NFL

[sweetcell]

so, thoughts about new england's performance yesterday?  
 
 i saw glimmers of the brady that led them to three titles in four years.  that last drive of the first half was brilliant.  brady was pissed at his first-half performance, and turned that anger into determination.  they more or less shut down LT in the second half, which is what they needed to do from the start.  i think they can take the colts if they can get brady to stay in that mindset.  and if i can put in a request to NE from a fan: those need-to-make end-of-game drives, while thrilling, are wreaking havoc on my life expectancy.  how about we go for the kind of victory we witnessed against the jets?  thanks.

[sonickteam2]

after a while, i just expect to see those end of game drives....in fact, i just wait for them to happen now!
 
 the Patriots have almost locked up another super bowl in my opinion.  you just cant beat them, and they almost never beat themselves!

[Shadrach]

I saw a Tom Brady who threw 3 picks and got very lucky on a couple plays. If Brown doesn't strip the ball recovered by Caldwell after that third interception we're not talking about Brady except for how poorly he played. The Chargers beat themselves with dumb penalties dropped balls, muffed punts and not giving the ball back to Tomlinson on their second to last drive. San Diego was the better team, but New England got extremely lucky.

[vansmack]

I'm with Shadrach on this one.  Other than the last drive, New England did very little to earn this game.  I've never seen a game where a team did as much to give the game away as San Diego did.  And truthfully, though I was betting against Marty and Rivers, most of the mistakes were not their fault.

[sonickteam2]

but thats what New England does! they dont have to be better than you, but you'll lose to em anyway.  the chargers may have won this game against many other teams, but not the Patriots.  
 
 what did they (Patriots) have 21 points off of turnovers?
 
 i'll never buy the "better team lost the game" line. unless you wanna blame the referees or something.

[HoyaSaxa03]

the better team lost that game.
 
 too many stupid penalties, absurd crazy shit (the fumble after the INT that he should have just batted down because it was 4th down)
 
 obviously the pats played well when they needed to, but they (brady in particular) also stunk it up for much of the game, and it was clear that the chargers were the better team ... i felt really bad for them at the end
 
 looks like the colts have the best shot they've ever had at the pats ... the pats this year aren't half the team of their super bowl years, and nothing i've seen this season or post-season contradicts that

[sonickteam2]

the better team doesnt muff punts, headbutt opposing teams players after a 3rd down stop, pointlessly try to run back almost game clinching interceptions, or give up a game winning drive in the last 2 minutes when they hadnt give up one of such drives all game long.
 
  the better team made less mistakes, and THAT was the New England Patriots.  
 
 and no worries, cause the colts ever get the lead next sunday.

[shemptiness]

I don't understand why guys try for the pick on 4th down.  Unless they bring it all the way back it makes more sense to just knock the ball down.

[HoyaSaxa03]

sonick, we'll agree to disagree
 
 i just hate seeing a game won by a team like the patriots on so much bullshit ... i was praying on every punt / tricky situation on saturday that the colts wouldn't lose on some similar kind of play ... this is peyton's year

[Mobius]

The more talented team lost.  The better team won.
 
 Its hard to bet against the Colts at home, but its even harder to bet against Brady and the Patriots braintrust finding gaps in the Colts cover 2 (which is as predictable as the Ravens O) and the Pats D rattling Peyton.

[sonickteam2]

i am starting to wish i hadnt picked the Bears / Colts super bowl game a few weeks back.

[sweetcell]

mobius: well said.  the bolts were definitely the flashier team - those 12-yard LT rushes were amazing.  but i can't help but think that experience and patience gave the edge to the pats.
 
 sonick: don't shred up your betting card just yet... the only reason i'm mildly confident that the pats can pull through is because the colts didn't do much offensively this past weekend.  hopefully payton will continue his post-season tendency to flame out.  but i'm not willing to bet cash on it.

[Venerable Bede]

mobius. . .you got it right. . .that was just a bad mistake- if you go for it and don't make it, you can afford to give up a field goal, but if you punt, and don't stop the team, it's over.  just dumb.  i expect easterbrook to bring this up.
 
 also dumb, although it didn't end up mattering, at the end of the first half, lovie smith not using one of his 3 remaining time outs when there were 10 seconds left in the half and giving devin hester a shot a running a punt back, instead using it with 2 seconds.  geez. . .

[vansmack]

   

Gregg Easterbrook Says:[/b]
 Then the Saints forced the visiting team into fourth-and-15 from its 39-yard line, 1:56 remaining, Philadelphia holding two timeouts. You cannot under any circumstances even consider punting! Boom went the punt, and needless to say Philadelphia never touched the ball again. Sure, fourth-and-15 is a long down, but I seem to remember the Eagles' converting a fourth-and-26 in the playoffs. Anyway, it's do-or-die, you must go for it! With Philadelphia having only two timeouts, the best outcome for the punt was that New Orleans would be stopped on its possession and kick the ball back, giving Philadelphia roughly the same field position with one minute and no timeouts. This outcome assumes Philadelphia can stop New Orleans from gaining a clock-zeroing 10 yards in three tries, and to that point New Orleans had rushed for 5.7 yards per attempt. Of course, Philadelphia was not able to prevent those 10 yards. A fourth-and-15 try was more promising than a passive punt -- and then if you fail, you go down swinging.

And...
 
   

Trailing 9-3, Baltimore took possession on its 20 with 1:05 remaining in the first half, holding two timeouts. Billick had the Ravens run the ball into the line twice and then trot to the locker room, never calling the timeouts despite quickly gaining a first down. Huh? What? This is the playoffs, there is no tomorrow! Allow me to rephrase: Huh? What?

And...
 
   

Indianapolis leading 12-3 midway through the third quarter, Billick ordered a punt on fourth-and-4 from the Colts' 41. Not only does the average NFL play gain about 5 yards: you're down by two scores in the second half in opposition territory in the playoffs. Why are you punting??? I scarcely need tell you it took Indianapolis just two snaps to pass the point where the ball would have been had Baltimore gone for it and missed. By going for it here, Billick could have kept a scoring drive alive and told his players he was challenging them to win the game. By launching a mincing fraidy-cat punt he told his players the coaches had quit on the game, so they might as well quit too. As Indianapolis quickly roared past the point of the Preposterous Punt, Dan Dierdorf solemnly intoned, "Brian Billick felt like he had a great chance to get his offense great field position" with a defensive stop. Billick's offense just had great field position, and passively surrendered the ball.

That's some serisouly ballless coaching, and the football gods chortled.

[Mobius]

Turnovers killed the Ravens.  These decisions by Billick would have been inconsequential if the Ravens didn't kill themselves with turnovers.  And Dungy called just as bad of a game.
 
 Maybe Billick overreacted to McNair's tragic INT at the goal line, but it can't be understated how terrible a decision it was to throw that ball.  Billick's subsequent decisions not to ask McNair to "make something happen" seemed responsible, like not asking your friend to drive you home after he does a bunch of jager shots and pukes on your shoes.