NFL 2013

[El Gallo]

Using a left-footed punter guarantees two muffs per game minimum. Ask Chris Collinsworth. 

[sickrubik]

You don't have to ask him. He'll tell you... over and over and over and over and over and over.

[HaemishM]

There was nothing flukish about their solid play in that second half.

First half they couldn't get their hands on the ball - 24 points against. Second half you couldn't get the ball out of their hands while Denver had spider bites. The turnovers shifting that dramatically is very flukish.

[Shannow]

Spiders are awesome.   

[sickrubik]

There was nothing flukish about their solid play in that second half.

First half they couldn't get their hands on the ball - 24 points against. Second half you couldn't get the ball out of their hands while Denver had spider bites. The turnovers shifting that dramatically is very flukish.

That component of it, sure. But Patriots played great, as could be seen from that come back. That's all I'm saying. It was flukish that those turnovers happened ion those first few possessions. Them playing as well as they did was not. I give all that props to the coaching staff and Brady.

Let's be fair, even when we HAD the ball in the first half, our offense didn't look GREAT. Our Defense sure did. The injury to DRC was HUGE. Thankfully it sounds like he should be fine to play this week, as will Julius Thomas.

[Surlyboi]

Worst part of that game is now once again I have to listen to Patriots fans rave about how good Tom Brady is.

Fuck that shit. Fuck Tom Brady.

[Megrim]

[Paelos]

[Megrim]

[Paelos]

Yeah from what, a decade ago? Hell, even Eli has two at this point.

[Megrim]

 

[Tannhauser]

They give one of those rings away every year.  Meh.

[HaemishM]

Joe Flacco having one does tarnish that shine a bit. 

[Cyrrex]

Brady gets a lot of hate for a lot of reasons both good and bad, but he is a fucking GREAT quarterback.  I would take him over Peyton Manning any day of the week.  It is no coincidence that he almost always beats Peyton.  He quietly relishes the challenge of going against his nemesis, and I guarantee you that Peyton HATES it.

Also, Eli earned the shit out of his rings.  While I would rather build a team around the elder Manning, Manning the Lesser is actually a much better quarterback when the pressure is dialed up to 1000.  It is surprisingly easy to get Peyton out of his comfort zone, which is exactly why he seems to play poorly in the playoffs.  The concerns that people are raising about Peyton playing a bunch of cold weather games over the remainder of the year are equally valid.  Did you see those lame ducks he was throwing?  They better hope Knowshown can run for 200 every week.

[HaemishM]

The Packers backfield really can't cover shit except by accident. And apparently Aaron Rodgers is a defensive coach, because since they've lost Rodgers, they forgot how the fuck to tackle as well. If the Lions weren't so good at turning the ball over, this game would be so over (well, more than it already is).

[Tannhauser]

Oh it's finally a good Thanksgiving for this Lions fan!  40-10, over 500 offensive yards.  Crazy.  It sure didn't look like a blowout early on with two quick Lions turnovers.  The Packers looked horrible frankly, that's not them at all.  You can't blame AR being gone for a poor defensive showing.  Seven sacks on Flynn.  Nothing much good I can say about the Packers in this game.  Maybe 10 days off will help them.

This game doesn't change my concerns with the Lions though.  They are turnover machines and their secondary is almost complete trash.  Of course I hope they win the Super Bowl, but realistically I don't see much of a chance of that.  Turnovers KILL you against good teams.  Hell even average teams.  Then you have stupid personal foul penalties adding to the mix. 

But today is a day of giving thanks that the good Lions team showed up.

[HaemishM]

You can't blame AR being gone for a poor defensive showing.  Seven sacks on Flynn.  Nothing much good I can say about the Packers in this game. 

Yeah, this. Their defense has just turned to utter shit. I mean, their secondary has been bad from game 1 but the tackling reminded me of how bad they were in that playoff game last year against San Francisco. It just seems like when the opposing offense finds something that works, the Packers' defensive coaches NEVER adjust anything to fix it. If they aren't playing with a lead, they are utterly unable to cope. The offense though... the passing game apparently scares NOBODY, so they are just stacking the box and shutting the running game down. Flynn looked lost when he wasn't running for his fucking life. But that's not just Flynn, it's been every QB they've put in.

The Packers are the absolute perfect example of the elite QB. He's so good, he makes an average team into a contender. He makes up for a bad O line and he hides the deficiencies in the defense by not making the defense have to work that hard. But as I said before, Rodgers being gone is no excuse for the defense to play as bad as they did today.

The Cowboys won but it was hardly convincing. Good news for Cowboys' fans - they were able to close a game with a lead out by pounding the rock over and over. Oakland just couldn't stop the running game at all. McGloin didn't look bad at all - but that team has very little talent at wideout.

[Paelos]

HOW BOUT DEM COWBOYS! 

[Trippy]

HOW BOUT DEM COWBOYS! 

Woohoo! They managed to beat one of the worst teams in the AFC!

[naum]

It's been 2 days since the Steeler v. Raven game, and I'm still amazed in the aftermath -- how Bell got creamed with a vicious Jimmy Smith helmet to helmet hit that knocked his helmet off, and had the added bonus of freezing time in midair and erasing a TD. The NFL says it's a valid hit so I guess the message is you can't hit QB or WR but it's always open season on RB (and linemen). Not only that, but if you do lay the helmet, you can even stop forward progress in midair like a cartoon. Total fucking clownshoes.

Oh, can't find a good video stream but here's a page w/animated gif that captures the play:
http://www.sportsgrid.com/nfl/this-brutal-head-to-head-hit-wipes-away-levon-bell-touchdown/

[Chimpy]

That tackler led with his helmet like it was going out of style. 

[Paelos]

The NFL specifically said it wouldn't count RBs when they made the rule because they lower their head on almost every run.

[Sir T]

Looking at it, the helmet did its job my absorbing the energy of the blow by coming off like that. So its possible that the guy was knocked out by his bare head hitting the ground. But I'd go on the opinion of someone more experienced at reading these things than I am.

But that tackle was WAY out of any civilized line. The guy lowered his head as he came in and deliberately rammed into the other guy with his head with his full body weight concentrated into his head. It went into the tackled guys neck and shoulder, which is why the helmet came off as it was pushed up from below.

[Paelos]

The NFL is not civilized.

[Malakili]

Honestly, at the speed these guys play at and the arms race of muscle mass we've seen over the last 20 years in the league, I don't even really blame them for violent hits.  It's part of the game and you'll never remove all of it. But then, that's the real problem here.  You can legislate all you want, but the problem is that the game is at base violent.  Toss on the recent advancements in neurology that let us actually understand the damage the violence is causing and it's easy to see where this is going.  But then, we have a thread for this discussion already.

[Sir T]

Yeah. thats a good point I suppose. If the guy had kept his head up he could have risked a broken neck.

[01101010]

I honestly think people would calm the fuck down with the 'pink dress NLF' talk if the refs would be consistent with calls across all games and all quarters. That is not happening and that is really what is being called out here.

As for that specific play, that was a crown of the helmet hit and should have been a penalty. IMHO.

[Paelos]

They've charged the refs with making new impossibly subjective calls at high speed since 2004. I can't blame the officials for not being able to mete out justice in this case.

[naum]

They've charged the refs with making new impossibly subjective calls at high speed since 2004. I can't blame the officials for not being able to mete out justice in this case.

^^THIS

Game, especially at professional level, is way too fast for on the field calls. But that doesn't stop the league and officials from issuing penalties (and often, penalty fines later, even if there was not an infraction called on the actual play) when there is helmet on helmet or even helmet first hits. It's impossible to judge intent though there are players with rap sheets of dirty hits (like Raven's Smith and former Steeler Harrison).

But the silliness over that was especially the rollback of the TD -- yeah I understand the safety about stopping the play once the helmet comes off. But at least give the ball carrier his forward momentum to the ground.  And gobsmacked at the league statement the next days -- Bell's helmet just didn't come off, he got speared. If that's Tom Brady running the ball I guarantee there's a flag and fine. I guess a RB is just supposed to put his head down and batter his way through himself.  I suppose helmets are preferable armor/weapons, just don't wield them against QB or WR.

[Trippy]

The NFL specifically said it wouldn't count RBs when they made the rule because they lower their head on almost every run.

Within the tackle box the rule doesn't apply which is the part for RBs (and their tacklers). Outside the tackle box the rule does apply. However it has 3 parts to it and the part about lining up an opponent didn't apply in this situation so there's no penalty.

You can watch the 2013 rule change video to see this explained:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0ap2000000227096/2013-NFL-rule-changes

Jump forward to 00:01:35 to see the entire section of leading with the crown on the helmet rule changes.

As for the where the ball should be spotted when the helmet comes off it's way too complicated to allow the ball to be spotted further down field in certain circumstances. It's also much too dangerous as it would encourage players to try and extend the play after the helmet comes off if they know that there's a chance the ball will be spotted further down field.

[Paelos]

The helmet off rule is the Jason Witten rule. If you remember he rumbled like 25 yards with his helmet off until he was knocked stupid on the sidelines.

[Mithas]

Where are the Jets in the power rankings after this week?

[Paelos]

Where are the Jets in the power rankings after this week?

Cleaning the bathrooms.

[Fordel]

Are you sure they can find the toilets? 

[Surlyboi]

The defense can. The offense is in the wrong goddamn state.