2018 Conference Championship Open Thread

I will draw some very slight assurance from the fact that NE hasn't added a 3rd QB to the roster. Yet. Otherwise, pretty worrisome. Wonder if Vegas knows something or is just reacting to changes in the money flows.

Do people actually think Brady might not start? Remember when he was in a walking boot a few days before SB42? Please. I don't buy it for a second.

Brady officially listed as "limited participation" today (after "did not practice" yesterday) and as "questionable" for the game.

And from beat writer Tom Curran, who generally has good sources:

Brady’s right thumb bent back badly when he was smashed into by a running back. Somehow, the ball got jammed back into the webbing between his thumb and index finger and it caused a cut. Might have been the laces. There may be stitches. He’s not taking snaps under center. He can take them in shotgun. He’s trying not to aggravate the thumb between now and kickoff so the reps are at a minimum. He can throw. I have no idea how hard, how far or how accurately.

http://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/what-were-hearing-new-england-patriots-tom-brady-has-painful-thumb-injury

Apparently the NFL has been running ads for a Pats-Vikings super bowl on their Facebook site this week. Something to watch for during the games.

If the Jags offensive line plays as well as they did against the Steelers, I like their chances, but the Jags defense has never played against anything like the tempo stuff New England's going to play with, and most teams blow some coverages when they play against it the first time, so communication is going to be the key. In terms of physical talent, New England hasn't blown me away since 2014, yet the machine rolls on (otoh, this is a better, more opportunistic defense than Brady has faced since 2015 in Denver, and they don't just cause turnovers; they look to score- they had about 1/2 a touchdown a game, plus four or five that got taken away by incorrect, inadvertent whistles, which theoretically won't be an issue with the "best officials") Guess we'll see

dp

Nice jags drive to take the lead!

Jags O-line dominating again thus far

Looks like Jax offensive line is dominating, AND Good Bortles has shown up today. Not a good sign for NE.

Pats' run D has been way too soft. Van Noy was in the right place on the 2nd TD and Fournette just pushed him into the end zone.

Don't know how that's a problem that can be solved by the coaches today.

On offense, I'm baffled at the choice to pass on three consecutive plays there. They have to run the ball to win today. Doesn't matter if they're down 11 points.

Watching the ads:

Would Barry Sanders ever really need to take out a mortgage?

Not a fan of the quick snap just to avoid the challenge.

That Jacksonville's offense immediately devolved to failed run-failed run-dropback pass on its first possession after taking a 14-3 lead suggests doom.

No. That is not the correct call.

6 or 10 point delay of game?

And of course the absurd PF?

No flags in the first quarter. Suddenly the flags are flying.

I hate the officials. WTF? I'm trying so hard to watch a playoff game. Why can't the refs not make so many terrible calls to the benefit of the Patriots? I mean, seriously?

Feel badly for the Jags- mauling receivers downfield was perfectly legal last week.

Looking back, that delay of game was a huge killer. Instead of a first down and probably more points, the Jags have to punt and then give up a last-minute TD. And such a stupid penalty! The clock wasn't running at all so there was no advantage to trying to bring the play clock down to zero.

55 seconds to go, two timeouts, and you KNEEL? It’s not like an extra 3 or 7 points might be useful against the Patriots or anything. The Jaguars deserve to lose.

(I know you don’t want to throw three incompletions and give it back to NE, but maybe call a running play on first down and use one of those timeouts if it’s successful? Or do literally anything besides give up?)

We're told Gronkowski is not concussed. He's just still in the locker room in the second half nursing a head injury. The NFL shouldn't even pretend they care about head injuries if they're just going to feed us halfhearted bullshit like that every time a star takes a headshot in an important game.

What this most reminds me of is a pre-2007 Patriots Colts game with the Jags in the role of the Patriots

Starting to look like Super Bowl XXV - Jags controlling the ball like the Giants and the Pats with zero third down conversions (Bills had just 1 all game).

Think the pats should have gone for it, 4th and 6 in Jax territory?

it's the beginning of Jacksonville's end

Ha, I love how the Patriots mystique is working against them for once. Like Romo pointed out, this drive is where you need your hometown fans standing and cheering the defense. Instead, down by 7 at the end of the third, they've given up until and unless Brady can tie it later

Gillette has never been the loudest stadium out there unless they’re up by 20.

Gronk ruled out - is this a game changer?

Wow what a play by Jack! I thought his angle for the tackle was a great play in itself, then the fumble? Awesome.

They have to punt it back though.

Jack wasn't being contacted by the time he gained control of the ball, so it's unfortunate the whistle blew and deprived him of a return.

Jacksonville looks like a well coached team today. I love the misdirection on that punt to try and force an offsides or timeout, without taking the delay of game. Pats didn't bite though because they're pretty well coached themselves.

When's the last big game Belichick was equalled?

Plenty of missed opportunities for the refs to have called holding on the Patriots on that drive. You know. For the first real penalty against them today....

So..with all the camera panning around the stadium instead of showing the snap when the Jaguars have the ball, I can't help but notice there are no black people in the stadium.
Do they not allow black people into Gillette Stadium?

One penalty on NE. One.

Man, is there some poor officiating in the second half. I know the NFL doesn’t want the Jaguars in the Super Bowl, but this is ridiculous.

NE's "12th man" is on the case today. The Pats hold on every play, never flagged.

I guess you might as well not even bother reviewing the catch by amendola when you know you're just going to give it to the pats anyway.

that is a crushing blow for the jags to see jack hobbling off what a game he has played.

Well, they let us think it was a game for 3 quarters.

This is why you don't take a knee with 55 seconds left in the 1st half.

Also, I thought Joe Buck slobbering all over Aaron Rodgers in every broadcast was bad, but good god, Romo. At least pretend to be objective.

Which announcer is that who is cheering for the Patriots so passionately?

ive never seen a team get this big of a boost from the refs in a single game as todays game

I might just start rooting for new england just to antagonize the 13-and-under crowd seeing ghosts in all the shadows.

That announcer, whoever it is, is just outright cheering for the Patriots. What's up with that?

Another game given to the Patriots by the refs. I shouldn't have watched it. I knew it was going to be exactly like this. No penalties on the Patriots. Two touchdowns given to the Patriots by the refs.
And next year there is going to be another drop in NFL viewership. I loved football all my life. But the NFL is just a sick, and boring, joke at this point.
The Patriots were clearly the second best team on the field. They in no way deserved to win. Oh well. Same old. Same old.

NE's o-line never holds. Ever.

Lesson for the Jags is the same as the lesson for the Falcons: gotta play 60 minutes. Gotta stay aggressive on offense. With 15 min left I was convinced Pats would lose. 0 points in 3rd quarter and they looked flat. Run D was terrible.

And then the 4th Q happened.

Officiating in the NFL has become so arbitrary as to be essentially random.

On the plus side we don't have to watch the Jags headhunt in the Super Bowl.

Seems like the refs decided that one for sure.

predictably brutal loss, with some predictable shady pi calls, made and not made, that really bailed NE out (3rd down jags 2nd last drive, almost all of the calls against jags secondary on several uncatchable balls, but NEs the league's cash cow, so what do you expect), but jags still need a better qb so they arent predictable on 1st and 2nd down. your website going out at this point isnt a good look. hope gronk misses sb and thinks about retirement

I ran some numbers on how overly conservative the Jags were on first down but a server error ate my post. Wasn't the website supposed to be redone like two years ago? It's only like eight years overdue at this point.

Anyways, the Jags largely lost the game because they tried to turtle on a fairly small lead against an all time great QB. A big part of why NE wins so many games is that they seem to be the only team that's immune to having games where they just shut down once they're up two scores.

I ran some numbers on how overly conservative the Jags were on first down but a server error ate my post. Wasn't the website supposed to be redone like two years ago? It's only like eight years overdue at this point.

Anyways, the Jags largely lost the game because they tried to turtle on a fairly small lead against an all time great QB. A big part of why NE wins so many games is that they seem to be the only team that's immune to having games where they just shut down once they're up two scores.

Jags are a good team, totally legit. I'm glad the conspiracy theory tinfoil hat crowd continues to salt it up around here, and I'm glad the Pats are going back to the super bowl. That pass defense by Gilmore was friggen awesome!

No 4th quarter pass rush will nearly always lose to a great qb. To all the moon-howlers, go ahead and supply the video evidence of the blatant holds that went uncalled.

I'd like to recommend a website:'Butthurt Nation' 'where all the fanboys that the Patriots were mean to can cry on each others shoulders.' They also have local chapters that provide coffee, plenty of hugs, and Kleenex for all your salty tears.

Well, it's not exactly a surprise to see refs be biased in favor of the big market, legendary team against the small market upstarts. Just like star players get special treatment too. I guess it's probably just human nature to be overawed by one of the most accomplished franchises in sports, maybe expecting fair reffing in such circumstances is simply unreasonable. Reminds me of the NBA playoff series between the Lakers and Sacramento in 2002, where something similar seemed to occur.

Wow, maybe one first down from being in position for at least FG and a two score lead, instead it's tied. Huge play.

Double post.

My god can you imagine if the Eagles pull a win out tonight? It would be a bloodbath instead of a close game that would inevitably blown in the 4th quarter.

To all the people complaining about the reffing, I suggest you replay the game for people who don't have a rooting interest. People who aren't football and see with Patriots hate. See what they say.

The camera doesn't lie and you're all looking at ghosts through your own perceived biases.

In regards to the calls; the DPI for Cooks deep: Cooks looked for the ball early and tried to work back into the field and Ramsey just ran him straight to the sideline. That's the correct call. Yes, Ramsey looked for the ball but he didn't locate it. If he located it, then he may actually picked it because he was way closer to the ball.

The drive before, where NE had to punt, the jags defender was hanging all over Hogan on the 3rd down pass attempt before the pass arrived. Chungs later coverage was much cleaner. It just was. Chung wasn't drapped on his WR.

The Gronk hit, there may have been shoulder contact but it would've been simultaneous with the helmet to helmet, against a defenseless receiver. That's clearly a foul.

The Amendola catch, before the TD, his hand was under the nose of the ball. The James Steelers catch his hand was on the side of the ball and the nose of the ball hit and the ball moved. All different acts. Look at the film.

Finally, the reason why the Pats weren't called is they were mostly playing softer coverage, hence why the Pats gave up yards and yards to short outs and middle curls.

And why no calls on the NE O-line? That was very biased. For the jags. The jags were basically holding and dragging NE linemen to the ground, and then blocking them in the back into the ground if they got through. The refs mostly swallowed their whistles on the line play, except for one call against the Jags. The Jags were blessed to not have 4 or 5 holding calls against them. I think I recall maybe one arm bar lock to shoulder/elbow that was semi-callable for the NE line.

I won't be responding to any replies since anyone who's complaining about the reffing has no ability to evenly judge reffing.

However, if you want to talk about bracket coverage on Gronk, presnap motion, jags run D, and play efficiency then I'm interested in talking about those things.