NFL Week 14

[Enigma869]

how was that superbowl last year?

It was pretty good, thanks for asking. Actually, it was one of the better played Super Bowl games that I've seen in years. I'm not bitter that the Patriots didn't win and was on this board within 30 seconds of the game ending congratulating Giants fans. At least the Patriots actually made it to the game. Romo was making news again for banging Jessica in Cancun!

[larryfromnextdoor]

how was that superbowl last year?

. Romo was making news again for banging Jessica in Cancun!

ok,.,.ill give you that one too.. ugh!!! i lose.. im going ot bed..

[S2M]

I would say that these are the four main reasons(in order) why a team loses:

1) play calling
2) officiating
3) injuries
4) level of talent

Stupid assessment dude. I love your respect for the great Barry Sanders, but to say that officiating is more important than the level of talent a team has is one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever heard a sports fan make.

For what it's worth, I do think the officials blew the Deion Branch call. His heel looked like it was clearly out of bounds and I'm not sure how they missed it. That said, officiating will never decide more games than talent will! The fact that New England is missing Tom Brady, Adalius Thomas, Rodney Harrison, Ty Warren, and lost Vince Wilfork and Tedy Bruschi in this game was the reason Seattle was even close. It is VERY, VERY difficult to overcome those injuries.

I suspect if the Colts just lost just Peyton Manning, and not one other player, they wouldn't finish with an 8-8 record. If the Patriots make the playoffs, they will be eliminated in the first round, because their defense is AWFUL, and their team is simply decimated. It's still a remarkable run for a team who has had to sign Junior Seau and Rosevelt Colvin this week, because they simply don't have enough healthy bodies to field a team on Sunday.

Well I disagree. But that shouldn't surprise anyone....

John, you should know as well as anyone who follows the game that holding can be called on EVERY play. But WHEN it is called is more important. Why this play, and not that play? That's one of the reasons why I say officiating decides more games than talent. I'm sure you watched the Seattle/Pittsburgh SB? 'Nuff said.

Last year's SB....Giant's O-line was CLEARLY holding on Eli's 'Great Escape'.....nuff said.

I'd say 60-70% of the time, a team can overcome lack of talent with good play calling. And that's why I think play calling is number 1. Running the ball on a 3rd and 11 is NOT good play calling. Throwing the ball on 3rd and 1, regardless of the outcome, is NOT good play calling. Calling a play where your QB has a 7 step drop when his backside OT has been beaten ALL day is NOT good play calling.

Explain to me why the Patriots have lost 5 games this year......lack of talent, injuries, or play calling? I submit to you that it is 75% play calling, and 25% injuries.....

[Don]

Actually play action on third and one can be a good call if you've been setting up the defense with the run. Just my 2 cents of course.

[Enigma869]

I'm sure you watched the Seattle/Pittsburgh SB?

Yes, I watched the game, and yes, the officials fucked up. That said, it was ONE GAME! I watch many other games during the course of an NFL season that the officials have no role in deciding!

Last year's SB....Giant's O-line was CLEARLY holding on Eli's 'Great Escape'

You really need to get over it, dude. Listen, I don't think the Giants were the better team last season, but that's the NFL. The Patriots could have played the Giants 10 times last season and would beat them 9 times. Manning threw up a prayer and Tyree held on because Harrison forgot to smack the ball out of his hands. That's football.

I'd say 60-70% of the time, a team can overcome lack of talent with good play calling.

A complete lack of talent can never be overcome, even by Vince Lombardi! While I definitely agree that a great coach, who knows how to call a game can make a huge difference in the NFL, if you're showing up with the 2008 Detroit Lions as your team, all the great play calling on the planet isn't making up for their sucky team! Lousy coaches won't win with talent falling out of their ass, and Wade Phillips and Norv Turner continue to prove that season after season. You just don't see any coaches who win with awful teams (i.e. a complete lack of talent).

Running the ball on a 3rd and 11 is NOT good play calling. Throwing the ball on 3rd and 1, regardless of the outcome, is NOT good play calling.

Have you ever even played football??? You're making a lot of statements that are just ridiculous. A big part of football is outguessing your opponent. I can tell you that teams I have been a part of have completed a whole lot of 3rd and 1 plays throwing the football. Some people who coach the game will tell you that trying to run the ball with 11 guys completely stacking the line (which means you're guaranteed to have wide open receivers to throw the ball to) is just a stupid call. You don't just call a play based on down and distance. You have to factor in FAR more to the equation, including the defense you're looking at!

Explain to me why the Patriots have lost 5 games this year

Because their defense has been decimated by injuries and isn't very good. Also, they lost the best player in the entire NFL when Brady had his knee snapped in half. Your assertion is that all of a sudden Bill Belichick has turned stupid and doesn't know how to call a game, on the heels of going 16-0 last season. It's RIDICULOUS! Belichick doesn't have the horses to carry out his play calling. It will ALWAYS come back to the talent on the field. I promise you that if Brady hadn't gotten hurt and the Patriots hadn't lost half their defense, they would already have 11 wins, at a minimum!

[YoungJRNY]

My throat is still ripped apart from that pick 6 to win the game. I was screaming so loud I think just wind was coming out.

It's a GOD DAMN shame of how good the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is, and how dis-functional the offense is playing. Sooner or later the defense is going to BEND and it's going to have to be the offense that does some shit. 4 turnovers in the first half and had only 3 points to show for it. Moved the ball quite well at times but just could not accumulate any points out of it. It was NOTHING that Dallas was throwing at us that stalled drives.. it was simply under-executing our own plays. We should have beat the 'girls by atleast 34 points. Also, is Jerome Bettis still available? Maybe he can push a pile 1 yard. Too many goaline stands.

As bad as the offense is, they always find a way on a must score drive to drive down and get the defense 6. Steelers been there before countless number of times, and always come through. 13-13 late, 2:00 left. What better scenario do you want as a football team to let the #1 all around defense take control? Dallas' offense was supposed to be a juggernaut,... BUT.. uhhh....like I said, we got a better effort from Cinci than we did Dallas, offensively. See what pressure does to Quarterbacks? Romo is a complete joke and must maintain a good blowjob to keep his media darling-frenzy the next couple weeks.

Happy Birthday, T.O

P.S- Baltimore scares the living shit out of me. Their D is playing 2000 ball. Ben better bring his Advil. Defense is going to win this game for the North crown.

[S2M]

I'm sure you watched the Seattle/Pittsburgh SB?

Yes, I watched the game, and yes, the officials fucked up. That said, it was ONE GAME! I watch many other games during the course of an NFL season that the officials have no role in deciding!

Last year's SB....Giant's O-line was CLEARLY holding on Eli's 'Great Escape'

You really need to get over it, dude. Listen, I don't think the Giants were the better team last season, but that's the NFL. The Patriots could have played the Giants 10 times last season and would beat them 9 times. Manning threw up a prayer and Tyree held on because Harrison forgot to smack the ball out of his hands. That's football.

I'd say 60-70% of the time, a team can overcome lack of talent with good play calling.

A complete lack of talent can never be overcome, even by Vince Lombardi! While I definitely agree that a great coach, who knows how to call a game can make a huge difference in the NFL, if you're showing up with the 2008 Detroit Lions as your team, all the great play calling on the planet isn't making up for their sucky team! Lousy coaches won't win with talent falling out of their ass, and Wade Phillips and Norv Turner continue to prove that season after season. You just don't see any coaches who win with awful teams (i.e. a complete lack of talent).

Running the ball on a 3rd and 11 is NOT good play calling. Throwing the ball on 3rd and 1, regardless of the outcome, is NOT good play calling.

Have you ever even played football??? You're making a lot of statements that are just ridiculous. A big part of football is outguessing your opponent. I can tell you that teams I have been a part of have completed a whole lot of 3rd and 1 plays throwing the football. Some people who coach the game will tell you that trying to run the ball with 11 guys completely stacking the line (which means you're guaranteed to have wide open receivers to throw the ball to) is just a stupid call. You don't just call a play based on down and distance. You have to factor in FAR more to the equation, including the defense you're looking at!

Explain to me why the Patriots have lost 5 games this year

Because their defense has been decimated by injuries and isn't very good. Also, they lost the best player in the entire NFL when Brady had his knee snapped in half. Your assertion is that all of a sudden Bill Belichick has turned stupid and doesn't know how to call a game, on the heels of going 16-0 last season. It's RIDICULOUS! Belichick doesn't have the horses to carry out his play calling. It will ALWAYS come back to the talent on the field. I promise you that if Brady hadn't gotten hurt and the Patriots hadn't lost half their defense, they would already have 11 wins, at a minimum!

John, you will have to excuse me because I don't know how to use the quote feature quite like you did in your response......

First off, a decision has a judgment value of right or wrong which is independent of the outcome of said decision. Simply meaning, if you played Russian Roulette, and somehow came out alive - doesn't mean it was a good decision. Teams hardly ever stack 11 on the line, Which, if that WAS the scenario, I agree with you, it would be a good decision to pass. At the same time remembering that running the ball would STILL be the higher percentage play, regardless. I've seen teams pass the ball 3 straight times after having a 1st and 5(after an offsides)...and they have to punt the ball. Now that's bad play calling.

Next, Belichick succeeds with his 'plug-in' system because he knows how to use play calling/amount of talent to a maximum. Which only furthers my point as to the point of play calling being ranked higher than talent. The first two SB years, the Patriots really didn't have a running game. So what did they do? They used their short, underneath passing game AS their running game. Lack of talent/no talent at that position equalized by genius play calling.

Detroit has enough talent to be an 8-8 team....their 'play-calling' sucks ass.

[Michigan Girl]

Maybe Jerry Jones will finally smarten the fuck up and fire that douche, Phillips! The Steelers did not win that game. Dallas giftwrapped it and handed it to them. Romo gets WAY to much credit for being a good QB, when the reality is that the guy has never won a fucking thing and still makes more mistakes than rookies like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco!

YES......aaaaaannnnd YES!!!

[YoungJRNY]

Maybe Jerry Jones will finally smarten the fuck up and fire that douche, Phillips! The Steelers did not win that game. Dallas giftwrapped it and handed it to them. Romo gets WAY to much credit for being a good QB, when the reality is that the guy has never won a fucking thing and still makes more mistakes than rookies like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco!

YES......aaaaaannnnd YES!!!

If anything it was The Steelers that gift wrapped anything the Cowboys produced yesterday. There were multiple times where the Steelers said "Here guys, take it, please! I insist." But Dallas just couldn't. It was the Steelers that said "Ok, we'll win it then." giving up a completely broken play and letting Romo run around for 10 second and just chuck it up for 6. (At least it kept T.O happy for a quarter.) Kicking the ball out of bounds near the end of the game and giving the ball to Dallas on the 40. Getting only 3 points on 4 turnovers with bad play execution. There was no gift wrapping. It was the confusion of the Steelers defense that forced Romo into having no idea where to go with the ball.

I give tremendous credit to the Dallas D. They stepped up and took advantage of a unit that couldn't produce all year.. except when it counted the most. The Steelers had a total of about 5 yards all game, but drove 67 yards on the game-tying drive. Dallas folded under the pressure and the better team will always prevail when the 60 min mark hits. It was a HARD EARNED win from the Stillers.

Then again, that's what happens when you have a choker of a Quarterback.

[Michigan Girl]

Maybe Jerry Jones will finally smarten the fuck up and fire that douche, Phillips! The Steelers did not win that game. Dallas giftwrapped it and handed it to them. Romo gets WAY to much credit for being a good QB, when the reality is that the guy has never won a fucking thing and still makes more mistakes than rookies like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco!

YES......aaaaaannnnd YES!!!

If anything it was The Steelers that gift wrapped anything the Cowboys produced yesterday. There were multiple times where the Steelers said "Here guys, take it, please! I insist." But Dallas just couldn't. It was the Steelers that said "Ok, we'll win it then." giving up a completely broken play and letting Romo run around for 10 second and just chuck it up for 6. (At least it kept T.O happy for a quarter.) Kicking the ball out of bounds near the end of the game and giving the ball to Dallas on the 40. Getting only 3 points on 4 turnovers with bad play execution. There was no gift wrapping. It was the confusion of the Steelers defense that forced Romo into having no idea where to go with the ball.

I give tremendous credit to the Dallas D. They stepped up and took advantage of a unit that couldn't produce all year.. except when it counted the most. The Steelers had a total of about 5 yards all game, but drove 67 yards on the game-tying drive. Dallas folded under the pressure and the better team will always prevail when the 60 min mark hits. It was a HARD EARNED win from the Stillers.

Then again, that's what happens when you have a choker of a Quarterback.

I saw two shitty O's
and two great D's.....the better of the D's won thanks to the lesser of the Q's.....

[Don]

Maybe Jerry Jones will finally smarten the fuck up and fire that douche, Phillips! The Steelers did not win that game. Dallas giftwrapped it and handed it to them. Romo gets WAY to much credit for being a good QB, when the reality is that the guy has never won a fucking thing and still makes more mistakes than rookies like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco!

YES......aaaaaannnnd YES!!!

If anything it was The Steelers that gift wrapped anything the Cowboys produced yesterday. There were multiple times where the Steelers said "Here guys, take it, please! I insist." But Dallas just couldn't. It was the Steelers that said "Ok, we'll win it then." giving up a completely broken play and letting Romo run around for 10 second and just chuck it up for 6. (At least it kept T.O happy for a quarter.) Kicking the ball out of bounds near the end of the game and giving the ball to Dallas on the 40. Getting only 3 points on 4 turnovers with bad play execution. There was no gift wrapping. It was the confusion of the Steelers defense that forced Romo into having no idea where to go with the ball.

I give tremendous credit to the Dallas D. They stepped up and took advantage of a unit that couldn't produce all year.. except when it counted the most. The Steelers had a total of about 5 yards all game, but drove 67 yards on the game-tying drive. Dallas folded under the pressure and the better team will always prevail when the 60 min mark hits. It was a HARD EARNED win from the Stillers.

Then again, that's what happens when you have a choker of a Quarterback.

I saw two shitty O's
and two great D's.....the better of the D's won thanks to the lesser of the Q's.....

That particular Q is wrapped around too much P to be effective.

[Michigan Girl]

Maybe Jerry Jones will finally smarten the fuck up and fire that douche, Phillips! The Steelers did not win that game. Dallas giftwrapped it and handed it to them. Romo gets WAY to much credit for being a good QB, when the reality is that the guy has never won a fucking thing and still makes more mistakes than rookies like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco!

YES......aaaaaannnnd YES!!!

If anything it was The Steelers that gift wrapped anything the Cowboys produced yesterday. There were multiple times where the Steelers said "Here guys, take it, please! I insist." But Dallas just couldn't. It was the Steelers that said "Ok, we'll win it then." giving up a completely broken play and letting Romo run around for 10 second and just chuck it up for 6. (At least it kept T.O happy for a quarter.) Kicking the ball out of bounds near the end of the game and giving the ball to Dallas on the 40. Getting only 3 points on 4 turnovers with bad play execution. There was no gift wrapping. It was the confusion of the Steelers defense that forced Romo into having no idea where to go with the ball.

I give tremendous credit to the Dallas D. They stepped up and took advantage of a unit that couldn't produce all year.. except when it counted the most. The Steelers had a total of about 5 yards all game, but drove 67 yards on the game-tying drive. Dallas folded under the pressure and the better team will always prevail when the 60 min mark hits. It was a HARD EARNED win from the Stillers.

Then again, that's what happens when you have a choker of a Quarterback.

I saw two shitty O's
and two great D's.....the better of the D's won thanks to the lesser of the Q's.....

That particular Q is wrapped around too much P to be effective.

LOL....
your favorite letter!!!!
Oh, and I'd like to also add....Poor T-O....

[Don]

Maybe Jerry Jones will finally smarten the fuck up and fire that douche, Phillips! The Steelers did not win that game. Dallas giftwrapped it and handed it to them. Romo gets WAY to much credit for being a good QB, when the reality is that the guy has never won a fucking thing and still makes more mistakes than rookies like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco!

YES......aaaaaannnnd YES!!!

If anything it was The Steelers that gift wrapped anything the Cowboys produced yesterday. There were multiple times where the Steelers said "Here guys, take it, please! I insist." But Dallas just couldn't. It was the Steelers that said "Ok, we'll win it then." giving up a completely broken play and letting Romo run around for 10 second and just chuck it up for 6. (At least it kept T.O happy for a quarter.) Kicking the ball out of bounds near the end of the game and giving the ball to Dallas on the 40. Getting only 3 points on 4 turnovers with bad play execution. There was no gift wrapping. It was the confusion of the Steelers defense that forced Romo into having no idea where to go with the ball.

I give tremendous credit to the Dallas D. They stepped up and took advantage of a unit that couldn't produce all year.. except when it counted the most. The Steelers had a total of about 5 yards all game, but drove 67 yards on the game-tying drive. Dallas folded under the pressure and the better team will always prevail when the 60 min mark hits. It was a HARD EARNED win from the Stillers.

Then again, that's what happens when you have a choker of a Quarterback.

I saw two shitty O's
and two great D's.....the better of the D's won thanks to the lesser of the Q's.....

That particular Q is wrapped around too much P to be effective.

LOL....
your favorite letter!!!! :wink:
Oh, and I'd like to also add....Poor T-O....

YES IT IS.

[TRAGChick]

Did you see the game last night?

WOOHOO!

How 'bout them Panthers?

[YoungJRNY]

Did you see the game last night?

WOOHOO!

How 'bout them Panthers?

Fantastic to see a running game like yours. I'm jealous. Carolina is a sleeper.. kind of like the Giants were last year. Watch out for Baby Blue.

[Enigma869]

Carolina is a sleeper

A "sleeper"??? How are they a sleeper when they have the third best record in the entire NFL? If they beat the Giants and run the table, they'll have home field advantage all the way through the Super Bowl. You're not sneaking up on anyone in the NFL with home field advantage all the way through the playoffs.

[YoungJRNY]

Carolina is a sleeper

A "sleeper"??? How are they a sleeper when they have the third best record in the entire NFL? If they beat the Giants and run the table, they'll have home field advantage all the way through the Super Bowl. You're not sneaking up on anyone in the NFL with home field advantage all the way through the playoffs.

I only used the word sleeper because the amount of attention teams like Tennessee, the AFC EAST, and the Champs are getting at this point. Carolina was mentioned here and there but people often overlooked them, including myself, until last night.. a national televised game where the whole world can see a team they see less of during the course of the season.

[Don]

Carolina is a sleeper

A "sleeper"??? How are they a sleeper when they have the third best record in the entire NFL? If they beat the Giants and run the table, they'll have home field advantage all the way through the Super Bowl. You're not sneaking up on anyone in the NFL with home field advantage all the way through the playoffs.

I only used the word sleeper because the amount of attention teams like Tennessee, the AFC EAST, and the Champs are getting at this point. Carolina was mentioned here and there but people often overlooked them, including myself, until last night.. a national televised game where the whole world can see a team they see less of during the course of the season.

Watch Carolina lose to the Broncos now. Jinx.

[YoungJRNY]

Carolina is a sleeper

A "sleeper"??? How are they a sleeper when they have the third best record in the entire NFL? If they beat the Giants and run the table, they'll have home field advantage all the way through the Super Bowl. You're not sneaking up on anyone in the NFL with home field advantage all the way through the playoffs.

I only used the word sleeper because the amount of attention teams like Tennessee, the AFC EAST, and the Champs are getting at this point. Carolina was mentioned here and there but people often overlooked them, including myself, until last night.. a national televised game where the whole world can see a team they see less of during the course of the season.

Watch Carolina lose to the Broncos now. Jinx.

In the words of The Swami

".. and THAT'S why.. they play the game! We'll be right back.. on the blitz!"