NFL Thread

[Cavs019 702]

Beautiful irony.

[RadioGaGa 162]

So after all the talk of the Pats running it up...did anyone see the play by Brian Westbrook at the end of the Philly/Dallas game?

Up 10-6 with the clock running down...Westbrook gets to the Dallas 1 yard line and takes a knee.

The reason...If they scored, they'd have to give the ball back to Dallas, who'd have 2:00 and 3 timeouts to go the length and then be able to attempt an on side kick (...remember the Buffalo game?) to win the game. Philly ended up taking 3 knees to end the game...Philly had no timeouts left.

ESPN's Monday night crew is applauding it as a heads up play, and the ultimate display of gamesmanship and sacrifice of a personal gain for the good of the team...

Should he have scored? I know Dallas hadn't done much all day...but there are only about 3-4 teams in the League that are capable of 2 scores in 2 minutes...Dallas would be one of them.

thoughts?

[LegoDoom 0]

I honestly don't think it would have mattered much, but it was a good play. A similar situation happened against the Redskins this year. They let Westy score quickly to get the ball back. This time, Westy decided to take a knee and not give the ball back.

And actually, Westbrook said that it was Jon Runyan (the RT) to take a knee at the 1 if he broke free.

[RadioGaGa 162]

...Westbrook said that it was Jon Runyan (the RT) to take a knee at the 1 if he broke free.

Yeah, in the ESPN piece, he said when he turned around the Offense was running up to him and 5-6 guys were yelling "Go Down" *L* Apparently one of the coaches had something to do with it too...not just a decision made on the field.

[bubber27 0]

Congrats to the Patriots. What a display in 2007.

[ADAbsolutNDN 0]

Big props to the pats...what a year

[hellkitty 0]

Awesome game and i'm glad it was close and not a blowout like thier 1st game. Let's hope they can take it all the way because if they don't its a huge waste of a season.

[kovalchuk71 212]

Great game last night. Being a Giants fan, I was kind of depressed, but I was really excited with the way they played. Eli seemed really confident in the pocket and looked awesome. The offence played great, and the defense really pressured Brady.

[Jason Harris 31]

Awesome game and i'm glad it was close and not a blowout like thier 1st game. Let's hope they can take it all the way because if they don't its a huge waste of a season.

I don't agree about the lack of blowout -- I love seeing domination when my team is on the good side! -- but you're right about anything less than SB winners coming across as choking.

Worse, it's possible they would have to go through three teams they've already beaten (Steelers, Chargers/Colts, Cowboys) to win the SB. Those teams would be so amped to avenge their losses. Some of these games in the past month-and-a-half have shown how motivated teams are to knock them off. The Eagles, Ravens and Giants all seemed to play better than their records during those games; the playoff games will likely be worse. On the other hand, they've had to deal with playoff intensity nearly all season, which could give them an edge.

I saw an interesting take on Spygate today. Somebody raised the question about what the fallout would have been if Spygate occurred later than ten minutes into the season? As it stands, I think it's probable they went from pushing-the-envelope-cheating to run-of-the-mill-cheating. But could you imagine if this had occurred in Week 4 or 7 or 11?

[mack 44]

I hope the Broncos ditch the blue-on-blue in the off-season; re-sign and somehow keep Walker healthy; avoid sketchy New Year's parties; get a defence, specifically one against the run.

[Jason Harris 31]

There was an article last week expressing confusion why the Broncos weren't better on defense, given Bates was successful with the Dolphins and the Broncos had been good prior to his arrival.

[mack 44]

The d-line is bad, really bad. It's worse than before they traded for the Cleveland line a couple years ago. Dumervil's great at pass-rushing but he's like 5'10" and the tackles suck. If they had a decent line they could leave Bly and Bailey out on their own a lot more. They had injuries as well, especially to Lynch so that killed the secondary at times.

[mik3 1]

Even a healthy Lynch isn't that good at this point. He can still destroy people but he can't cover most decent slot receivers.

[mack 44]

Absolutely, but a healthy Lynch can be brought up and put into the box to help against the run. Foxworth looked fairly good enough to cover a slot receiver but they can't afford to go into a nickel with their crappy run D. I loved Al Wilson anyway but damn did I never realise how much he'd be missed.

[mack 44]

For gits and shiggles here's my playoff prediction:

AFC Wildcard: Jacksonville def Pittsburgh

AFC Wildcard: San Diego def Tennessee

AFC Divisional: Jacksonville def New England

AFC Divisional: Indianapolis def San Diego

AFC Championship: Indianapolis def Jacksonville

NFC Wildcard: Tampa Bay def New York

NFC Wildcard: Washington def Seattle

NFC Divisional: Green Bay def Washington

NFC Divisional: Dallas def Tampa Bay

NFC Championship: Green Bay def Dallas

Super Bowl: Indianapolis def Green Bay

[mik3 1]

Jacksonville over Pittsburgh

San Diego over Tennessee

New England over Jacksonville

Indy over San Diego

Indy over New England

NYG over Tampa

Seattle over Washington

I think Dallas plays the Giants here so Dallas over the Giants

Seattle over Green Bay

Dallas over Seattle

Indy over Dallas

[mack 44]

Well not a good start to my picks, thanks to me thinking emotion would play a part in this. I'm also starting to think there's a reason Todd Collins has never been a starter in over ten years of his NFL experience. Is he even right-handed? I think he was just trying to show off.

[Adam91 0]

Seattle didnt look so good but Im still thinking they ll put off a big upset next week at Lambo

[mik3 1]

Seattle didnt look so good but Im still thinking they ll put off a big upset next week at Lambo

They have the ability to do it on defense, especially since Favre is still an INT machine against good teams.

[mack 44]

Now Todd Collins is playing QB for Pittsburgh. I hope tomorrow's games are good to make up for today's crap.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Yeah I thought the Steelers would put up a little more fight than this considering the pounding they took last time these teams met.

[Patrick67 1]

I'm not even sure I'm supposed to be impressed with the jags play, but at least they are playing to their ability.

edit- WTF!!! 20 unanswered points by the steelers in the 4th quarter, what a meltdown.

[King32 0]

Stillers are coming back not over yet.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Holy smokes!

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Holy smokes!