NFL 2015

[Tannhauser]

The call was bull, but we Lion'ed up the place in the 4th quarter. Grats to the Pack for an astounding win.

Sigh.

[Malakili]

That was probably one of the old "5 yard variety" facemasks before they changed it to all being personal fouls no matter how weak.  He did turn his head a little by getting his thumb in there, even though he didn't grasp it.

[Paelos]

I had a small bet on the Lions +3, went to bed at the half thinking that was fine.

Nope lol

[kaid]

That was probably one of the old "5 yard variety" facemasks before they changed it to all being personal fouls no matter how weak.  He did turn his head a little by getting his thumb in there, even though he didn't grasp it.

Yup this was pretty much my impression more of the old 5 yard incidental contact type penalty but they are all 15 yard personal fouls now so it was a legit call. The finger got hooked enough it turned both his head and his helmet and at full speed that combined with the shoulder take down likely made it look very ugly to the refs. But even without that he got part of the face mask and it tugged enough to move the helmet and thats a flag.

[WayAbvPar]

It also slowed him up enough to get tackled, so it definitely impacted the play. That being said, every defensive back on the field on the next play should be fired into the sun. You literally have one job to do...DEFEND THE END ZONE. A fucking TIGHT END out-maneuvered all of them and made an easy catch. He wasn't even under duress. It was as Lions-y as the kick 6 was Brownian. Sad sack rust belt teams. Wish the Steelers would follow suit. Because fuck them.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, I thought the face mask was a LOT harder at real time speed than it was once you saw the replay - it probably should have been of the 5-yard variety but at live speed, you can't say the 15-yarder wouldn't have been called my most refs. He ended up pulling more on the shoulder pads than the face mask but since they did away with the 5-yarder, it was the right call. Even with a 5-yarder though, that last play still would have happened and Way is absolutely right. There were like 5 DB's around that ball and not one of them got a hand on it. A TE boxed them all out. They didn't even bother with some PI.

[Segoris]

While it definitely looked like a penalty at full speed (and I can't blame the refs for calling it) it actually wasn't a legit call. I think this is the best write-up of why.

As for the hail mary, the Lions, being the Browns of the NFC, played it horribly. I think it was addressed properly in the after game show by commenting on how the Lions didn't even put Johnson out there (the guy with one of the biggest catch-zones in the NFL's history), and by only rushing with 3 players

[Cyrrex]

Also, there is no longer a 5 yard version of that call.  15 yards, or no penalty.

[Shannow]

While it definitely looked like a penalty at full speed (and I can't blame the refs for calling it) it actually wasn't a legit call. I think this is the best write-up of why.

As for the hail mary, the Lions, being the Browns of the NFC, played it horribly. I think it was addressed properly in the after game show by commenting on how the Lions didn't even put Johnson out there (the guy with one of the biggest catch-zones in the NFL's history), and by only rushing with 3 players

3 players was probably right. that was you have 8 back to defend 5. Didn't help 1 of those 3 gave up. Not having Johnson out there was mind-boggling. Gronk plays hail mary defense for the Pats.

[Segoris]

Yeah, probably considering that they did get to him with 3 but they lacked a rush on the outside to keep him contained so he can't get that running start. Good call on Gronk and that the one giving up in the end zone didn't help. But I just read this article which basically states that Caldwell was more worried about a lateral play then the Hail Mary, which is why they had 2 guys at the 40 yard line (which I didn't even see tbh). That is why in the end they only had 6 poorly positioned DBs instead of 7-8 poorly positioned DBs

The whole last 10seconds of play were just horrible.

[HaemishM]

Why the fuck would you worry about a lateral on that play? I mean, sure I could see them trying to lateral 60 yards down the fucking field maybe, but if your open field tackling is so shitty that it works, you probably have a lot more problems than just your inability to cover a TE on a hail mary.

[Chimpy]

Also, there is no longer a 5 yard version of that call.  15 yards, or no penalty.

Which is what facemask was in the old days: 15 yards everytime.

The big difference is THEY ACTUALLY CALLED THAT SHIT pretty much every time you put your hands on the face of the guy. Now, half the time you see a guy's head spin around like he is Linda Blair because someone has a grip on his grill and there is no flag thrown.

[Cyrrex]

I am not sure if we are making the same argument.  Was there not once a 5 yard version for an "incidental" face mask?  I believe there was, but it is gone now. 

[Chimpy]

I am not sure if we are making the same argument.  Was there not once a 5 yard version for an "incidental" face mask?  I believe there was, but it is gone now. 

There was. But it was a rule they added in I think the 90s. Before that a facemask was a facemask.

[HaemishM]

I actually liked the incidental facemask penalty and I'm not sure why they got rid of it.

[Malakili]

I actually liked the incidental facemask penalty and I'm not sure why they got rid of it.

I think they wanted to eliminate the judgement call of decided "how bad" it was and just make all facemasks penalized the same way.

[Goumindong]

That was probably one of the old "5 yard variety" facemasks before they changed it to all being personal fouls no matter how weak.  He did turn his head a little by getting his thumb in there, even though he didn't grasp it.

Yup this was pretty much my impression more of the old 5 yard incidental contact type penalty but they are all 15 yard personal fouls now so it was a legit call. The finger got hooked enough it turned both his head and his helmet and at full speed that combined with the shoulder take down likely made it look very ugly to the refs. But even without that he got part of the face mask and it tugged enough to move the helmet and thats a flag.

Actually no. The 15 yard facemask penalty does not include what was included in the old incidental penalty. Now incidental facemasks are supposed to be no calls. That is, if the player "immediately lets go" it is not a penalty. Since he never grabbed the facemask in the first place he most certainly "immediately let go"

[Chimpy]

Do you ever post except to tell someone they are wrong?

[Shannow]

Pats outscore Philly offense, 28 to 14 and manage to lose the game.  . One for the Pats haters to savor. Also featured a drop kick on a kickoff (which of course half the media in town is pointing to as the reason the Pats lost).

[sickrubik]

The last two weeks have been the absolute BEST.

[Surlyboi]

Pats outscore Philly offense, 28 to 14 and manage to lose the game.  . One for the Pats haters every football fan with no ties to Boston to savor. Also featured a drop kick on a kickoff (which of course half the media in town is pointing to as the reason the Pats lost).

Sorted.

[HaemishM]

Oh NFL... so much LOL.

The Pats lose to Chip Kelly and Sam Bradford. It is a GLORIOUS outcome because 1) it keeps the NFC East as a complete and utter mess - such that if the Cowboys beat the Racial Slurs tonight, no team in the division is mathematically out of the playoff race and 2) it means New England has dropped from #1 to #3 in the playoff seedings, which puts Andy Dalton and the Bungles in the position of having a bye and a home playoff game for them to lose. The Football Gods hate us. They have made tonight's game important and that's something that just shouldn't be.

The Bears get themselves in the position for a game-winning field goal and the kickers utterly shanks it, so of course they then lose in OT. So Bears.

The Vikings keep getting their noses in front of the Packers in the division only to fail every single time. They really don't want a home playoff game, do they?

Oh My God, the Falcons. What is wrong with this team? Apparently defensive scheme only goes so far when your players are yard trash. What's worse is that their offense should have everything it needs to succeed but Matt Ryan cannot figure out which team is his. OTOH, the Crab Thief seems to be turning into an actual NFL QB. It helps to have Doug Martin steamrolling defenses though.

[shiznitz]

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/upshot/2015-nfl-playoff-simulator.html?team=phi

Good playoff calculator. You can select a team from the drop down.  No matter who wins NFC East, it is 4th seed Wild Card time for them.

[Paelos]

1) it keeps the NFC East as a complete and utter mess - such that if the Cowboys beat the Racial Slurs tonight

Hahahahahahahaha, okay. No but seriously this Cowboys team can't move their own bowels let alone the football.

[Malakili]

The NFC East is just shitty enough for this to happen.

[Paelos]

The NFC East is just shitty enough for this to happen.

It's really really not. The Cowboys have no QB. The only good thing they had broke his shoulder twice in the same season. Our RB sucks, our WR is still gimpy, and our offensive line is slowly melting down. The defense can't get enough stops to stay off the field because the offense doesn't move the ball. We have a decent kicker. That's it.

Kirk Cousins is going to be screaming YOU LIKE THAT! over our graves tonight.

[Malakili]

Oh, you're almost certainly right.  I'm just saying I'm also not going to be totally shocked if the 'skins just don't show up for some reason.  It's less that I think the Cowboys are capable of being good and more that I think Washington is entirely capable of laying an egg.

[Paelos]

Oh, you're almost certainly right.  I'm just saying I'm also not going to be totally shocked if the 'skins just don't show up for some reason.  It's less that I think the Cowboys are capable of being good and more that I think Washington is entirely capable of laying an egg.

Yes, there's certainly that aspect. And the pro-gamblers are betting that way too. They love Dallas getting 3.5.

[Shannow]

If the Eagles can score 35 consecutive points on the Pats in Foxboro, including a pick 6, block punt for TD and punt return TD, then the Cowboys can definitely beat the racial slurs.

[HaemishM]

Oh the Cowboys CAN win. They won't, but they can. Shit, this goddamn season is so weird, it's entirely possible they win out and take the division with the janitor playing QB (he certainly can't be any worse than Cassel/Weedon). And Cousins has been playing better of late (helps to have DeSean Jackson back) but he's also equally capable of throwing 5 pick-sixes and getting blown out. The NFC East is the dark heart of parity - even teams as shitty as both of these clearly are can make the fucking playoffs.

[shiznitz]

Kirk Cousins is going to be screaming YOU LIKE THAT! over our graves tonight.

The Cowboys are not good but the Redskins are due the awful game we all know they are spectacularly capable of. Cowboys win this one on turnovers.

[Paelos]

If the game wasn't on MNF I'd have hope, but I've watched so many Wershington/Dallas MNF games go so fucked up wrong, I've no hope. Santana Moss I'm looking at you.

[Chimpy]

It does warm the cockles of my heart that everyone is arguing about which of these two teams is the most shitty. Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder are two of the world's most colossal douchebags and seeing the pits of failure their "I control everything" method of running a sports franchise into the ground has created is glorious.

[Surlyboi]

Not directly tied to yesterday, but I'm breaking down a pig in a cooking class with a couple of the Jets.

Life ain't bad...

[Paelos]

Not directly tied to yesterday, but I'm breaking down a pig in a cooking class with a couple of the Jets.

Life ain't bad...

Don't punch Geno in the face. I know it's tempting.