NFL 2008

[Abagadro]

The Dallas coaching staff looks like they are auditioning for the Michelin Man.

[Paelos]

This is like watching 1960's football come to life. 3-3 after a half, and it's freezing cold.

[HaemishM]

SUCK IT ROMO!!!!!!!

[JWIV]

Go Ravens!

[Triforcer]

SUCK IT ROMO!!!!!!!

On this, we agree(!).  Watching the Cowboys get beaten (w/ that fraud Romo- seriously, who the fuck anointed him the next big thing?  average QB at best) ranks surprisingly high on my list of pleasures in life. 

[Bungee]

Go Ravens!

I'm so looking forward to the Steelers-Ravens Game on Sunday. Should be one of the best games this season for guys like me who like to watch some aggresive defense.

[HaemishM]

SUCK IT ROMO!!!!!!!

On this, we agree(!).  Watching the Cowboys get beaten (w/ that fraud Romo- seriously, who the fuck anointed him the next big thing?  average QB at best) ranks surprisingly high on my list of pleasures in life. 

The funny part is that I think he's a decent QB. He's got some "gunslinger" type skills, a good arm and he does know how to make some plays purely on ability. I think he's above average. I just hate the Cowboys, and hate the fact that 99% of the commentators spend most Cowboy games fellating the great Tony Romo despite the fact he's pretty much blown all the big games in his career. Come back to me when he wins a playoff game, plzkthx. When you fellate Favre, you have a reason. When you fellate Manning or Brady, you have a reason even before Manning won the Super Bowl. Romo has barely accomplished more than Matt Ryan at this point in time (i.e. he's made it into the playoffs).

It doesn't hurt that he's also had a good O-Line, Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn, Jason Witten and now Roy Williams catching his passes.

[Nevermore]

Wow.  Did Monte Kiffen already leave? 

[Trippy]

Tony is a good quarterback. He has that "playmaker" ability to make something out of nothing, like on that TD to TO where he's running around in back buying time until he found TO in the back of the end zone. But sometimes there really is nothing there and he'll still try to force things or whatnot (I don't count the INT since Witten fell down so it's not clear how off target Romo actually was on that throw). So he's kind of like a young Brett Favre and you get the good and the bad from his ability to improvise on the field.

[Bungee]

While he's a good qb, he'll never be a great one (as in winning a SB) as long as he keeps folding under pressure.

Ben Roethlisberger is exactly the same kind of QB as Romo, trying to make something out of nothing and while he had his share of fuck-ups this season, he is a far more consistent quarterback- which is why he has a ring and Romo has not.

[Trippy]

The last time the Steelers won the Super Bowl their passing game was one of the worst in the league in terms of yards per game. They won on their rushing game and D, as is the usual Steelers formula. This year, however, has been different so we'll see if Ben can carry his team through the playoffs which he didn't have to do for the 2005 season.

[Bungee]

Even though I agree that the Steelers usually don't ask too much out of their QBs, you can hardly win anything when you don't have someone under-center who is able to deliver when asked for. Ben did everything it took him to do to get to the Superbowl. And don't be mistaken on the Cowboys- they have an excellent Running Gameand and very good and aggressive Defense, too.

Still, it's the trademark of any beeter-than-good QB to be able to take a game in his hands and get out of a hole. This is what Peyton Manning excells in, and it's something Ben is very capable of (I'm especially looking at the AFC Wildcard game last year). I yet have to see Romo being able to do just that.

[Trippy]

Even though I agree that the Steelers usually don't ask too much out of their QBs, you can hardly win anything when you don't have someone under-center who is able to deliver when asked for.

That's like saying Trent Dilfer is a better QB than Romo cause the Ravens won the Super Bowl with him. The bar for being a Super Bowl QB is very very low.

[Bungee]

That's like saying Trent Dilfer is a better QB than Romo cause the Ravens won the Super Bowl with him. The bar for being a Super Bowl QB is very very low.

And that's like saying the Cowboys aren't as good of a team as the Ravens were. I don't think the Ravens had the luxury of 13 Pro-Bowlers on their Roster when they won the Superbowl.
As I said, the Cowboys have 2 elite WRs, the best overall TE, an OL full of behemoths, the most violent runner at RB and a backup RB who just ran for more yards against the #1 run defense than any other RB this season. They also have a top 10 Defense that leads the league in sacks.

Trent Dilfer was a better QB than Romo is now in that he did what he was asked to do and delivered. While Romo continues to choke when it counts the most. Oh, and literally laughing the #1 defense in the face because they called a timeout, right before he throws the game ending INT just made me pity the boys even more.

[HaemishM]

Ben had a terrible Super Bowl, but in that Super Bowl season, he kept them in games by not fucking up. Sometimes that counts a shitton more than the spectacular play. And he made a few spectacular plays that season to keep them in games, whereas Romo as often as not throws an INT. Though in that game this weekend, Romo's last INT looked like Witten wasn't even looking for the ball when Romo threw it.

[Brogarn]

I'm not a Steelers fan, but I certainly give Big Ben credit for being one of the most beat up QBs out there that just doesn't give up and keeps playing. He's like the John McClane of football. Seriously, how injured is that guy and how many times has he been sacked? But he keeps playing. Tough guy and deserves a lot of credit.

[murdoc]

Wow.  Did Monte Kiffen already leave? 

:( :( :( :(

[Triforcer]

Ben had a terrible Super Bowl, but in that Super Bowl season, he kept them in games by not fucking up. Sometimes that counts a shitton more than the spectacular play. And he made a few spectacular plays that season to keep them in games, whereas Romo as often as not throws an INT. Though in that game this weekend, Romo's last INT looked like Witten wasn't even looking for the ball when Romo threw it.

Hell yeah.  Has everyone forgotten that tackle he mad when Bettis fumbled against the Colts in the playoffs?  Saved the game, saved the season. 

[WayAbvPar]

The last time the Steelers won the Super Bowl their passing game was one of the worst in the league in terms of yards per game. They won on their rushing game and D by paying of the refs, as is the usual Steelers formula. This year, however, has been different so we'll see if Ben can carry his team through the playoffs which he didn't have to do for the 2005 season.

/bitter Seahawks fan'ed

[Nevermore]

Wow.  Did Monte Kiffen already leave? 

:( :( :( :(

I've never seen the Buc's defense shredded the way they were last night.  That 90 yard, 4 rushing play drive was just sick.

[Sky]

Yeah, that was a fun one to watch.


Unless you're a Bucs fan. Even then the one-handed snatch was pretty amazing.

[murdoc]

Yeah, that was a fun one to watch.


Unless you're a Bucs fan. Even then the one-handed snatch was pretty amazing.

This is true though. Up until the 4th I went from screaming obscenities to cheering to screaming obscenities over and over. It was like a vulgar teeter-totter. That catch by Bryant was SICK, and the interception by Jermaine Phillips was very Polamalu-esque.

[Paelos]

Welcome to the Big-time, Tashard Choice. Wow, what a game.

[Ozzu]

Welcome to the Big-time, Tashard Choice. Wow, what a game.

No kidding man. He really came through again.

And Romo really gutted it out tonight. He was obviously in pain, but played through it and played really well. I'm happy for him. He bounced back nicely from last weeks disaster.

[El Gallo]

Don't think that last TD was correctly overturned, but I'll take it.  Time for the Steelers to get healthy for the playoffs.  Finding their missing offense would be nice, too.

[JWIV]

Don't think that last TD was correctly overturned, but I'll take it.  Time for the Steelers to get healthy for the playoffs.  Finding their missing offense would be nice, too.

Yah. It was bullshit, but I think the general sentiment around here is you don't put the game into the hands of the officials if you want to win.  It was the type of game that basically was going to be lost by the first team to blink, and letting Roethlisberger get a 92 yd series in your house isn't a good way to win a clutch game. 

[HaemishM]

Anyone see the Buffalo-Jets game? You might think J.P. Losman lost that game, but he didn't. The offensive coordinator lost that game. You're ahead by 4, Marshawn Lynch has been running pretty damn well the whole game, and you're playing your backup QB whose got something to prove. 2:06 left to go, RUN THE FUCKING BALL ALL 3 DOWNS. Run it, make them spend timeouts and make them come down and score a TD on you. You do not send Losman out on a fucking bootleg pass - you just don't do it. Even if he doesn't get sacked and cough up a TD or throw an INT, even if he just throws an incompletion, you're giving the Jets a free down and maybe even an extra clock stoppage if it falls incomplete before the two-minute warning. I cannot fathom what the OC was thinking when he dialed up that play.

Also, the Giants really need Plax and Brandon Jacobs. The O-Line doing some pass blocking would help too.

[Nevermore]

They were ahead by 3, actually.  The excuse given was that they figured it was a 'free play' since the clock would stop at 2 minutes anyway, so why not catch the Jets by surprise and throw it?  I think they now have the answer to that question. 

It's all good, though.  It just means the big winner-takes-all final game between the 'Fins and the Jets is still on track.  If there are any Football Gods at all, the end of that game will see Favre sitting dejectedly on the sidelines while Dolphin players carry Pennington off on their shoulders as Jets fans fling themselves off the top of Giants Stadium.  Elsewhere later that night, Bill Belichick will be going over his contract with Mephistopheles wondering how he missed the playoffs this year.  Miami will then get crushed the following week in the playoffs, but that's ok because they will still have won the division and it will be GLORIOUS!   

[Sky]

This just in....Buffalo chokes. See also: Buffalo every season.

[Brogarn]

Also, the Giants really need Plax and Brandon Jacobs. The O-Line doing some pass blocking would help too.

A yes, another yes and a wtf happened to my o-line yes.

[Bungee]

Don't think that last TD was correctly overturned, but I'll take it.  Time for the Steelers to get healthy for the playoffs.  Finding their missing offense would be nice, too.

Uhm, no. The NFL officially backed the call up.
Also, the ruling was "possesion with 2 feet inbounds- TD" just the same thing when a receiver catches a ball on the sides of the endzone, where the ball itself never really was INSIDE the EZ. Add to this, that the ball also broke the plane when the receiver had possesion.

[Rasix]

Uhm, no. The NFL officially backed the call up.

The NFL has absolutely no motive whatsoever in backing up the ref's call, especially not in a season with such spectacular officiating.

That call could have really gone either way.  That's not how replay is supposed to function.  Instead of a really awesome 4th down gut check, we got a anticlimatic, under the booth, judgment call. YAY!

[Bungee]

So you'd rather have a TD taken away from a team than have the officials being able to look at it closer?

I think that call right there was EXACTLY why replay is in force and why they have people in a booth. Because the lineref obviously didn't know the rule (2 feet in the endzone with possesion of the ball = TD) and so they had to get it straight. I really fail to get your point.

Edit for the sake of it:

According to the NFL Digest of rules:

"A receiver is deemed to be in possession of a catch when both feet touch down in bounds while the receiver demonstrates control of the football. Should a receiver make a legal catch of the ball with both feet in bounds in the end zone, a touchdown shall be awarded even if no part of the ball was deemed to break the plane of the goal line while in possession of the receiving player."

The "breaking the plane" rule is for a runner, or once a receiver becomes a runner. That is why the ref emphasized the fact that both of Holmes' feet were down.

[Rasix]

I wrote stuff here

Edit: If that really is the rule, it's fucking retarded and most of the NFL writers I read, the post game, and Sports Center didn't get it right after the fact.

I thought the ball had to break the plane in addition to 2 feet down and possession.  The breaking the plane part I didn't see indisputable proof of. 

Edit #2: How can you do a replay to clarify a rule? Do you put the rule book under the booth?

[Bungee]

If the refs on the field aren't aware of a rule, it can very well be that

a) the replay official educates the headref during the review
b) the vice president for officiating (Mike Pereira) calls in from his super office and lets the replay official know that he should challenge it because of X and tells him to do a)