Sunday Divisional Round Open Discussion
NFL Divisional - Division champions square off as Tampa Bay (14-4) hosts the L.A. Rams (13-5), then the Kansas City Chiefs (13-5) host the Buffalo Bills (12-6).
Comments
463 comments, Last at 25 Jan 2022, 5:08pm
#4 by Tutenkharnage // Jan 23, 2022 - 3:24pm
Tampa Bay lined up to punt on their second drive, and Los Angeles put three guys out there to cover the Bucs’ left gunner. I’ve seen doubles on the past, but never a triple. Who deserves that much coverage? And why?
#7 by coltsandrew // Jan 23, 2022 - 3:45pm
I'd be more inclined to agree with you, except Suh has a very long track record of being nasty and pushing the line of roughing and good sportsmanship. I'm not going to complain if he keeps his head down and mouth shut the rest of the game because his normal behavior doesn't make the game more enjoyable.
#10 by morganja // Jan 23, 2022 - 3:54pm
That's not the role of a ref. Like Hochuli's bs "You aren't old enough to get that call" on Cam Newton. The refs need to ref what is on the field. Not interpret it based on their personal prejudices. Is he going to call the same penalty on everyone else on the field for the same behavior? No. Then he shouldn't be calling it on Suh. If he can't handle that, than perhaps he can make a half million a year doing a different job.
#39 by coltsandrew // Jan 23, 2022 - 4:49pm
That's the thing, though. Suh has usually been the worst-behaved player on the field, so I don't doubt that what he said was worth penalizing. His past behavior means he doesn't merit the benefit of the doubt. I'm also not going to blame officials for wanting to put him, in particular, on notice early in the game if he does start running his mouth.
#44 by Lost Ti-Cats Fan // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:02pm
The difficult thing is that I'm sure he felt legitimately aggrieved. On the brief replay shown, I couldn't see the alleged kick by Stafford, but that's irrelevant, anyway. Suh believed that he was kicked and he responded like he and people of his personality will always respond when they believe they were wronged. Some people would rather burn down the house than stay silent on a perceived slight. I suspect a large number, if not all, of Suh's past disciplinary actions can be traced to him feeling justified about his actions due to something else that had happened recently.
#20 by morganja // Jan 23, 2022 - 4:13pm
I am famous for how I feel about Brady, but that is just a stupid thing to say. In this instance, he was not whining about nothing. He had a legitimate complaint. Hochuli has absolutely no reason to throw a flag after missing a clear and obvious hit to the head.
#23 by Ben // Jan 23, 2022 - 4:22pm
The hit was to the chest. His head snapped down and his chin hit the top of the helmet. There is no way that should be called.
Without knowing exactly what Brady said we can’t judge whether the call was good or not, but I’m not a fan of any player in any support whining and to the officials. State your case, then shut up.
#29 by morganja // Jan 23, 2022 - 4:31pm
You are entitled to your opinion.
If you are attempting to make the argument that the hit Brady took there is not called in the NFL, well, you are welcome to live in your fantasy world, but the rest of us have been watching football for the past several decades. We know better.
I note that every player in every sport makes their case to the refs. Brady didn't do anything there no one else in professional sports does, and he was stating his legitimate case.
You can make whatever pathetic excuse you want for Hochuli, but I don't like to watch sports in which the game is decided by the refs. This is a game that has been totally ruined by Hochuli's ego. And probably side financial dealings.
#50 by Ben // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:06pm
I don’t give a shit about hochuli. I honestly didn’t even know who was reffing the game. But this game has not been decided by the refs. Two penalties are not why the Bucs are losing.
Have hits like that been called? Sure, but complaining that Brady doesn’t get enough calls is pretty silly for anyone who has been watching football for the last decade.
#38 by Tutenkharnage // Jan 23, 2022 - 4:48pm
Chokes against the Chargers? No problem: the idiot who picks him off will fumble the ball back so he can finish the comeback. Throws a terrible pick-six against the Falcons to put his team in a massive hole? No worries: the Falcons will derp it up hard and come up with the biggest choke of all time! Throws a terrible pick just before halftime that should finish off this game? Don’t worry: Cam Akers will drop the ball and bail him out. It’s uncanny.
#48 by Pat // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:05pm
It's a dick move to screw with plays like that. It probably would've been smart for the Rams to rush hard to force them to try to gain yardage, but you're just going to piss everyone off, quite possibly even your own players.
#47 by jgov // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:04pm
If you were just following this comment thread and not watching the game, you'd think this would be a close game that was being decided by the refs, not the one sided blowout that it actually is. Rams are completely controlling both sides of the line of scrimmage.
#65 by Tutenkharnage // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:19pm
Because their kicker keeps putting kickoffs out of bounds? Because their quarterback keeps throwing to the turf like he expects it to catch passes for him? Because their defense has hardly shown any backbone whatsoever?
#66 by coltsandrew // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:19pm
For starters, the Bucs immediately converted after the taunting penalty on Brady. They've failed to convert a lot of other plays when penalties weren't called, which suggests the problem isn't so much yards to go as much as failure to execute.
#57 by morganja // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:11pm
It's about watching a fair contest between two teams. I don't care who wins. I do want to see a game that isn't being majorly impacted by the a terrible ref. You can't let Hochuli do what he has done all day, or not do, in the case of not calling clear and obvious penalties.
Hochuli is an NFL ref because his father was an NFL ref. He is terrible. There are probably 200 million people in the US who would make a better ref than Hochuli.
#59 by Ben // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:12pm
Exactly! Have the Bucs gotten some tough penalties? Sure. But that isn’t why they are getting blown out.
As you said, it’s mostly getting dominated on the line of scrimmage. Throw in dropped passes and some bad special teams plays, and that is why the game isn’t even close.
#61 by Pat // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:14pm
Tampa's OL injuries from last week are really showing up here. I don't know if they would've been OK with Donald if Jensen hadn't gotten hurt (and Wirfs was in) but they couldn't really be worse.
I *do not* understand why Marpet is handling Donald one on one so much. He's, um, not doing well.
#73 by Pat // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:25pm
Weird, after a drive with Donald over left guard most of the time, they shuffle him around and Tampa handles him a lot better. After Brady settles a bit, they actually hit stuff and score a TD.
Not sure why you move Donald outside when he's wrecking things inside.
#77 by Pat // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:35pm
Nah, both Philly and Washington could be respectable. Not great, but respectable.
NFC South definitely has the least potential without Brady. Bucs basically become Washington, but Saints are in cap hell and Panthers have a head coach problem. So it basically comes down to the Falcons, and their best shot for relevancy next year is Ryan, but that's a long term mistake probably. Could end up with Bucs and utter garbage.
#93 by Lost Ti-Cats Fan // Jan 23, 2022 - 5:47pm
As I so often do, I look at this situation and think "what would Joe Judge do?" And I think the answer is clear ... three QB sneaks to set up a game clinching FG - then fake the FG and throw a pick six.
Anyway, somehow TB-LAR came up with something even sillier than my sarcasm: a TB drive that ends with a LAR 15 yard roughing foul that still gives the Rams the ball on a turnover on downs, just 15 yards back.
#107 by Lost Ti-Cats Fan // Jan 23, 2022 - 6:01pm
I didn't think there were any kickers still employed in the NFL who don't regularly kick the ball 50+ yards. Accuracy is one thing, but I can't recall the last time I saw a 47-yard kick come up short, even in the CFL, other than in unusual wind conditions. I have the sound off, though, so maybe there's a strong wind in TB that affected things. (And no, I'm not going to turn the sound on to find out - I passed my annual tolerance threshold for Al Michaels' voice a few weeks ago.)
#463 by andrew age // Jan 25, 2022 - 5:08pm
In defense of Gay, on the german telecast there was talk of an apparent injury to his knee during warmups. McVay said after the game he had not been aware if it. Just as odd as his usage-ratio between Akers/Michel. Will be interesting to watch that split come CS-Sunday. Kupp redeemed himself for his fumble, Cam added another one. Can they fix him? Will he be benched? I imagine even winning such a game can still be a dissappointment. He might become the least happiest ring winning person ever. The odds are low, though.
#111 by Spanosian Magn… // Jan 23, 2022 - 6:04pm
Right? I know Michaels and Colinsworth are both checked-out dinosaurs, but why on earth would a competent team want to "make it an 11-point game" with under 5 minutes left? Turning a two-possession game into a two-possession game doesn't accomplish a whole heck of a lot at that point.