google "Cam Newton will be a bust" and click 10 links at random and see what you think. I'm not coronating him after one game, just taking joy in him, at least this week, proving doubters wrong.
Specifically, Kiper has major questions about Newton’s work ethic and ability to handle adversity. “We know he loves to play the game of football,” said Kiper. “But this isn’t the NBA,” referring to the amount of study time required by NFL quarterbacks.
That, to me, is questionable.
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Do you have any evidence that Cam Newton doesn't have work ethic issues?
I don't know Cam Newton at all, so I can't say, but if there's a ton of criticizm that he may have work ethic issues, there's probably something there in his background. I'd trust Kiper a lot more to dig up this stuff than I'd trust your opinion.
Then again, it could be more sensation-driven media, like Mallet being a "lockerroom cancer"
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Only what I've seen since after the draft...
He traveled to Carolina, got a playbook and met with his coaches the day after the draft, when the lockout was briefly lifted. He met with Clausen on his own to compare notes about the playbook when the lockout was back in place. He showed up to all the player organized offseason workouts and was often one of the first players on the field. He didn't hold out.
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All good signs, but they aren't atypical. Its like hiring a new employee; they're all good for the first 2 months. Its 6 months down the road when you have to worry about whether the guy putting in the time or spending all day on youtube.
Its a huge jump to assume that, because he went and picked up his playbook, that everyone who thought he'd have work ethic issues because of his work ethic issues in college, and the simple offense he played in, is a racist.
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Not snarking at all (count me firmly in the "thought he was an unacceptably risky choice at #1" camp) but could you elaborate a bit for me on the college work ethic issues? That's not something I really heard much about.
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Not at all. I don't know anything about them, all I know is they've been repeated by scouts and draft analysts, and they do a lot more player scouting than I do.
I just have a hard time dismissing them all as racism.
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double
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I know I often have a slightly skewed perspective on these sorts of things, because I live in the UK and the majority of football opinion (fan and expert) I encounter is either Texans-specific at the Houston Chronicle website or from generally very intelligent, thoughtful people at sites like FO and PFR.
But I did just Google "Cam Newton will be a bust", and on the first page of hits found reasons such as "he played in a spread option offense", "he's rarely taken snaps from under center", "there's no way of knowing how he'll handle reading complex NFL defenses", "he's not NFL-ready - he'll be a project", "his father is a bad influence", "we only have one full season of tape on him", "There is a big difference between running a spread offense and executing precise throws in a West Coast attack", "his combine press conference got low positive power and in-group affiliation scores" (no, really), "his style of play will lead to injuries at the pro level", and "he had a lousy workout". Some of those have more merit than others, but none strike me as obviously the product of bigotry.
Exactly one of those first page hits did come out with a much more personal, less reasoned attack:
"2. Cam Newton is not a pocket passer/ He couldn’t even learn Auburns offense, they had to simplify it for him. So, how is he going to learn an NFL offense when the work ethic is not behind him any more now that he is paid. Scam’s goal was to get that big money deal and as soon as the lockout is over he will get it, so where is the motivation for fig newton to work hard.
3. His huge head will not fly in the NFL when he isn’t winning and he teammates will turn on him. Cam has a giant ego and is full of himself, when he walks into that locker room that is not going to fly with veterans like Steve Smith and Jeremy Shockey. He will lose the faith of his team and the won’t play for him."
That's certainly an attack on Newton's work ethic and leadership qualities. It's equally certainly crappy "journalism". But it's hard to be sure whether the writer's taken against Newton because of the pay-to-play and laptop scandals, or whether he actually just is looking for any old reason to bash a black quarterback. (I'm happy to discount actual research into or knowledge of Newton's work habits or personality - if he'd done those things he would have given some more detailed explanation in the post.)
I'm sure there were people whose distaste for Newton as a prospect was fueled by the colour of his skin. But there were plenty of perfectly good reasons to be wary of him as a prospect as well. I hope he succeeds, because he could be a really exciting player to watch and my team only has to play his once every four years. On the evidence of his first game, it seems very possible that he will. But that doesn't mean that many of the doubts about him weren't legitimate.
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Wait until he plays against a defense that is not the Arizona Cardinals. Just as one game does not make a bust, so one game does not make him the future of the franchise.
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Seriously? Romo's been awful this quarter. Fumble, INT...killing what should have been an easy win.
Sanchez hasn't been much better.
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Jerry Jones will not be happy.
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How did Dallas lose that game? It looked like they had the game sealed multiple times. I don't believe in "choking" but damn... and all the while Sanchez was doing his damnest to give game right back.
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That depends on what you mean by "choking".
The Cowboys lost because of a large number of bad decisions towards the end of the game. Not all of them were Romo's, even though it seemed like it. I still cannot comprehend what kind of blocking scheme lets a punt blocker run untouched through line just because he's a foot behind two other guys that the middle two blockers have decided that they are to block.
Bad decision - Romo fumbling at the 1 instead of falling on the ball to ensure a FG.
Bad decision - Garrett holding onto his red flag on a play where it looked like Romo's knee might have hit the ground before the fumble. (Ignore the NBC commentary - they always back the refs.)
Bad decision - throwing the pick to Revis of all people.
As long as Romo is the QB, I would not trust the Cowboys to be able to beat good opponents with consistency. He's not a rookie any more. He cannot make the kind of mental mistakes he made tonight and beat any elite team.
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The commentary seemed to reflect the relevant replays: the ball was moving out before Romo's knee touched...
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Yes, the NBC announcers were quite certain of that. I was not so certain. It was certainly close enough that a challenge was warranted, esp. given the importance of the play.
NBC did a good job of repeatedly picking useless camera angles for any plays that either might be or were definitely under review.
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Yeah, check this out. As late as with 5 min left the Cowboys still had a 90%+ chance of winning.
http://live.advancednflstats.com/index.php?gameid1=2011091112
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How was Mike Jenkins not a defenseless player when Plaxico Burress blindsided him?
It's time for the competition committee to allow in-game booth reviews of and ejections for these hits.
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I don't believe there is a rule against a fierce block before the play ends...unnecessary roughness is almost never called when a) tackling is not involved and b) the play is still on...
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The hit was perfectly legal. It wasn't a block in the back, a block below the waist, or a shot to the head or neck. It was just a really hard block coming from the side/front, where the player being blocked was so intently trying to get into position to impede the ball carrier or make a tackle that he completely failed to see the blocker coming from in front off to the side.
That a player failed to defend himself because he didn't see the blocker in front and to his side doesn't make him a defenseless player; it makes him a careless player.
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Call me crazy but...
Were there an unusual number of special teams touchdowns this week? Any chance we can blame that on the lockout? Most of the guys on coverage units tend to be the newbies...
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I don't know if the numbers were high or not, but in the two games I saw this weekend it appeared to me that coverage guys were caught sleeping. Kickoffs that last season would have almost certainly been kept for touchbacks were being returned, and the coverage unit, expecting a touchback, got lazy and out of position.
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Beatboxing on the MNF music, which was bad enough to begin with, makes me wonder how many constituencies ESPN thinks it can pander to at once?
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My my Miami looked like a real offense that drive...
I'm rooting for them because it will mean my survivor league will be over in week 1. I'm already out (picked Cleveland) but if it ends then we can start a new one next week...
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The FO Almanac's prediction of MIA having a better Offense than GB is off to a less than stellar start
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The new review rule on TDs gives defenses a distinct advantages. Had the play initially been ruled not a touchdown, the Patriots would need to use a challenge to get it looked at. I wonder, though, are refs more likely to make iffy calls touchdowns now, because they know it will be reviewed?
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are refs more likely to make iffy calls touchdowns now, because they know it will be reviewed?
That appears to be how this evening's game has been called. Two questionable touchdowns overturned on replay.
Of course, just as I'm typing this the opposite happens - a clear touchdown not given, and Sparano wins the challenge.
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Brady just obliterated the Patriots franchise record for passing yards with a 99 yard TD pass to Wes Welker. 511 yards passing, half of that playing behind a backup center. Miami's defense looks utterly exhausted, and has done since the 2nd quarter.
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Weird onside kick setup by the Dolphins, with two kickers on the field. Creative, though it fails utterly.
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Seems like the "deception" advantage you might gain from having 2 kickers would not offset the tradeoff of having 1 fewer person racing down to recover the kick.
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Doesn't have to. Suh is the Lions' emergency kicker.
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Raiders Football. Turning a manageable 3rd and 3 into 3rd and 13.
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This is possibly the ugliest game I have ever witnessed in Denver, there must have been 20 penalties in the first half.
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Holy crap Janikowski. 63 yards. o.0
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In the same week a 108-yd kick return, a 99-yd pass, and a 63-yd FG.
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And a catch by Darrius Heyward-Bey.
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The Tebow faithful are getting restless...
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Absolutely ludicrous stuff by the Raiders defence, appalling discipline.
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Kyle Orton drops the soap. This game is hilarious.
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Mike Shanahan is gone but his timeout strategy remains in effect.
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Maybe next time, instead of running off the field celebrating that you stripped the ball from the receiver, make sure that your team recovers the fumble first.
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This Raiders defensive front is just killing Kyle Orton. Its solely down to penalties that Denver are remotely alive in this game.
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6 of 7 new coaches lose their first game
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