NFL Thread 2013-14

Sir Matt said:
Following his 4th quarter interception against the Redskins knocking them out of the playoffs last year:
"The Cowboys (8-8), meanwhile, will miss the playoffs for the third straight season, having stumbled in a make-or-break end-of-regular-season game for the third time in five years."
How are the playoffs tossups?
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Twice they had the same record as their opponent. Once they had a better record and once they had a worse record. Tossups.
 
Eboue said:
I have put together this handy graphic for those that are visual learners.


q2HGlPK.png
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Manning has better numbers in all of those categories except interceptions, where Romo has him 10-9, and rushing yards. Unless you mean Eli. In that case, you should change your graphic to "Being on a team that has won Superbowls"
 
Sir Matt said:
He has a 1-3 record in the playoffs and is 0-3 in games with a playoff berth on the line. For an organization that is supposed to be one of the best, that can't be good enough. Jerry Jones is a moron, but he can't be blamed for the games that Romo has thrown/fumbled away late in the fourth quarter. It would be one thing if his overall record was great, but it's not.
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He's 62-44 (.585) lifetime on teams that would have a reversed record with practically any QB not named Brady, Peyton, or Rodgers, and on clubs that long have had massive holes on offense and defense. Many other QBs would have considerable issues in this organization. Shit coaching, bad personnel moves, and yes Romo does make mistakes, they all do. His INT ratio has been in the top four the past three years so when he commits a turnover, it is highlighted due to his past mistakes (also being the Cowboys QB draws the biggest spotlight in the sport).

4th highest rated passer of all-time (granted, I dislike this formula), 6th all-time completion rate, 22 game-winning drives including 12 in past three seasons (best in league), breaking all the club passing records, wins more than he loses.

Peyton is 9-11 all-time in the postseason (6-5 at home), including 8 losses in the opening playoff game (4-8 all-time), and including a terrible pass that ultimately cost his team a second championship. He won a Super Bowl facing Rex Grossman! Obviously, Peyton is an all-time great where as Romo will be another one of those players that was on the cusp but never got there, but for all his greatness, Peyton was one mistake or one play by Rex/Chicago away from losing that lone Super Bowl win. Such is the fine line in sports. It can be argued that the Ravens would have won more SBs in the past five years with Romo over Flacco, that Romo could have done what Eli did, or he would have won in New Orleans when that defense forced all those turnovers that one season.

But only with QBs are won-loss records and championships considered. How many SBs did Barry Sanders win? OJ Simpson? Dick Butkus? Dan Marino? Oh, but the response is those guys didn't have the necessary components around them to help win, or they're not the leaders of the team (tell that to Barry and Dick they weren't the leaders). Neither does Romo, and more often than not it comes down to him to miraculously save Dallas. He's not superman, and sometimes he will lose games when trying to pull them out of yet another hole.
 
Feeky Magee said:
Tell us about the concept of clutch, Sir Matt.
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*You should read this in a Skip Bayless voice.*

It's key. Eli may be a moron, but he's got "clutch" in the playoffs. So do all the greats. Elway, Favre, Montana, Young, Staubach, Brady, Peyton etc. As the most important player on the team, the pressure is all on the quarterback.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/comebacks_career.htm Romo is near the upper end of active quarterbacks, but better than either Manning? No.

Greatness is judged on championships. Pele, Maradona, Jordan, Byrd, Magic, Staubach, Montana, Favre, etc. Dan Marino was ridiculously good, but what did he win, aside from a cameo role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective? Would he give up all of his passing records for a ring? You bet he would.
 
Eboue said:
In 2007 he was a rookie who took over halfway through the season and lost by 1 point in Seattle.
In 2008 the Cowboys lost by 4 at home to the eventual SB champion Giants.
In 2010 the Cowboys got blown out in Minnesota to Bret Favre's vikings, despite Romo completing 63% of his passes.
In 2010 they Cowboys blew out the Eagles with Romo completing 67% with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

In the playoffs every game is mostly a tossup. So out of 4 games, the Cowboys should win 2. So if Romo had managed to run the botched snap in against Seattle, he would be 2-2 instead of 1-3 and none of this would mean anything.

You're talking shit.
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I'll go better being the avid fan since donning a Danny White 11 shirt in the mid-80s.

2003 Rookie year, third string, never played
2004 Third string behind Parcells trustee Vinny and (Jones third straight baseball-turned-football QB) Henson
2005 Backup to Bledsoe
2006 Took over for turnover prone/statue impersonator Bledsoe after six games. Rallies team to playoffs with 6-4 mark going 5-1 in first six starts (10-6 overall) before typical December collapse by the club (not just him). Gets blasted for his failure to hold a field goal snap, reacts quickly to run towards end zone, and is tackled about a half-yard from end zone - that close to being hailed a miracle play if he scores on the improv. Us Dallas fans bitched about Dallas coaching staff playing conservative the entire game versus letting Romo attack a vulnerable Seattle secondary.

2007 13-3 and amazing all season granted a gunslinger in the early days Favre mold. It wasn't him that dropped a perfectly thrown pass that would have given Dallas the lead in the 4th quarter against NYG. It was him that later threw the interception, a pass that would never have occurred had Bennett held that ball on a previous play.

2008 Missed 3 games but was 8-5 as a starter, club crumbled when the ancient Brad Johnson relieved him temporarily (1-2), and both he and the team failed to show up at Philly in the season finale.

2009 Won division, won wild card game over Philly, lost at Minnesota (the Favre magical season tour). Never mentioned is his performances late in 2009 that lifted Dallas to the division title (22-34, 312, 1-0 at New Orleans; 25-38, 286, 1-1 at Washington; 24-34, 311, 2-1 vs Philly)

2010 Injured in sixth game (1-5), team had begun to implode under Wade Phillips

2011-2012 Both years 8-8, and both times the team crumbled in the season finale with a playoff spot on the line. He was very good against NYG in 2011 (29-37, 289, 2-1) but horrible vs Washington in 2012 (20-37, 218, 2-3).
 
Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson won Super Bowls therefore they're greater than Marino and Tarkenton. Twenty years from now people will say, "Joe Flacco won a Super Bowl?"

Eli is this era's Jim Plunkett.

Elway lost three Super Bowls so his greatness is less.

I get it now.
 
Sir Matt said:
*You should read this in a Skip Bayless voice.*

It's key. Eli may be a moron, but he's got "clutch" in the playoffs. So do all the greats. Elway, Favre, Montana, Young, Staubach, Brady, Peyton etc. As the most important player on the team, the pressure is all on the quarterback.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/comebacks_career.htm Romo is near the upper end of active quarterbacks, but better than either Manning? No.

Greatness is judged on championships. Pele, Maradona, Jordan, Byrd, Magic, Staubach, Montana, Favre, etc. Dan Marino was ridiculously good, but what did he win, aside from a cameo role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective? Would he give up all of his passing records for a ring? You bet he would.
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Oh wow
 
Exactly. And I don't like the implication that you don't think Sexy Rexy is a top notch quarterback.

Edit: Just to be clear, I'm not taking this seriously.
 
Have that you ginger prick Dalton.

Why couldn't we play like that all season? It's always great beating the Bengals but feck sake.
 
Dallas fecked up last night because of play calling not Romo, I've always loved the term clutch because I have no idea what it really means and I also hate when players get the blinders on and think they have to force everything in the last 2 mins to be 'clutch', sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Always spectacularly silly to reduce a team's efforts to one player all the time. I've only watched NFL for the last 3-4 years and IMO only Brady, Brees, Peyton Manning and Rodgers are 'elite', Romo could do what Eli and Flacco did and bring the chip back but Dallas collectively always seem to muck it up.
 
And MAtt Cassell on Tony Romo

MATT CASSEL

Oh, Foles. If touchdowns and yardage were the true measure of a QB’s success, then we’d all be talking about Tony Romo’s five Super Bowl titles right now.
 
Apparently, Romo called an audible, a dumbass move when up five with under three minutes remaining and the ball in your half of the field. Perhaps had Matthews not had a clean shot on the blitz, Romo is not off on his throw and the pass is caught for a first down, or potentially much more (the receiver did have the separation necessary for a big gain). But with a QB that has a penchant for making crucial mistakes, it is best to play more conservative with a lead late in a game. They'll never learn this.

If it was a run play, the head coach needs to manage the game and ensure Romo does not alter the plan. This again is on the head coach just as much as the QB. It's the Cowboys plan apparently.

---However, abandoning the run is part of the Cowboys’ personality, even when they’re leading. Teams run the ball an average of 47 percent of the time when leading this season. The Cowboys have the league’s second-lowest rush percentage (37 percent) in such situations.---

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4721522/garrett-we-should-have-run-the-ball-more
 
Christ, another cheapshot hit not called but the league is reviewing the incident. Nasty. Blocker led with his helmet into the player's upper torso/neck/chin area with the opponent in a defenseless position - never saw it coming.

dout2l.gif
 
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10145592/bill-barnwell-week-15-nfl

Applies/removes blame to Romo, Garrett, and the defense. That's a very fair assessment. I disagree on some of his comments in regards to Garrett. Plenty of Cowboys fans I was chatting/texting during the game kept wondering why they weren't running the ball more often in the second half with a large lead. This guy claims no one asked why few run plays when Dez caught a touchdown pass on a drive that featured lots of pass plays. That's blatantly false and simply an opinion of a writer that apparently didn't watch the game within a set of fans, or ask for postgame opinions. When Dallas got in the redzone on that drive, the first two plays were incomplete passes. I kept wondering why not run the ball on first or second down after Murray had just torched GB for a couple big runs on the drive. That touchdown was pure brilliance by Dez - and that close to another incompletion and field goal attempt.
 
Stafford picked up for the second time. This is a great game, despite being very low scoring.
 
Yeah, I really enjoyed that. Great result for Green Bay too, might still make the playoffs!
 
Another goddamn over throw. Keep the ball down in that situation. Saw something on twitter that Stafford has 3 wins in his career against teams that finished the year with a winning record #FranchiseQuarterback

That being said, the best receiver in the game drops two passes he should have caught, he threw a nice ball to Durham that should have been called for interference and he had a couple passes to Pettigrew and Fauria that threaded the needle.

Defense played well, especially in the redzone. They've been good this year. Shady McCoy destroyed them last week but they've been excellent against the run for the most part. The secondary needs work. Quin is good, Delmas is alright. Mathis gets burned a lot, and Bill Bentley has struggled. Even Houstan has struggled this year, and he was relatively consistent last year. Fairley takes a lot of penalties, but Suh has played well this year. Levy is pretty solid to, if he is in position, he is pretty reliable in the tackle. Detroit finally has something of a formidable rush defense but their offense seems to be faltering at important times

Tucker was impressive. Being a Lions fan is great, I feel bipolar watching these games

Jimbo might be fired. Really indifferent to him. Lots of talent on the roster, lots of penalties, not so many wins. Something needs to change, whether its the head coach or the coordinator I don't know
 
MrMarcello said:
Christ, another cheapshot hit not called but the league is reviewing the incident. Nasty. Blocker led with his helmet into the player's upper torso/neck/chin area with the opponent in a defenseless position - never saw it coming.

dout2l.gif
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Is that really a cheapshot hit?

So if you want to block someone, you have to wait until they are looking at you?? And then you have to do it but without any undue force?

I also think most of the force was delivered to the players chest - not his neck.

EDIT - just read the rule that kickers/punters are classed as defenceless anytime they are on the field. I personally think that is ridiculous - if they are able to make a tackle then they should be able to be blocked in the same way as any other player. Despite kickers being classes as defenceless, I do disagree with your comment about the player being in a defenceless position - he was moving towards the ball carrier and in a position to be able to make a tackle. Which means he should absolutely be blocked.

As for the hit, I think the Steeler had the intention of hitting him in his chest - and still think thats where the bulk of the force goes. The player is already crouching low to make the hit - I don't personally see any intent to injure, or deliver a helmet to helmet hit.

The fact is, if you are trying to hit them in the chest area (and remember you aren't allowed to lower your own head, so you have to hit with your shoulder pads onto the chest) ... then your own head is always going to be close to the other players head.
 
MrMarcello said:
Christ, another cheapshot hit not called but the league is reviewing the incident. Nasty. Blocker led with his helmet into the player's upper torso/neck/chin area with the opponent in a defenseless position - never saw it coming.

dout2l.gif
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Wasting their time, no chance he's getting punished for that. Carlson called it a perfectly legal hit at the time too.
 
MrMarcello said:
Christ, another cheapshot hit not called but the league is reviewing the incident. Nasty. Blocker led with his helmet into the player's upper torso/neck/chin area with the opponent in a defenseless position - never saw it coming.

dout2l.gif
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The leading with the head thing is what might get him in trouble, you can't blame the blocker if the player is not looking at him though.
 
Does anyone remember the NFL Rocks videos they used to release back in the day? They were basically a compilation of all of these types of hits set to rock music (Living on a Prayer etc). They are actually even better than that sounds, if thats even possible!!

I found one of them on YouTube a while ago:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:


They show the big hits, but also the big runs, passes etc..

They really show football back then to be a different time. Back then, the NFL was promoting these hits as being part of what the NFL was all about.

In the first link, if you go to 4:19 then you see one of the biggest helmet to helmets hits I have seen - happened when the QB was sliding down as well. The commentator's comments of "He's beheaded!" kinda add to it too!!

Actually, if you go to 4:36 then you see a whole sequence of hits similar to the one mentioned above.

I think the helmet to helmet hit is right to be penalised (although, as I have mentioned already, several players are now trying to hit players around the knees to avoid hitting the helmet...which opens its own can of worms with regard to serious injuries).

I think the NFL is wrong to ban the arms to the neck when tackling a QB - like the hit that the 49ers got penalised for against Brees and the Saints. As Trent Dilfer siad, the only thing that that rule is protecting is stopping the QB getting a bloody lip.

But interesting to see how the game has changed. The studies into brain trauma will only increase the changes in my opinion in the next few years.

But football has always been known to be a brutal sport on the body. Practically every interview with former players highlights the effects football has had on their bodies later in life - not being able to move without pain etc.

I think the NFL is right to investigate the effects playing football have on the body - I seem to remember reading that rugby union have decided that there has been no link established between violent concussions and longer term brain injury....So the NFL should be applauded for not sticking their head in the sand.

But players enter into the sport aware of the brutal physicality of the sport. It reminds me of the question put to a number of Olympic sprinters - would you take a steroid if it guaranteed you a gold medal, but meant you would only live to 50...or something along those lines. Almost everyone said yes. It's the same reason players were the least amount of padding they can get away with. They are prepared to make sacrifices.

Anyway, just some thoughts!
 
Why this is news... we know he won't relinquish this title. We also know they're not winning another Super Bowl before he dies. Can anyone decipher his comments?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...es-rejects-idea-of-giving-up-cowboys-gm-title

--- "It's often said that, why don't I get someone to be the GM?" Jones said Tuesday on KRLD-FM (via ESPN.com). "Why don't I get someone to pick the players? Well, who in the world do you think that person when they walk through the door and say, 'We want to get this player or we want to pay this player,' what in the world do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to sit down and I'm going to go through it and I'm going to say, 'Show me the player. Show me everything about the player before I write the check. Show me the player and let me see everything about the player.'

"Well, rather than that have happen, I get involved in it and know everything about the players before they get to the door," Jones added. "That, if you've got the time to do it, that's a better way to do it." ---
 
He'll keel over and die in his corporate box, and everyone'll get to see it live on the 10000ft EnormoTron.
 
MrMarcello said:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10145592/bill-barnwell-week-15-nfl

Applies/removes blame to Romo, Garrett, and the defense. That's a very fair assessment. I disagree on some of his comments in regards to Garrett. Plenty of Cowboys fans I was chatting/texting during the game kept wondering why they weren't running the ball more often in the second half with a large lead. This guy claims no one asked why few run plays when Dez caught a touchdown pass on a drive that featured lots of pass plays. That's blatantly false and simply an opinion of a writer that apparently didn't watch the game within a set of fans, or ask for postgame opinions. When Dallas got in the redzone on that drive, the first two plays were incomplete passes. I kept wondering why not run the ball on first or second down after Murray had just torched GB for a couple big runs on the drive. That touchdown was pure brilliance by Dez - and that close to another incompletion and field goal attempt.
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It´s so weird that they abandon the run, especially when DeMarco Murray is decimating everything and everyone in his path.
 
There are quite a few great (and important) games coming up this weekend:

New Orleans @ Carolina
Denver @ Houston
Indy @ Kansas
Dallas @ Washington
Arizona @ Seattle
New England @ Baltimore
Pittsburgh @ Green Bay
Chicago @ Philly

Emphasis added for who I think will win.
 
So all we need to happen for our chances to stay alive is for the Ravens to lose their final two games, the Dolphins to lose their final two games, the Chargers to lose one of their final two games and the Jets to win both of their remaining games. Oh and win our final two games too.

IT'S STILL POSSIBLE!
 
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